01/06/2016 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas

Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas

01.06.2016 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas.
• Life sentence of the Militia General Pukach remained unchanged.
• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church tolerates the celebration of Christmas on December 25.
• Video service Netflix was officially launched in Ukraine.

Key Events in Ukraine

• State Migration Service will no longer require police certificates of good conduct to issue international passports.
• The Court of Appeal upheld the life sentence of the Militia General Pukach accused of the murder of journalist Gongadze.
• National Bank suspended the operation of 24nonstop payment system, which owns an extensive network of payment terminals across the country, starting January 5 until it eliminates violations of the law.
• NBU strengthened the official hryvnia exchange rate for the second consecutive day: 23.50 ₴/$ (-0.28 UAH), 25.25 ₴/€ (-0.31 UAH), 3.22 ₴/10 ₽ (-0.04 UAH ).

Ukraine at War

• According to the official data, in the past day Ukrainian army did not suffer losses, although one soldier was wounded in Maryinka. Militants opened unaimed fire at the Ukrainian positions with small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars near Donetsk, Horlivka and Svitlodarsk.
• Intelligence reports that 8,000 Russian servicemen are part of the illegal armed groups operating  in Donbas.
• Leader of the terrorist Luhansk "Republic" Plotnitskiy refused to release hostages before Christmas, despite the agreement reached by the contact group in Minsk.

Ukraine and the World

• The price of oil on world markets dropped again to the ten-year minimum. The price of Brent is just above $33 per barrel. With the reduction in energy prices, Russian ruble continued to decline against major currencies. Yesterday, the CBR established the exchange rate of 74 ₽/$.
• Coca-Cola apologized for the publication by its Russian branch of maps showing Crimea as part of Russia, and removed them from the company website.
• Head of Vilnius Police Lancinskas will head the EU advisory mission to Ukraine for the reform of the law enforcement agencies.
• UN Security Council at an emergency meeting condemned the test of a hydrogen bomb by North Korea and threatened tougher sanctions.
• Video-on-demand broadcaster Netflix has announced the launch of its services in 130 countries, including Ukraine. The price of a monthly subscription varies from €8 to €12, depending on the display quality of the content and the number of connected devices.
• Court of Arbitration in The Hague started proceedings initiated by Ukrainian oligarch Kolomoisky against Russia for violating the rights to operate Airport Belbek in Crimea.

The Trends

• The European Commission reminded the Ukrainian authorities of their obligation to launch the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption in the first quarter of 2016. The Agency should check not only electronic, but also paper-based declarations of the officials. The controversial amendment to the budget law should be annulled as soon as possible.