02/04/2016 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - The Government crisis in Ukraine is in full swing

The Government crisis in Ukraine is in full swing

02.04.2016 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• The Government crisis in Ukraine is in full swing.
• More than 57% of Ukrainians support accession to the EU.
• The European Parliament adopted an unprecedentedly strict resolution on human rights violations in the occupied Crimea.
• The Verkhovna Rada at the second attempt ratified the agreement on opening of the  NATO office in Ukraine.

Key Events in Ukraine

• Prime Minister Yatsenyuk gathered an emergency meeting of the Government, during which he said that he would not tolerate any political pressure and compromise from both coalition partners and other political forces. Ministers Stets, Kvitashvili and Pavlenko withdrew their resignation statements, Abromavicius - refused to do it. Minister of Infrastructure Pivovarsky called granting of an adequate level of salaries and possibility to implement the reforms which are already under way as conditions of his return to the Government.
• Poroshenko Bloc has decided not to exclude Kononenko, who was accused of abuse of office by minister Abromavicius. Kononenko resigned from the post of the faction deputy head and expressed willingness to undergo a lie-detector test together with Abromavicius.
• President Poroshenko appointed Tochitskyi, former permanent representative to the Council of Europe, an ambassador to Belgium and the EU .
• The Parliament at the second attempt ratified the agreement on the opening of the NATO Office in Ukraine.
  The Verkhovna Rada simplified the court procedure to establish the facts of birth and death of citizens in the temporarily occupied territories of the Crimea and the Donbass.
  The Parliament dismissed 35 judges, including former Head of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Onopienko in connection with the submitted applications, and for health reasons.
  A law on readmission from the package needed for Ukraine to get a visa-free regime with the EU was adopted. Administrative claims of foreigners will be dealt with urgently, and not within five days.
  A decision on the resumption of funding of vocational education establishments was adopted.
  MP Chumak left the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction.
• The Central Election Commission appealed in the court a decision to cancel the elections to the district councils of Kiev.
• According to a survey conducted by the  "Rating" sociological group, Ukraine's accession to the EU is supported by more than half of the respondents. Nearly half (47%) speaks in favor of joining NATO. Rating of the President dropped by a third, in the case of early presidential elections he would be supported by only 22%, against 32% a year earlier.
• Ukraine has not yet agreed with the IMF the updated text of the memorandum on revision of the lending program, which is necessary for allocation of the next credit tranche.
• The hryvnia exchange rate continues to fall: 25.89 ₴/$ (+0.19 UAH), 29,02 ₴/€ (+0.92 UAH), 3.38 ₴/10 ₽ (+0.14 UAH).

Kyiv

• The service for informing residents of emergency situations, urgent public needs, news and entertainment through the SMS-messages or email was launched in the capital.

Ukraine at War

• The situation in the fighting zone escalated along all the front line, the number of attacks has dramatically increased. One soldier was wounded near Horlivka .

Ukraine and the World

• The European Parliament condemned the unprecedented violation of human rights of the Crimean Tatars, severe restrictions on freedom to express opinion and on peaceful gatherings by Russia in the occupied Crimea. Ukraine's proposal to hold negotiations on the restoration of the sovereignty on the peninsula in the "Geneva +" format with direct participation of the EU was supported . The MEPs supported a ban on imports of the Crimean goods without Ukrainian certificates, as well as the restriction on exports of goods and investment in the Crimea.
• Germany speaks in favor of extending of the OSCE mandate  in Ukraine, without making any changes. The US says that Russia unilaterally blocks the extension of the OSCE mission in the area of ​​the state border with Ukraine. Deputy Chief of Mission Hug says that the majority of cases of refusal to let the observers to conduct the checks occurs in the territory uncontrolled by the Ukrainian authorities, and this is an absolute violation of the Minsk agreements.
• The donor countries at a conference in London agreed on the allocation of assistance for Syria for more than $ 10 billion over four years, of which $ 6 billion will be allocated immediately.

The Trends

• The big Government crisis continues in Ukraine. Experts connect it with the intention of the President to gain control over the key positions in the Government. Poroshenko, at the meeting with European ambassadors, said that it is urgent to change the composition of the Cabinet of Ministers,  leaving there the Ministers-reformers, together with their teams. Head of the Poroshenko faction in the Parliament  Lutsenko claims that the refusal of the Government Head to accept the candidates proposed by the coalition for ministerial posts could lead to his dismissal. Advisor to President Medvedev said that the staff changes in the Cabinet will begin immediately after the Government's report in the Parliament on 16 February. Samopomich party stated that Minister Pavlenko is no longer a representative of their faction in the Government. Leaders of the coalition factions will in the nearest time  meet with the Prime Minister to discuss the future of the Government,  the issue of resignation was not discussed during the meeting of the conciliation council in the Parliament.
• The Russia's Foreign Ministry protested in response to search of 73 officers of the joint center for control and coordination (STSKK), during which two laptops and hard drive were seized . Russia claims that the officers were returning to Russia according to the planned rotation after the completion of a business trip. However, the Verkhovna Rada did not give permission for the presence of foreign military formations on the territory of Ukraine.