12/31/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - Poroshenko congratulated Ukrainians on the New Year

Poroshenko congratulated Ukrainians on the New Year

12.31.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• Poroshenko congratulated Ukrainians on the New Year.
• Budget for 2016, Law on Civil Service and changes to the Tax Code were signed.
• Support of the Nova Kakhovka - Titan ETL fell as a result of explosion.
• In Russia, a refugee from the Donbass was killed.

Key Events in Ukraine

• President Poroshenko signed a Law on Civil Service, changes to the Tax Code and the State Budget for 2016.
• The court released  another suspect in the murder of anti-Ukrainian journalist Busina under conditions of the house arrest

Ukraine at War

• Hostilities in the conflict zone in the Donbass were less active, however, there were recorded shellings in the vicinity of Donetsk and Artemivsk. Kominternove came under mortars fire, the General Staff warned on the possibility of provocations by militants two days ago. According to official reports, there were no casualties  among the military and civilians there. The OSCE Mission states that both sides limit its freedom of movement in Kominternove.
  On the New Year's Eve Peski and Maryinka came under the militants mortar fire .
• Power outage occurred in the Crimea due to blowing of the support of the ELT , leading to the peninsula. The activists, who were blocking the access to the Crimea, stated that they have no relation to the incident. Ukrenergo company reported that it is ready to repair the line by the end of the next day. "Head" of the occupied Crimea Aksenov said that the peninsula will be fully provided with electricity by May 1, but now there is no threat to residents. Russian President Putin proposed to hold a poll among the Crimeans regarding the following  questions: would the people tolerate the temporary difficulties and whether they are ready to sign a contract on the conditions that the Crimea and Sevastopol will be named Ukrainian territory. Russian Energy Minister Novak said that Russia does not agree with such formulation. The Crimean authorities promised to announce the results of the survey, conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, already on 1 January.

Ukraine and the World

• Russian President Putin approved a new national security concept, according to which a deep social and economic crisis turns Ukraine into a source of instability immediately near the Russian border. " The support of the USA and the EU of the anti-constitutional coup, which led to deep divisions in society and the armed conflict was called a cause of the conflict. It is stated in the document that the West is trying to prevent the "integration processes" on the erritory of the former Soviet Union. Russia is going to use the military force  only if all non-violent measures taken turn out to be ineffective. Inspiring of the "color revolutions" and the expansion of NATO are identified as major threats to Russia's national security.
• The Russian Ministry of Finance started the court proceedings regarding the "Yanukovich debt" in the amount of $ 3 billion, which the Russian Federation refused to restructure. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatsenyuk believes that the country is ready for that trial.
• Head of the OSCE mission in Ukraine Apakan hopes that 2016 will be crucial in resolving the conflict in Ukraine, despite the fact that the cease-fire was not reached . One of the main humanitarian challenges during the year was limitation of the freedom of movement of local people.
• Brussels authorities cancelled the festivities because of the continuing terrorist threat.
• EU Trade Commissioner Malmström is convinced that the entry into force of the free trade zone between Ukraine and the EU will create a unique opportunity for stabilization and development of the Ukrainian economy.
• The price of Brent crude oil on world markets the year reached the mark of $ 37.28, having decreased over the month by 15%.

The Trends

• The National Security Concept of Russia shows that it is committed to the long term conflict and continuation of the hostilities in Ukraine.
• Civil society activists believe that the resumption of electricity supply to the occupied Crimea is indulgence to the aggressor and are reminding  that the contract for the supply expires at 24:00 on 31 December 2015, and  its automatic extension is not foreseen.