Situation in der ATO-Zone in der Ostukraine
Meeting in Normandy format in Astana is planned for January 15. President Petro Poroshenko has informed on the preliminary agreement to hold a meeting with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, President of France Francois Hollande and President of Russia Vladimir Putin in Astana (Kazakhstan) on January 15. According to Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine insists on continuing the negotiations in Minsk format. At the same time, the President is considering various formats of negotiations with his international partners. “I will negotiate to ensure that Russia will comply with its commitments under the Minsk memorandum and the Minsk protocol,” the President said. (In English). Präsidialverwaltung. 29.12.2014. >>>
„Cyborgs“ schlagen Angriff auf Donezker Flughafen ab. Die ukrainischen Einheiten haben einen Angriff der Terroristen auf den Flughafen Donezk abgewehrt. Drei Soldaten kamen dabei ums Leben. Der Flughafen bleibt unter Kontrolle der Armee, teilte Präsident Petro Poroschenko bei einer Pressekonferenz am Montag mit. Nach seinen Angaben hätten Dutzende Terroristen den Flughafen gestürmt. 14 von ihnen wurden getötet, ein Terrorist wurde gefangen genommen. Laut dem Staatsoberhaupt seien die Soldaten in der Gegend gut ausgerüstet, um jeden Vorstoß des Feindes zu verhindern. Die Armee habe das Recht, das gegnerische Feuer zu erwidern. Ukrinform. 29.12.2014.>>>
Präsident Poroschenko nimmt freigelassene Soldaten am Flughafen in Empfang. Präsident der Ukraine Petro Poroschenko hat in der Nacht zum Samstag 145 freigelassene Soldaten am Militärflughafen Wasylkiw in Empfang genommen. Am Freitagabend tauschten das ukrainische Militär und die Terroristen aus den so genannten Volksrepubliken Donezk und Luhansk Hunderte Gefangenen aus. Der Austausch wurde bei Gesprächen der Ukraine-Kontaktgruppe in Minsk vereinbart. Die Soldaten der Streitkräfte, der Nationalgarde, die Freiwilligen aus den Bataillonen „Donbas“ und „Myrotworez“ (Friedensstifter) sowie Volontäre verbrachten in Gefangenschaft der Terroristen einige Wochen bis einige Monate. In Gefangenschaft der Terroristen in der Ostukraine werden noch 490 Ukrainer festgehalten. Ein Zentrum für Gefangenenaustausch veröffentlichte die Namen der Gefangenen auf seiner Facebookseite. Ukrinform. 27.12.2014. >>>
President Poroshenko: Military solution does not exist to Donbas conflict. President Poroshenko does not see military solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. He says that the martial law can be declared only if they are offensive operations. “The martial law will be declared once the fighting starts. The military solution to Donbas conflict does not exist. Who wants to have fun, take weapon, and meet bullets of the Russian military machine” – Poroshenko declared at a press conference of the year. The President is confident that the problem should be solved only by the political means. (In English).Zn.ua. 29.12.2014.>>>
Haushalt 2015 und Dezentralisierung
Rada passes budget for 2015 before dawn. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, adopted the austerity-driven state budget for 2015 during an extraordinary overnight session that ended early on Dec. 29. Lawmakers approved the document, many not even seeing it, around 4:15 a.m. Government plans to collect $30 billion in revenue, including $1.1 billion from selling the state-owned assets, and spend $33 billion. As much as $5.7 billion will be allocated to defense and security purposes, $4.7 billion – to servicing the public debt and $5.7 – to the pension fund. Meanwhile, the fiscal deficit is not expected to exceed $4 billion, which is 3.7 percent of the projected gross domestic product of $108 billion. The budget is based on a forecast of a 4.3-percent gross domestic product contraction, in hryvnia terms, and 13.1-percent inflation next year. The Cabinet foresees hryvnia’s rate against the U.S. dollar at 17. “To be fair, this budget, as well as all the previous budgets adopted in these walls, is far from being perfect,” said Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in a session hall after the bill was adopted. “This is why we’ve included a requirement to conduct a mandatory review of it until Feb. 15.” Ukraine’s financial plan may be changed, depending on the results of negotiations with foreign creditors, he added. (In English). Kyivpost. 29.12.2014. >>>
Rada adopts law on budget decentralization. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has at second reading adopted the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Budget Code”, providing a fiscal decentralization. During the debating of the law, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said that the government had agreed with the parliamentary coalition on a special procedure for amending the budget under martial law that provides for the coordination of such changes with the president of Ukraine. The bill was passed in the first reading on December 25. It suggests that after their entry into force, local budgets will receive 100% of payments for administrative services, state fees, an additional 10% from income tax, from 2% to 5% of the tax on excisable goods, which will be established at the local level, and a property tax from UAH 0 to 24 per square meter. The law also envisages an increase in environmental tax revenues from 35% to 80%, and subsidies to balance fiscal solvency. The document also provides for the cancellation of indicators of local revenues, the simplification of the use of local budgets, and the procedures of transfers from the central government to the local authorities. The Cabinet of Ministers plans to implement fiscal decentralization in the first quarter of 2015. (In English).UNIAN. 29.12.2014.>>>
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the law on Ukraine’s abandoning its non-aligned policy. Asked about a possible referendum on Ukraine’s membership of NATO, Poroshenko said that he first plans to reform the country to meet the standards of NATO and the European Union. “And when Ukraine meets the standards, I think it will be done in 5-6 years under the the Strategy of 2020, the Ukrainian people will determine whether to enter NATO or not,” he said. (In English).Interfax-Ukraine. 29.12.2014.>>>
Situation in der okkupierten Krim
Ukrainian activists confirm more than 500 cases of human rights’ violations since annexation of Crimea. More than 500 cases of human rights’ violations were confirmed in the last 10 months since the occupation of Crimea. These were crimes committed against civic, religious, socio-economic and ethnic minorities’ rights. Ukrainian activists created an interactive map to record cases of human rights’ violations in Crimea; anyone can report on cases of abuse. “We have to understand that the very fact of occupation is a violation of human rights of those who live on the annexed territories,” Mayorov explained. The majority of crimes were against civic and political rights. Activists recorded 342 cases of personal freedom and freedom of assembly rights violations. 31.7% of human rights violations were linked with infringement of property rights: threats of land confiscation and nationalization, extortionist policies against business and forceful buyout of enterprises such as “KrymGaz”, “KrymAvtoTrans”, Yalta Film Studio, etc. Crimea’s occupational government continues to violate labor rights by not paying salaries and demanding the return of the funds that the Crimeans loaned from Ukrainian banks. Ukrainisches Krisenmedienzentrum. 29.12.2014. >>>