10/19/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - More than half of Ukrainians is ready to protest if standards of living get lower

More than half of Ukrainians is ready to protest

10.19.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• More than half of Ukrainians is ready to protest if standards of living get lower.
• Kharkov court sentenced two prison guards, who beat former Prime Minister Tymoshenko, to imprisonment .
• The captain of the "Ivolga" boat , which sank with tourists near Odessa, was taken into custody.

Key Events in Ukraine

• President Poroshenko at the meeting of the National Council of Reforms, said that without the removal of judicial and parliamentary immunity the introduction of a visa-free regime with the EU can be thwarted. He called on the Cabinet and the Parliament to speed up the implementation of the action plan on the visa liberalization.
• Prime Minister Yatsenyuk said that the judiciary needs to be changed completely, as it is completely corrupt and tied up with the conspiracy of silence. He believes that corruption in the energy sector had been overcome.
• According to the survey conducted by the "Rating" Service , more than half of the respondents are willing to protest in the event of a significant deterioration of their living conditions. However, according to the agency, the incumbent President and his political force are supported by more than 20% of the respondents.
• Activists, protesting against the actions of the city election commission of Mariupol, broke into the printing office, where the election ballots were printed without observers. Elections in the city are in jeopardy. The Head of the Donetsk military and civil administration Zhebrivskyi admits the possibility of cancellation of the elections in the city.
• According to media reports, former president Yanukovych filed a lawsuit with the ECHR on violation of his rights during the investigation, but Ukrainian officials say that they did not receive any confirmation from the court about the lawsuit. Information regarding the search for Yanukovych and some former officials of his regime disappeared from the Interpol wanted list.
• Naftogaz paid Ukrgazvydobuvannya UAH 10 billion (about $460 million) for the natural gas supplied and paid off all the debts.
• Standard & Poor's agency downgraded the forecast for the fall of the economy in 2015 from 7.5% to 15%. At the same time, the sovereign ratings in local and foreign currency were increased from SD/D pre-default level to B-/B level with a stable forecast.
• Fluctuations of the official hryvnia exchange rate do not exceed 1,5%: 21,62 ₴ / $ (+0,32 UAH), 24,50 ₴ / € (+0,31 UAH), 3,52 ₴ / 10 ₽ (+0, 05 UAH). Cash rate in exchange offices in relation to dollar and euro is by 1.5 hryvnia higher.

Kyiv

• The area near Kyiv with burning peat increased. The concentration of harmful substances in some parts of the city exceeded the allowable limits by almost half. Service for Emergency Situations reported that firefighters are working day-and-night. The leadership of the Service claimed that the fires were caused by careless handling of fire and arsons.

Ukraine at War

• Maryinka came under the mortar fire. The Headquarters of the Anti-Terrorist Operation report that no armed clashes were recorded. The second phase of weapons withdrawal in the Donetsk region, starting with the tanks on Debaltseve direction, is scheduled on October 20 . The withdrawal of weapons in the Luhansk region was verified by the OSCE observers. Several militants were injured during mine disarming near Volnovaha .
  According to the monitoring of the OSCE mission , the militants did not withdrew heavy equipment from the fighting line in the Donetsk region. In the front area there are tanks, self-propelled guns and anti-aircraft missiles.
• Advisor to the SBU head Tandit said that the exchange of prisoners, disrupted by the militants last week, could take place in the nearest time. According to him, in Kharkiv the activity of the "Oplot" was suppressed , some of its members fled to the Donbass.

Ukraine and the World

• Syrian Ambassador to Russia Haddad called Turkish President Erdogan crazy, saying he opened the borders with  Europe for refugees  to put pressure on the EU to speed up the integration of his country to the EU.
• Federal Air Transport Agency of the Russian Federation sent a letter to the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine proposing to start talks on restoration of air communication between the two countries. Minister of Infrastructure Pivovarskiy said that Ukraine is ready to negotiate.
• In the Mediterranean, NATO is carrying out the largest since 2002 military exercises with the participation of 36 thousand soldiers from 30 countries, including Ukraine. The maneuvers involved 60 ships and submarines, 130 aircraft and 16 helicopters.
• In Dresden (Germany), PEGIDA social movement held a rally against the illegal migrants demanding to tighten the immigration legislation. More then 20 thousand people participated in action.
• The opposition Liberal Party is confidently winning the elections in Canada. Its leader promised to make the economy more socially oriented, to raise taxes for the wealthiest citizens, and to invest more into infrastructure projects.

The Trends

• Verkhovna Rada Committee on Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship, USAID and CIPE issued a report on the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the country for 2010-2014. According to the report, small and medium enterprises provide employment for more than 70% of the population, produce more than half of the goods and services, and provide up to 90% of turnover in some areas. Most of enterprises, providing up to 90% of goods and services in some areas, are related to trade and agriculture.  Since 2010, the number of their employees decreased from 5.4 to 4.3 million people. Theier payment of taxes to the budget is extremely low. Experts attribute this to the shadow economy and unfavorable business conditions.