Editor's Note: The Kyiv Post will be tracking the progress made by Ukraine's post-EuroMaidan Revolution leaders in making deep structural changes in the public interest. The Reform Watch project is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation. Content is independent of the financial donor.
1.Security & Defense
Ukraine’s army will grow to 250,000 troops, according to new legislation that comes into effect on March 27. Currently the army is at 230,000 and is projected to reach 250,000 during the next wave of mobilization that begins in April.
2. Energy
Utility bills will rise in April. The gas tariff (Hr 1,200 per 1,000 cubic meters) will be raised threefold, while the heating tariff (Hr 300 per gigacalorie) will increase by 70 percent. The hikes are part of a deal with the International Monetary Fund. The government earmarked some Hr 24 billion in subsidies for low income households out of a Hr 476 billion budget for 2015. Critics have been questioning the government’s energy and subsidy policy and warning of social unrest.
3. Rule of Law
The Venice Commission gave relatively high marks to the law on fair trial, which comes into force on March 28. Among the improvements noted by the advisory body of the Council of Europe: the strengthening of the role of Supreme Court, a formal role for the president in appointing judges for probation periods, and detailed instructions for the qualification exams of judges. At the same time, the commission asked Ukraine’s leadership for a number of amendments to the law and Constitution in order to limit the power of the president to transfer judges, to eliminate the ability of parliament to appoint and dismiss judges and to strip judges of their immunity, and to cancel the power of the president to create and liquidate courts.
4. Public Administration
The Cabinet of Ministers drafted a new law on state service to introduce competitive and transparent procedures for hiring state employees. A special vetting commission will be formed to select candidates for senior positions, according to the bill. President Petro Poroshenko also signed a law that returns government control over the oil giant UkrNafta, which is majority owned by state gas provider Naftogaz Ukraine. It diminishes the influence of Dnipropetrovsk billionaire governor Ihor Kolomoisky, who controls a 42 percent stake in the company. The law is part of the government’s effort to recover some Hr 1,5 billion in dividends from UkrNafta. The president also accepted Kolomoisky’s resignation. Meanwhile, the head of the state emergency service was arrested on suspicion of corruption during a televised meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers. Critics view both cases as the government’s attempt to show off its efforts to fight graft and corruption, but with little substance.
5. Land
Lustration investigations have begun in the Agricultural Ministry. Heads of the ministry’s main departments will be the first to face assessments by the state judicial administration, fiscal services, and the Justice Ministry. Agricultural Minister Oleksiy Pavlenko, who has already undergone a lustration assessment, vowed thorough investigations.
