Excerpts from the most important news on Ukraine
Lviv is emerging as an attractive real estate investment opportunity
17.12.2018
In recent years, Lviv has emerged as Ukraine’s number two real estate market. With a stunning architectural ensemble, vibrant tourism industry and close proximity to the European Union, the city is poised to become a popular choice for international real estate investors seeking to add something Ukrainian to their property portfolios, writes Tim Louzonis for Business Ukraine. However, in order to access the potentially attractive gains on offer here, investors will need to tailor their strategy to the specifics of the Lviv ...China’s BOCE intends to acquire large stake in Ukrainian stock exchange
17.12.2018
Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee has given the green light to China’s Bohai Commodity Exchange (BOCE) to acquire a stake of over twenty-five percent in the share capital of the country’s PFTS Stock Exchange, reports Business Ukraine. The PFTS is one of the oldest Ukrainian stock markets. Trade volumes in 2017 totaled UAH 64.34 billion with a heavy emphasis on government bonds, which accounted for UAH 58 billion of overall trading on the exchange. The deal comes as Ukraine and China experience a period of ...Ukraine’s International Reserves Were Up Nearly USD 1 Billion in November
16.12.2018
Preliminary data suggest that Ukraine’s international reserves increased 5.8% or USD 974.5 million in November, to the equivalent of USD 17,711.5 million as of 1 December 2018. The international reserves increased as a result of the government raising funds and the NBU purchasing foreign currency in the interbank market. The government received USD 2,000.0 million from the placement of eurobonds and USD 82.9 million from the sale of domestic government bonds. At the same time, public debt payments were lower than the revenues from the sale of ...Ukraine Orthodox priests selected a leader
16.12.2018
A leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was selected at a special council of orthodox priests in Kyiv. The special council was held in the ancient St Sophia’s Cathedral. Ukrainian clerics of different Orthodox denominations (The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchate) The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (moscow Patriarchate) and The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church) elected Metropolitan Epifaniy as the leader of the new church. Earlier this year, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople – the first among equals in the world’s Orthodoxy – decided to ...Should Ukraine lease ports in the Sea of Azov to the US?
14.12.2018
By any standard, russia’s attack upon Ukrainian vessels in the Black Sea is an act of war, writes a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council Stephen Blank for The Hill. russian President Vladimir putin ordered the Nov. 25 incident that occurred in the Black Sea (not in the russian-held Kerch Strait, as moscow claims). This operation also climaxed a long series of russian abuses: seizure of Crimea and energy facilities of its coast, claiming that Crimea, the Sea of ...Ukraine poised to export USD 18 billion worth of agricultural products
12.12.2018
The Ukrainian agricultural sector is on track to export produce worth USD 18 billion this calendar year, writes Business Ukraine. If achieved, this total would represent a new record for an industry that is playing an increasingly central role in Ukraine’s economy and dominating the country’s international trade. The agricultural industry currently accounts for approximately 17% of Ukrainian GDP. Many expect it to occupy an even greater share of the national economy in the coming years as broadening international horizons and efficiency innovations ...EU’s commissioner: moscow spread false claims for at least a year before Ukraine’s ship seizures
11.12.2018
The EU’s security commissioner Julian King said russia had paved the way for its decision to fire on and board two artillery ships and a tug boat through the dissemination of fake news, The Guardian reports. The false claims, said to have been spread for “more than a year”, included that Ukraine had infected the sea with cholera and that its secret services had been trying to transport a nuclear bomb to occupied Crimea. According to him, the European commission’s East StratCom ...SBU: russian intelligence is planning provocations in Belgium, Germany, Bulgaria and Spain
11.12.2018
In recent years, moscow has been relentlessly trying to take control of European radical social and political structures, the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) informs. Every year, russia hosts the so-called “conferences of leaders of Europe’s right-wing parties”, “international conservative forums”, meetings of the “global revolutionary alliance”, with the direct organizational and financial assistance of the russian special services, where ideologues of the “Russky Mir” Alexander Dugin, Sergey Glazyev and others equip foreign representatives with the theory of forcible overthrow of ...Kerch Strait bridge causes material losses to Ukraine
10.12.2018
The Kerch Strait bridge was designed to impose a blockade on Ukraine’s Sea of Azov ports, Oleksandr Oliynik, Mariupol port director, tells Nolan Peterson of the Daily Sentinel. Its opening resulted in a 20% reduction in the heights of ships able to enter the Azov and a 31% reduction in cargo weights. Prior to the bridge’s completion, Mariupol’s port received ships with air drafts of up to 41 meters. Now it is limited to no more than 33 meters. Moreover, russia has imposed ...russia launched cyber attacks against Ukraine before ship seizures
10.12.2018
russian government-affiliated actors launched coordinated cyber attacks against Ukrainian government and military targets before and during the attack and seizure of Ukrainian ships and sailors on November 25, a private intelligence firm announced this week, writes defenseone.com. The attacks appeared to be aimed at stealing information that would have been relevant to planning the operation, according to Stealthcare, a cyber threat intelligence group. If so, the revelation challenges russia’s already widely-disputed claim that Ukraine initiated the crisis.Theresa May approved campaign to disrupt putin
09.12.2018
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May has approved the list of six wealthy high-profile russians that has been drawn up by intelligence agencies in an attempt to disrupt their ability to travel and to maintain their business empires, The Telegraph reports. The names of the oligarchs will be circulated across Whitehall departments and shared with the UK’s allies in Europe and in North America. Roman Abramovich is among a group of russian oligarchs to be targeted by British intelligence ...US military sends message to russia
09.12.2018
The US military finally responded to russia’s “unlawful and destabilizing actions” in Ukraine and elsewhere by pushing back against moscow on the seas and in the air. According to Pentagon, a US Air Force OC-135 observation aircraft conducted an “extraordinary flight” 6th of December under the Open Skies Treaty “to reaffirm US commitment to Ukraine.” The flight came the day after the US Navy had sailed the guided missile destroyer USS McCampbell near the Peter the Great Bay in the Sea of ...
