11/05/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - Verkhovna Rada failed to vote on the "visa-free package" of laws

Verkhovna Rada failed to vote on the "visa-free package" of laws

11.05.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• Verkhovna Rada failed to vote on the "visa-free package" of laws.
• The leader of UKROP party was imposed a pre-trial restraint in the form of house arrest.
• Former Justice Minister Lukash was detained.
• MP Teteruk hit MP Kuzhel in the head with a bottle in Parliament.

Key Events in Ukraine

• The Verkhovna Rada  failed to adopt a package of laws necessary for the liberalization of the visa regime with the EU. The Labor Code was not amended to protect the rights of sexual minorities. The vote on anti-corruption laws was postponed until November 10. Foreign Minister Klimkin will try to convince the deputies to vote for the laws necessary to implement a visa-free regime. Some MPs believe that the proposed draft laws would allow for uncontrolled intervention of law enforcement authorities in business operations and lead to violations of the rights of owners.
• At the same time, the law on labor migration was adopted, which guarantees the state support and protection of rights to this category of citizens and members of their families.
• SBU reported on the detention of the former Justice Minister in Azarov government Lukash who was put on the wanted list by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Lukash said that she did not hide from the investigation and that investigators knew her whereabouts..
• In a court hearing that lasted for 22 hours, the measure of restraint was selected for the leader of UKROP party Korban in the form of the house arrest for 2 months.
• A re-qualification of the current employees of the Interior Ministry began. Minister Avakov announced the establishment of qualification commissions to assess the qualifications of the employees who will continue working for the new police.
• The Cabinet of Ministers endorsed the Law on the National Police of Ukraine.
• EBRD downgraded the forecast for the decline of the Ukrainian economy based on the results of the year from 9% to 11.5%. The bank forecasts a slight increase of 2% in the following year. EBRD believes that Ukraine generally meets the IMF requirements.
• NBU slightly increased the official hryvnia exchange rate: 23.93 ₴/$ (-0.15 UAH), 24.95 ₴/€ (-0.29 UAH), 3.61 ₴/10 ₽.

Kyiv

• Kyiv’s creditors declined to restructure the capital’s debt of $550 million payable in 2015-2016 and to exchange its current commitments for new bonds with a higher interest rate payable in 2019-2020. Kyiv City Council approved the precedent conditions for the conversion of the local authority debt to the category of government debt.

Ukraine at War

• The situation in the conflict area in Donbas is escalating as the militants’ attacks on the positions of the Ukrainian army intensify. The militants use mortars in addition to small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. Residents of Donetsk reported continuous fighting in the vicinity of Donetsk airport and Maryinka. Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in the previous day. Experts attribute the increased activity of the militants to the meeting in the Normandy format scheduled for November 6.
• The Verkhovna Rada approved the streamlined procedure of issuance of the acts of birth and death to the residents of the occupied territories using the decisions of Ukrainian courts to be delivered within one day.

Ukraine and the World

• The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the “Normandy Four” to resolve the crisis in Donbas will be held in Berlin on November 6.
• Assistant Secretary of Defense Slotkin during her visit to Ukraine confirmed that the United States would facilitate the transition of the Ukrainian army to NATO standards. The standards are planned to be implemented by 2020.
• Vice President Biden said that the extention of the American $1 bn loan is subject to the progress in fighting corruption and the implementation of the tax reform agreed with the IMF.
• Mass protests against government corruption continue in the capital and the largest cities of Romania. The protestors demand the dissolution of parliament and early elections. The protests started after a fire in a Bucharest nightclub resulted in a number of deaths.
• Since the beginning of the year, the number of refugees accepted by Germany alone amounted to about 800,000. The European Commission predicts that nearly 3 million refugees will penetrate into Europe until the end of 2016. The main flow of migrants arrives via the islands of Greece.
• Justice Ministers of the Baltic states signed a memorandum on joint actions when presenting claims for damage from the Soviet occupation to the Russian Federation.
• Experts confirmed that the militants of the Islamic State in Syria used chemical war gases against the opposition waging war against President Assad.
• US President and British government made a statement that the crash of the Russian aircraft could have been caused by a bomb. The Egyptian authorities found no traces of explosives on the wreckage. Many airlines canceled their flights over the Sinai Peninsula.

The Trends

• Experts explain the persectuion by the “Cyberpolice” of a businessman legally promoting the idea of the use of cryptocurrency as a means of electronic funds transfer by the resistance of the law enforcement system to new technologies, from which they cannot receive a corruption rent, and by the investigators’ attempt to prove that they are "necessary" and "indispensable."
• High Council of Justice judges started lustration tests of the judges. In the current environment, there is a risk that the tests will be used as a means of persecution. Prime Minister Yatsenyuk insists on the total overhaul of the judiciary.
• Observers and political analysts believe the detention of the former Justice Minister in Azarov government Lukash to be another attempt by the authorities to distract public attention from the proceedings against the leader of UKROP party Korban.