01/25/2016 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - The Communist Party is completely banned in Ukraine

The Communist Party is completely banned in Ukraine

01.25.2016 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• The Communist Party is completely banned in Ukraine.
• The "People’s Front" will not vote for the presidential amendments to the Constitution.
• China supported the establishing of a "new Silk Road" to Ukraine, bypassing Russia.

In Ukraine

• Prime Minister Yatsenyuk met with the "People’s Front" parliamentary faction  of the Verkhovna Rada, and they decided not to support the presidential draft amendments to the Constitution before the consultative referendum takes place. Another possible option could be an exception from the draft of the provisions on the special status of the occupied territories of the Donbass and repeated voting procedure.
• At a meeting of the conciliatory council of the Verkhovna Rada the "Samopomich" party faction offered to rewrite the coalition agreement and to form a new government.
• Poroshenko Bloc faction wants to adopt the presidential amendments to the Constitution regarding the judicial reform in the first reading at the Parliament session on January 28.
• The Supreme Administrative Court upheld the ban of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
• The situation with the flu epidemic in Ukraine remains difficult. Only in Kiev 18 deaths were recorded, more than 20 people died in the Donetsk region.
• The official hryvnia exchange rate again slightly decreased: 24/83 ₴/$ (+0.04 UAH), 26.85 ₴/€ (+0,05 UAH), 3.19 ₴/10 ₽ (+0.01 UAH).

Ukraine at War

• According to official reports from the Donbass, there were no casualties among the soldiers, fighting continues near Donetsk and Horlivka. Intelligence reports that trains with ammunition and fuel are constantly arriving into the occupied territory from Russia. At the same time since December no "convoys" arrived in the Donbass and it is unknown whether the delivery of "humanitarian aid" continues in the future.
• Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Stoudmann arrived in the Crimea to assess the human rights situation on the peninsula, but his status and mandate are not yet determined.

Ukraine and the World

• The US Treasury Department accused the Russian President of corruption. Ministry spokesman Shubin said that the US government was aware of the corruption of Putin for many years.
• US Ambassador Pyatt urged the Verkhovna Rada to adopt a law on privatization of large state enterprises, which are now supported from the budget. He said that the United States provided military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $ 266 million, which included the supply of non-lethal weapons and military advisers services.
• Publication of the PACE report on the functioning of democratic institutions in Ukraine was postponed at least until the end of the year.
• Spanish deputy Agramunt, who is known for his statements in support of Ukraine was elected a new Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The Trends

• The President and his team are trying  to preserve the possibility of adopting of the amendments to the Constitution by the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada by all means. Head of the Parliament Groisman says that there is no need to put the issue of the special status of the Donbass to referendum. Deputy head of the presidential factions of the Verkhovna Rada Kononenko believes that it is impractical to put to referendum issues related to the conflict zone, they should be consider only by the Parliament. He demands from the Verkhovna Rada either to support the Cabinet of Ministers or to dismiss it, while maintaining the coalition. The Presidential faction required to create a commission to investigate corruption in the Parliament.
  Recent statements by the Prime Minister Yatsenyuk on holding a referendum for the adoption of amendments to the Constitution indicate that the chances of approval of the presidential amendments to the Constitution by the Parliament are tiny. Some political experts believe that Yatsenyuk, feeling that his position shaken, and the rating of the "People’s Front" is close to zero, made a pre-emptive strike and forced President Poroshenko to find excuses. In case of the collapse of the ruling coalition and the dismission of the Parliament, he and his political force will get a chance to get the votes, if they promote referendum and counter actions to the president and his supporters’ attempt to grant a special status to  the occupied territories of the Donbass.
• The volunteers help to the army collapses due to a sharp decline in living standards, mass drunkenness and sale of volunteer help on the front line. Many volunteers become involved in other projects, in particular, help to the injured and disabled. However, some project managers believe that the refusal to support the Army will reduce the chances of fighters to survive  as logistics and medical support of the advanced units is bad, so it is necessary to constantly put pressure on the leadership of the army and the country to improve the efficiency of their work.