National
- Parliament extends 17-year-old farmland sales moratorium for another year. The Verkhovna Rada, on Dec. 20 passed a law extending the country’s farmland sales moratorium until Jan. 1, 2020. The highly controversial ban on an open land market was supported by 231 members of parliament.
- The Ukrainian parliament has passed a law requiring the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to rename itself to reflect the fact that it is based in Russia. It will now likely be known as the “Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.”
- Poster of pro-Russian politician leads to fight among lawmakers. A scuffle broke out in parliament after the Dec. 20 vote on renaming the Orthodox Church loyal to Moscow. Pro-Russia Opposition Bloc party block members, demanding another vote on the issue, got into a scuffle before the rostrum with People’s Front deputies after tearing down the latter’s anti-Viktor Medvedchuk poster.
- HMS Echo, a British warship, docked in Odesa on Dec. 19, one day before a group of key British lawmakers also arrived in Ukraine for an official visit to the troubled Sea of Azov. It is the first NATO warship to enter the Black Sea since Russian ships attacked Ukrainian naval vessels on Nov. 25.
March 31 presidential election
- Tymoshenko and Boyko lead in Zaporizhia region poll. Batkivschyna Party leader Yuliya Tymoshenko and Opposition Platform – For Life leader Yuriy Boyko head the presidential hopefuls in a new survey in Zaporizhia Oblast, with 22 percent and 18.3 percent support respectfully. They are followed by showman and Servant of the People Party leader Volodymyr Zelensky, and incumbent President Petro Poroshenko.
New IMF assistance
- Expert claims IMF’s new assistance will resolve issue of financial stability, UNIAN reports.
Russia’s war on Ukraine
- A new wave of unlawful arrests of Crimean Tatarshas started in Russia-occupied Crimea, MP Refat Chubarov and chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People has told the Ukrainian parliament. He sees it as a means of vengeance by Russian occupiers for support of the Ukrainian naval seamen taken prisoners of war by Russians near the Kerch Strait on Nov. 25.
- Russian-led forces mounted seven attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, in the last 24 hours. No Ukrainian army casualties were reported.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out against the new unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church during his annual televised press conference in Moscow. He termed the new religious organization a “splinter church of the Constantinople parish” and implied that Turkey and the United States were involved in its formation.
- Disregard, impunity for human rights violations ail Ukraine in 2018. On the latest report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukraine, see here.
Business
- In 2018 Ukraine had a record grain harvest totaling 70.1 million tonnes, which will allow the country to export a record 47-50 million tonnes of grain., Agrarian Records were also set for harvesting some oil seeds (sunflower and soybeans), Ukrinform reports.
- 12 additional gas reserve blocks being readied for auction.Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved 12 additional onshore gas reserve sites to have their exploration and extraction rights readied for tender, bringing the total amount of online auctions to 42 this year.
- The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has boosted the charter capital of the State Fund for the Promotion of Youth Housing Construction by Hr 30 million, to Hr 331.3 million, and authorized the Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Economy Ministry to manage the fund. This increase will allow 40 families to buy apartments.
- The European Investment Bank, or EIB, has agreed to lend 250 million euros to Ukraine’s Kernel Group, one of the country’s top three agribusiness holdings
- Donor blood preparations can be exported. The Cabinet of Ministers has permitted the manufacturer of blood-derived products Biopharma Plasma LLC (Kyiv region) to sell donor blood preparations outside of the country for the indefinite period of time.
- National Energy Company Ukrenergo has signed a contract with General Electric Grid Solutions (Germany) and Chornomorenergospetsmontazh LLC for reconstruction of Kharkivska and Zaliutyne 330 kV substations, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
- Ukraine’s Anti-Monopoly Committee has fined the state alcohol monopoly $1.2 million for discriminatory pricing.
- Roshen Corporation will allocate Hr 160.4 million for the second stage of reconstruction of Kyiv Confectionary Factory. The general contractor of the work is European Construction Technologies LLC
- Exiled Russian politician to lead rush on Ukraine’s lucrative offshore gas. See more in this Kyiv Post exclusive here.
