Excerpts from the most important news on Ukraine
Ukraine has saved ₴63 bln due to ProZorro system
17.04.2019
Ukraine has saved UAH 63 billion in public procurement due to the ProZorro system. Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said this during a government meeting today, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.“We have introduced the ProZorro system, UAH 2.2 million in public purchases. We have the positive effect – we saved UAH 63 billion off the declared price and the funds actually spent,” he said.The prime minister also stated that corruption in the VAT refund sector had been eliminated through the ...Ukraine to begin production of its own counter-battery radar
17.04.2019
Zoopark-3 counter-battery radar (1L220UK), developed at the State Enterprise “Scientific and Production Complex “Iskra”, which is part of the State Enterprise “Ukroboronprom”, is a breakthrough in domestic radio detection and ranging.“A counter-battery radar has undergone field test operations within the framework of state tests. They were successful enough. The radar is currently in the workshop and is being prepared for the next stages of state tests, which we must complete by the end of May. We expect this item of ...SBU detains a group of russian special services saboteurs
17.04.2019
Ukraine’s SBU Security Service has stopped the activity of a subversive terrorist group of the russian special services in Ukraine and detained its members. SBU Chief Vasyl Hrytsak said this at a briefing on Wednesday, Ukrinform reports.“I officially report that the Security Service of Ukraine suspended the activity in the territory of our state of a sabotage and intelligence terrorist group of the russian special services, consisting of seven people. All of them were detained and arrested. This morning we ...Ukraine sees 7.3% decline in unemployment in March
17.04.2019
Ukraine saw a 7.3% decline in the unemployment rate in March 2019 compared to February 2019.There were 340,700 officially registered unemployed Ukrainians in March 2019, the country’s State Statistics Service has said. Read also Labor migrants transfer nearly US$11 bln to Ukraine in 2018 – NBU The number of the unemployed in the urban area was 184,400 people, while there were 156,300 jobless in the rural area, UNIAN reports.Among them, there were 189,600 women and 151,100 men. The ...MediaMovement appeals to Zelensky
17.04.2019
Representatives of several Ukrainian mass-media and media NGO’s published an open appeal to the candidate for the presidency of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky urging to hold a press conference not later than on April 18.Dear Mr. Zelensky,On April 21, the second round of presidential electionin Ukraine will take place. During your election campaign, you made dozens of videos that became coverage opportunities for news and materials in media. You gave a few interviews to a number of chosen media before the ...Ukrainian business begins to see benefits of EU association agreement
15.04.2019
The Ukrainian economy is successfully integrating with the European Union, just one of many positive aspects of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which came into effect in September 2017 and is now offering real results, emerging-europe.com reports.That is the opinion of Hugues Mingarelli, the head of the European Union’s delegation in Ukraine. Speaking at a forum of small and medium-sized businesses in the city of Kharkiv, Mr Mingarelli highlighted that 42 per cent of Ukraine’s exports went to the EU last year, ...Unfinished Business: russia’s War on Ukraine
13.04.2019
The fifth anniversary on 18 March of russia’s annexation of Crimea and the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election two weeks later prompt reflection on the most serious conflict to threaten Europe’s security since the Cold War ended: the smouldering war between russia and Ukraine.The most important aspect of Ukraine’s presidential election is its legitimacy. Unlike almost all other so-named exercises in the now-independent states that were under Soviet-russian rule – with the exceptions of Georgia and Moldova and the ...Ukraine expects to receive $616 mln in donor assistance
12.04.2019
The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine in 2019 expects to receive US$615.8 million worth of international technical assistance from a number of donors, UNIAN reports.The ministry says among the largest donors there is the United States ($204.44 million), the European Commission ($213.04 million), and the United Nations ($105.2 million).The list of donors also includes the European Investment Bank, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the OSCE, NEFCO, Sweden, Switzerland, and Denmark.russia is spending $4 bln on occupation of Crimea and Donbas annually
12.04.2019
russia spends $4 billion a year on maintenance of the occupation regimes in Crimea and Donbas, reports Ukrinform.“These days, russia spends more than $4 billion a year on the maintenance of the occupation regimes in Crimea and Donbas. It is a big burden for russia in the present-day situation. Crimea was an element of the kremlin’s internal policy, when they tried to jack the putin’s rating up before the presidential election. To date, the russians’ perception of the occupation of ...US ambassador criticizes European Commission on Nord Stream 2
12.04.2019
U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland Thursday criticized the European Commission for not putting more effort into killing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, writes Politico. The Commission is trying to regulate the operation of the contentious Gazprom-led project through amended EU gas rules, but argues it cannot stop the pipeline from being built because its construction doesn’t violate EU rules.Using the rule-of-law argument is “a very convenient excuse for essentially facilitating primarily Germany’s desire to have cheap energy from ...Hacked russia’s party docs outline plan eerily similar to Zelensky campaign
08.04.2019
When Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of russia’s third-largest party LDPR, declared that he will recognize Ukrainian elections only if the winner is comic-turned-candidate Volodymyr Zelensky, it came as no surprise, writes Euromaidanpress.However, what does come at least as a striking coincidence, is a plan to get someone like Zelensky elected which came allegedly from the servers of LDPR in September 2014.https://twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1112969113700388864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1112969113700388864&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Feuromaidanpress.com%2F2019%2F04%2F06%2Fhacked-2014-docs-from-russias-ldpr-party-outline-plan-eerily-similar-to-zelenskyi-campaign%2FSince being shared on in September 2014, the resources on which the tranche of documents was hosted were ...Fitch affirms Ukraine’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Rating at ‘B-
07.04.2019
International rating agency Fitch Ratings has affirmed Ukraine’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B-‘ with a Stable Outlook, writes Ukrinform. “Fitch Ratings has affirmed Ukraine’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B-‘ with a Stable Outlook,” reads the statement on Fitch Ratings website.As noted, Ukraine’s ratings balance weak external liquidity, high external financing needs driven by sovereign external debt repayments, a weak banking sector, institutional constraints and political risks in relation to peers, against improved policy credibility ...
