07/30/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - The US imposed further sanctions against Russia

The US imposed further sanctions against Russia

07.30.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine News Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• The US imposed further sanctions against Russia and surrounding of former President Yanukovych.
• Dzerzhinsk was shelled by militants from Horlivka, there are casualties among civilians.
• The court recognized that privatization of 25% shares of "Dniproenergo" by oligarch Akhmetov was illegal.

Key Events In Ukraine

• President Poroshenko signed a law to strengthen the social protection of military, including the re-calculation of their pensions.
• The State Property Fund announced its decision to close 11 mines, for 24 other mines it considers the option of their restructuring.
• The Prosecutor’s Office demands to take former Minister of Justice Lavrynovych into custody, but Pechersk court released him on bail with a deposit of UAH 1.2 million (about $58,000).
• Kiev city council signed an agreement to restructure the debt obligations totaling more than  USD 5 billion, issued in 2012.
• The Ministry of Finance introduced a bill to the Parliament, according to which it will be necessary to obtain  the Cabinet of Ministers agreement to introduce the amendments proposed by the Parliament to the budget.
• The National Bank significantly strengthened the hryvnia exchange rate: 21.61 UAH/USD (-0.46 UAH), 23.68 UAH/EUR (-0,67 UAH), 3.66 UAH/RUR 10 (-0.03 UAH).

Ukraine at War

• The militants continue shellings and attacks on the Ukrainian army positions and settlements along all the  fighting line using heavy weapons, which should have been withdrawn according to the Minsk Agreement. First Vice-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Parubiy said the offensive of the Russian occupiers could begin on August 1; the forces concentrated in the Donbass and on the eastern border of Ukraine are the biggest since the beginning of the conflict, shock troops are moved to the front line.
  The OSCE observers claim that Dzerzhinsk was shelled by the militants from Horlivka, several civilians were killed and wounded as a result of it.
  According to the official reports, four Ukrainian soldiers were wounded during the past day.
  Another Putin’s "convoy" invaded the territory of Ukraine.

Ukraine and the World

• The US imposed new sanctions against Russian legal entities and individuals, as well as persons close to former President Yanukovych. The Department of State claims that these measures are not connected to the Russia's veto on the UN Security Council resolution to establish the tribunal to investigate the MH-17 flight accident.
• Russian officials reported that they reached an agreement with France regarding the termination of the contract for the supply of the "Mistral" class helicopter carriers, and they agreed the amount and terms of repayment.
• Department of State spokesman Toner said that the United States supported the initiative of President Poroshenko to withdraw the weapons with the caliber of less than 100 mm from the fighting line in the Donbass, and call on all parties to the conflict to fulfill the Minsk Agreement.
• Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada Parubiy said that the issue of establishment of a tribunal to investigate the MH-17 flight  aircraft accident  will be considered at the UN General Assembly session in September. The countries, most affected by this terrorist attack, are considering the alternative options to conduct a trial bypassing the Russia's veto in the UN Security Council.
• "Gazprom" filed an appeal against the decision of the Federal Court of Germany to ban the sale of the liquid gas at the petrol stations, but the final verdict in the case is not yet adopted. In the UK, "Gazprom" closed a project to build the largest natural gas storage facility. Russian gas monopolist conducts a restructuring of its foreign assets and reduces the number of employees of these companies, which it calls "optimization". According to media reports, the talks on the "Turkish stream" are suspended indefinitely, since Russia does not want to document a discount for the natural gas delivered to Turkey. "Ukrtransgaz" reported that the volumes of natural gas, supplied by "Gazprom" to Europe via Ukraine, are constantly growing and reached maximum ​​since the beginning of the year.
• The International Organization for Migration reported on a sharp increase in the number of Ukrainians working abroad illegally. The most attractive countries for the migrants are Poland, Germany and Italy.
• The OPEC countries are not going to cut the oil production, despite the decline of the world prices and the Iran’s entry to the market.

The Trends

• The Constitutional Court is going to announce a positive decision regarding the constitutional changes, introduced by the President and approved by the Parliament in the first reading. According to experts, the President has the ability to gather 300 deputies' votes not only from the current coalition, but also from the opposition blok for the adoption of these changes . According to many representatives of the civil society, the proposed changes to the Constitution have nothing to do with the decentralization proclaimed in them , instead they are aimed at the creation of the President’s power vertical.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed over to the Court of Vienna the official answers of President Poroshenko and Mayor of Kiev Klitschko about perjury of oligarch Firtash, but the parties do not deny the fact of the meeting before the elections .