Excerpts from the most important news on Ukraine
US: russian passportization in Donbas blocks Minsk agreements
20.06.2020
russia’s illegal issuance of passports in the uncontrolled territories of Donbas is an attempt to legitimize the so-called “DPR” and “LPR”, and this policy hinders a peaceful settlement and blocks the implementation of the Minsk agreements, Ukrinform reports.“As we noted last week, russia has embarked on a multi-year program of ‘passportization’ in eastern Ukraine, issuing more than 187,000 passports to Ukrainian citizens residing in russia-controlled territory — the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk “People’s Republics.” Why do you have to do ...Commerzbank fined for money laundering failings
19.06.2020
The UK’s financial regulator has fined Commerzbank £38m for money-laundering failures, including an “out-of-control” system for checking clients, The Guardian reports.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the German business bank had failed to put money-laundering controls in place over a period of five years, despite three separate warnings from the regulator.The fine is one of the largest handed out by the regulator in relation to money-laundering failures.Far-right French MP that is close to kremlin joined European Endowment for Democracy
19.06.2020
Thierry Mariani, a French MEP from the far-right National Union party, has joined the board of directors of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED). The organization calls its mission to support democratic activists, political prisoners, and promote human rights in the EU and the Middle East, promoteukraine.org reports.As the French edition of Mediapart reminded, Mariani is known for his active pro-russian position, uncoordinated trips to the russian-occupied Crimea, meeting with Bashar al-Assad and ambiguous statements about the territorial integrity of Ukraine.The board of directors, which ...Ukraine’s Top Court rules in favor of government in PrivatBank case
16.06.2020
Ukraine’s Supreme Court has reversed a lower-court decision in favor of the government in a landmark case related to state-owned PrivatBank.The top court’s ruling on June 15 means the government does not have to pay back more than a billion hryvnyas ($37 million) to two brothers who lost their savings in the 2016 nationalization of Ukraine’s largest lender, writes RadioLiberty.The victory comes days after Ukraine struck a $5 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that was partly contingent on its ...Congressional Republicans offer to designate russia “State sponsor of terrorism”
16.06.2020
As part of a new policy of containment, the United States should declare russia a state sponsor of terrorism over its support for various militant groups and terror organizations around the world, Republicans lawmakers in the U.S. Congress stress in a recent foreign policy recommendations summary.The Republican Study Committee (RSC) released on June 10 the document entitled “The RSC National Security Strategy: Strengthening America & Countering Global Threats”.The document includes over 130 policy recommendations focused on strengthening America and countering its global ...Ukraine received $2.1 bn from IMF
15.06.2020
Ukraine has received the $2.1 billion from last week’s IMF stabilization deal, boosting national reserves to $28.7 billion, ubn.news reports.Yakiv Smoliy, governor of the National Bank of Ukraine tweeted Friday: “Did you know that the funds are not coming directly from the IMF, but from the member countries of the Fund? Since yesterday, the funds have been received in parts in dollars, euros, yen, pounds and yuan.”An IMF checkup team is to come to Kyiv this summer, Finance Minister ...Moody’s upgrades Ukraine’s ratings; stable outlook
13.06.2020
Moody’s Investors Service, (“Moody’s”) has upgraded the Government of Ukraine’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to B3 from Caa1. The outlook on the ratings is stable.The main driver of the decision to upgrade the ratings to B3 is the easing of Ukraine’s near-term funding challenges and the safeguards afforded to recent improvements in its external vulnerability as a result of the announced new financing programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The decision to upgrade the ratings also reflects Moody’s expectation that the new ...Canada will resume training of Ukrainian soldiers
11.06.2020
Military instructors of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are returning to Ukraine to train soldiers after Canada was forced to reduce the number of Operation UNIFIER personnel in Ukraine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.“CAF soldiers will be arriving in Ukraine mid-June to resume training in support of the Security Forces of Ukraine. Members will isolate for a period of 14 days before joining the mission to protect the force in the COVID-19 environment,” the CAF posted on Twitter.At the end of ...Danone whitewashes kremlin terrorists
11.06.2020
The French company Danone, which has an office in Ukraine, shot a new commercial with the scandalous russian actor Mikhail Porechenkov, who took part in the fighting in Donbas and fired toward the Ukrainian soldiers.Ukrainian citizens quickly reacted and reminded of his actions in Ukraine. The Ukrainian embassy in France also condemned the actions of the representative office of the French company Danone russia.“Big business must be responsible. The pursuit of profit is not a reason to forget about morality. ...Representatives of foreign far-right organizations are taking combat training in russia
11.06.2020
Right-wing extremists from Germany undergo paramilitary training in a camp near St. Petersburg, according to the German Focus. Several course participants belong to the “Third Way” (Der Dritte Weg) and “Young Nationalists” parties, monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, reporters claim.The “Third Way” was formed in 2013 by people from the National Democratic Party (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands) and the banned Free Network South organization. The party is tied with the Assad government in Syria, ...Nearly 400,000 British companies evade anti-money laundering checks
10.06.2020
Nearly 400,000 British companies do not, will not or cannot say who controls them, according to research carried out by openDemocracy.In 2016, the UK’s more than four million firms were ordered to identify who controls them, in an attempted crackdown on anonymously owned shell structures often used to wash dirty money through the international financial system.However, a detailed analysis of millions of filings at Britain’s corporate registry, Companies House, shows almost 10 per cent of UK firms still do not ...IMF approves Stand-By Arrangement for Ukraine
10.06.2020
The IMF Executive Board has approved an 18-month Stand-By Arrangement for Ukraine, with total access of about $5 billion, the IMF said in a statement on June 9. According to the statement, the approval of the SBA enables the immediate disbursement of about $2.1 billion.“The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved today an 18-month Stand-by Arrangement for Ukraine, with access equivalent to SDR 3.6 billion (about US$5 billion or 179 percent of quota),” the IMF said.The new program ...
