Excerpts from the most important news on Ukraine
IMF explained upgrade of Ukraine’s GDP forecast
23.10.2020
The IMF links upgraded Ukraine’s GDP forecast for 2020 with a faster-than-expected recovery of some indicators of the country’s economic development in the second quarter of this year, ukrinform reported.“This reflects a better outturn in the second quarter. We saw that retail trade and consumption were rebounding faster than we expected. Therefore we have upgraded our forecast from our June projections,” IMF European Department Director Alfred Kammer told an Ukrinform correspondent in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.At ...Fitch affirms 4 Ukrainian state-owned banks
22.10.2020
Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of JSC CB Privatbank (Privat), JSC State Savings Bank of Ukraine (Oschad), JSC The State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine (Ukrexim) and Public Joint-Stock Company Joint Stock Bank Ukrgasbank (Ukrgas) at ‘B’ with Stable Outlooks. Fitch has also affirmed the Viability Ratings (VRs) of all four banks at their current levels.The affirmations of the IDRs, Support Ratings and Support Rating Floors of all four state-owned banks reflect Fitch’s view of potential ...Ukraine feeds 150 million people worldwide
20.10.2020
Ukraine delivers food products to 150 million people worldwide, according to Deputy Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture Taras Vysotskyi, Ukrinform reported.He stated this during an online briefing on the occasion of the World Food Day and the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.“We estimated – and this was confirmed by sources of international calculations – that Ukraine nourishes 150 million people, with a population of just over ...Ukrainians from all over Italy gathering in Milan to support Markiv
15.10.2020
The Ukrainian community in Italy staged a rally outside the building of the Milan Court of Appeal in support of Ukrainian National Guard serviceman Vitaliy Markiv, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison for his alleged involvement in the death of Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli, Ukrinform reported.Ukrainians from all over Italy are gathering in Milan to support the Ukrainian near the courthouse. This is the third such rally held during the hearing of an appeal against the Markiv verdict. ...China and russia seek to exert influence over US foreign policy through lobbyists
13.10.2020
The Department of State maintains close ties with the academic community, think tanks, and various external sources of expertise in foreign affairs to advance the interests of the United States. However, some foreign governments, such as those of China and russia, seek to exert influence over US foreign policy through lobbyists, external experts, and think tanks, according to the statement of Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.The unique role of think tanks in the conduct of foreign affairs makes transparency regarding ...Ukraine simplifies application for temporary residence permits
12.10.2020
The Government of Ukraine has approved a draft resolution to simplify applying for a temporary residence permit for certain categories of foreigners, Ukrinform reported.“The purpose of the draft resolution is to simplify the procedure for submitting documents to obtain a temporary residence permit for those categories of foreigners who had grounds to obtain such a certificate during their temporary stay in Ukraine. Such foreigners will be able to apply for a certificate without leaving Ukraine,” the explanatory note to the ...UK expands sanctions over Kerch Bridge
03.10.2020
The United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on two individuals and four legal entities involved in building the Kerch Bridge linking russian and the occupied Crimea.The sanctions were imposed on Alexander Ganov, General director of the JSC TC Grand Service Express which operates railway service between russia and the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula, and Leonid Ryzhenkin, Deputy general director for infrastructure projects at Stroigazmontazh (SGM) who since 2015 had supervised the construction of the bridge over the Kerch Strait.In addition, four ...Ukrainian dubbing will become available to Netflix users
29.09.2020
POSTMODERN Postproduction and Tak Treba Production are happy to announce joining the program the Netflix Post Partner Program for Ukrainian Language Dubbing, the press service of the FILM.UA Group said in a Facebook post.The companies received the highest status – GOLD. It has not yet been reported when the first films will be available in Ukrainian.Studios POSTMODERN Postproduction and Tak Treba Production are engaged in dubbing and creating subtitles for films and TV series in Ukrainian and russian. Both studios ...russia continues to saturate Donbas with weapons
19.09.2020
In September, russia has delivered 1,200 tonnes of fuel, six wagons and more than ten trucks full of anti-tank mines and munitions to the occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, ukrinform.net reported.“Since the beginning of September, about 1,200 tonnes of fuel, six wagons and more than ten trucks full of anti-tank mines and munitions, including for artillery systems, have been delivered by rail and road transport from russia to the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions through ...Supreme Court suspends withdrawing of USD 350m from PrivatBank
13.09.2020
Ukraine’s Supreme Court has frozen a lower court decision to force state-owned PrivatBank to pay USD 350m to Surkis brothers until the end of the cassation proceedings in the case.Brothers are considered to be ‘related parties’ to the previous owners who looted the bank until its nationalization in 2016.Last week, a lower court ruled the brothers’ six British companies can start withdrawing money from the bank. The ruling drew widespread condemnation and seemed to raise a red flag to continued ...U.S. Treasury Department imposes sanctions on Ukrainian MP Derkach
13.09.2020
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on the Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach, according to a press release posted on the agency’s website.He is one of four people against whom sanctions are imposed for interference in the U.S. election process. In addition to Derkach, sanctions were imposed against russian citizens Artem Lifshits, Anton Andreyev and Darya Aslanova.Earlier, Derkach also released recordings of telephone conversations between persons with voices similar to those of Poroshenko and ...Ukraine climbed four places in global economic freedom ranking
13.09.2020
Ukraine has climbed four spots in the global economic freedom ranking, but remains the only European country in the category of economically unfree countries, according to the Fraser Institute.Ukraine climbed four places in the ranking from 135th to 131th due to such indicators as the size of government, sound money and freedom to trade internationally.At the same time, Ukraine remains in the group of the most economically unfree countries and is the only European country there.
