Новости за 05.09.2015

Edward Snowden has criticised Russia for its crackdown on internet freedom and lax attitude to gay rights, despite having been granted asylum by the country.

MOSCOW Sept 5 (Interfax) - The level of Russian citizens' concerns about the economic situation has somewhat decreased, with 68% of respondents now seeing indications of an economic crisis in Russia against 80% in March, the Public Opinion Foundation has reported.

The Cabinet of Minister of Ukraine supports the act on the order of banking services of higher educational establishments and scientific institutions, which allows them to become financially autonomous, Ukrainian Education and Science Minister Serhiy Kvit has said.

A sinkhole that appeared nine months ago in the Russian city of Solikamsk has significantly grown in size since its appearance, local media reported.

Banking transactions between Russia and China have slowed down because of sanctions against Russia, according to VTB Bank First Deputy Chief Executive Officer Vasily Titov.

KHARKIV - United States Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has expressed the belief that the local elections in Ukraine this year will be held at the same high level as the presidential and parliamentary elections last year.

In late September, ten Texas Rangers will travel to Ukraine to start selecting and training 25 officers of the Sokol special forces of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine who will subsequently become part of a subunit of the KORD special forces of the National Police of Ukraine, the press service of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine has reported.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Saturday that the Western-backed truce signed in Minsk in February had been respected this week for the first time, despite pro-Russian rebels claiming a civilian had been killed.

Amendments to the Ukrainian constitution will be made at three stages, the last of them concerning relations between the president, the Cabinet of ministers, and the Verkhovna Rada, says Yuriy Lutsenko, the leader of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will hold a meeting with Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde in Kyiv on Sunday, September 6, the Ukrainian president's press service reported.

KHARKIV - Financial and technical assistance of the United States to Ukraine depends on Kyiv's success in the fight against corruption, United States Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey R. Pyatt has said.

VLADIVOSTOK - Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said on Saturday that Russia's push to revamp its run-down Far East region coincided with Beijing's strategy, backing President Vladimir Putin's drive for new sources of growth.

Could the Minsk peace agreement finally be working?

The European Union delegation to Ukraine has reemphasized the importance of creating a selection commission comprised of professionals to select the candidates for the anti-corruption office.

KHIMKI, Moscow region - The members of the subgroup on humanitarian issues with the Trilateral Contact Group for settling the Ukraine crisis have lately been able to achieve some success giving hope for the beginning of a constructive dialogue, Vladimir Stepanov, Russia's deputy emergency situations minister, who represents Russia in the subgroup, told journalists on Saturday.

An apparent power struggle among Russia’s proxy authorities in separatist-controlled parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast has left experts speculating about its causes, and what the Kremlin’s future intentions for the region now might be.

No Ukrainian military servicemen have been killed in Donbas over the past 24 hours; two were injured by setting off a tripwire mine on Friday, and their lives are out of danger now, Ukrainian presidential spokesman for the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine Andriy Lysenko said.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said that in response to his appeal members of the European Parliament will hold a debate about the gross violation of human rights of Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko in Russia.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has enacted a resolution by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), dated July 20, 2015, titled 'On the measures to protect Ukraine's national aviation interests.'

Description:Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk dismissed Odesa regional administration chief and former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's claims that Ukrainian oligarchs control the executive branch.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has once again said that there is no alternative to Minsk agreements.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko praises the fact that a ceasefire in Donbas has been observed for a week.

The Normandy format, which involves, Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia, means not only Ukraine's support on the part of Germany and France, but also a powerful global pro-Ukrainian coalition, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has said.

Russia's threats to impose an embargo on Ukrainian goods if no amendments are made to an annex to the Ukrainian-European Union free trade agreement are based on far-fetched apprehensions and have no economic grounds, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said.

I think most people now are trying to figure out how to play Ukrainian hard currency debt – it has come a huge distance in such a short space of time, which really does reflect the generosity of the deal announced last week for bondholders. Just to recap, bonds have rallied from 40 cents back in the spring when plans to “restructure” were first mooted, to 55 cents just before the deal announcement last week, and now to 75 cents. I don’t think that this is particularly a call on the Ukraine reform story... Читать дальше...