18/09/2014 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - President Poroshenko spoke to joint session of US Congress and Senate

18/09/2014 Daily Highlights from “Digests & Analytics Ukraine” News Agency

Despite the drastic decline of the industrial production, foreign affairs perspectives of Ukraine are strongly improving, as support by the US, Canada and the EU could be a prerequisite for the development leap for the country after the end of combat operations. At the same time, Russia intensifies preparations for invasion from territory of Donbass, Rostov region, Crimea and Transdnestria.

Ukraine

• Financial Minister of Ukraine Shlapak stressed during Lviv Financial Forum that according to the joint assessment of the macroeconomic indicators, performed with the IMF, there is no basis for restructuring of the sovereign debt.
• Kharkiv football fans and nationalists broke up a rally of Communist Party supporters, who were protesting against the demolition of the Lenin monument, against "fascism" and in support of "the people of Donbass". Police abstained from any action.
• Minister of Internal Affairs Avakov announced that the ministry will very soon introduce a concept of radical reforms. Specifically: functions of traffic police and patrolling police will be merged, traffic police will not be responsible anymore for issuing driving licenses and technical passports for vehicles, mass introduction of the automated traffic and speed control devices. Also emergency, border control and migration authorities will be directly reporting to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.     
• Based on the trading results on the interbank market, National Bank strongly devaluated Ukrainian hryvnya vs major currencies: 13.43 UAH/USD (-35 cop), 17.39 UAH/EUR (-45 cop), 3.50 UAH/10 RUB (+12 cop).
• State statistics agency reported that in August industrial production declined more than by 20% vs. the same period of last year and by 13% vs. previous month.
• Ukrzaliznytsya announced losses of 5.3 bin. UAH from passenger traffic operations. This is 1.5 times worse than the previous year.

Kyiv

• Kyivrada adopted numerous decisions on land affairs, despite opposition of several deputies from Svoboda fraction and from the Radical Party, mining alarm and internal fight. Mayor Klitchko said that 50 hectares of land have been allocated to Kyiv citizens, who participate to the combat operations.
• Municipal insurance company will be created in Kyiv in 2015 as part of the planned introduction of the obligatory state health insurance.

War in Ukraine

• International Red Cross declined to accompany another "humanitarian convoy", under the pretext of which Russia transfers arms and ammunition to Ukraine. The third convoy is ready to enter Ukraine without any customs clearance and not being checked by the IRC personnel, which is being recognized by the World community as aggression.
• Russia have concentrated its invasion forces in northern part of Crimea, bordering with Kherson region.
• The cease-fire regimen is being ubiquitously breached by terrorists and Russian troops, which are attacking positions of Ukrainian army. Donets’k international airport has been massively shelled and attacked again. 17 Ukrainian military killed and tens wounded since the introduction of the Minsk truce protocol. Terrorists are systematically destroying traffic infrastructure of Donets’k and Luhans’k regions, mortar shelling of Donets’k are ongoing. DPR and LPR authorities proclaimed nationalization of Donbass coal mines but they’re silent about paying salaries to the miners.
• Human Rights Ombudsman of Verkhovna Rada Lutkivs’ka accused Crimean occupation authorities of fueling of the international strife and persecutions on the basis of national origin for performing searches in residences and buildings of Crimean tatars. This has been as well stressed by the European authorities for international affairs.
• Head of the OSCE mission in Ukraine announced an increase of the observers head counts to maximally allowed 500 persons.

International

• President Poroshenko during his speech at the special session of the US Senate and Congress urged to provide Ukraine with the special status of priority partner outside NATO, create a fund to support US investment projects in Ukraine, as well as claimed Russian aggression as the Global security challenge. As the result of the meeting with President Obama, widening of military and defense collaboration have been announced. US Congress adopted a decision to allocate extra 53 millions of dollars to support temporary settlers, Ukrainian army, border guards, as well as for military training. External Affairs Commitee of the US Congress adopted legislation to unilaterally tighten sanctions against Russia and allow arms supplies to Ukraine.
• Russian minister of Economic Development Ul’yukayev admitted that Russia is not capable to introduce restrictive measures against the western countries, which have introduced new sanctions, without harming its own economy.
• Exit polls at the Scotland independence referendum reveal that less than half of the voters supported the independence.
• Recently published resolution of the European Parliament declares the right of Ukraine to join the EU and mentions the association as a first step in that direction. The appeal to the EU have been adopted as well to terminate collaboration with Russia in the sphere of the nuclear research and to  disconnect Russian financial institutions from the SWIFT interbank system.

Trends

• Systematic destruction of the Donbass infrastructure just before the winter season leads to the assumption that Russia plans to forcefully move Donbass inhabitants from Donetsk and Luhans’k regions to Russian territories for further resettlement to Ural, far North, Siberia and far East, where Russia faces catastrophic lack of population.