In the Spotlight 11/11/2013
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ISSUE 37 (156) IN THE SPOTLIGHT 11/11/2013 © Gorshenin Institute November 2013 All rights reserved ISSUE 37 (156) IN THE SPOTLIGHT 11/11/2013 CONTENT 1. Top news…page 4 2. International political…page 4 Ukraine-EU…page 4 European politicians do not rule out signing of association deal with Ukraine might be delayed Ukraine should fulfill EU requirements by 13 November – EU Parliament mission Ukrainian pro-presidential party questions benefits of country's European integration Ukrainian Foreign Ministry says draft declaration for Vilnius summit ready Ukraine may finish first stage of plan for simplifying visa regime with EU by Vilnius summit Ukraine-Russia…page 7 Ukraine starts paying off debt to Gazprom Ukraine might reconsider terms of contract with Russia on gas transit to Europe Russia to consider possibility of Ukraine's signing some Customs Union agreements Ukraine-IMF…page 8 IMF delays decision on Ukraine until December EU taking no part in Ukraine-IMF talks – media 3. Domestic political…page 9 Ukrainian authorities…page 9 Two bills required for EU bid pass first reading in parliament President endorses law which might prevent Klitschko from running for post President reshuffles governors in Odessa, Ivano-Frankivsk regions Ukrainians of call-up age now free to go abroad Ukrainian opposition…page 10 Ukrainian authorities begin new legal process against Tymoshenko Parliament sets up ad hoc group to work out law on Tymoshenko's treatment "Public debates" on Tymoshenko's treatment initiated in regions – media 2 © Gorshenin Institute November 2013 All rights reserved ISSUE 37 (156) IN THE SPOTLIGHT 11/11/2013 Opposition demands Yanukovych report on negotiations with Putin Court to consider Tymoshenko's UESU case on 6 December 4. Media…page 12 Serhiy Kurchenko becomes owner of UMH Group media holding 5. Economy…page 13 Single treasury account shrinks to 10-year low Ukraine's foreign exchange reserves drop by 1bn dollars over the month past Fitch downgrades Ukraine from “B” to “B-” Balance of payments deficit decreases Budget revenues grow by 2 percent over 10 months Largest Ukrainian companies to be privatised – media National Bank artificially holding hryvnya rate down – media Sugar production falls by half Revenue Ministry: Roshen owes 6m dollars to the State 6. Energy market…page 15 Ukraine cuts gas import from Europe Ukraine disappointed by Energy Community inaction regarding gas reverse Turkmenistan ready to supply gas to Ukraine PGNiG terminates contract with Naftohaz Ukrayiny on gas supply to Poland Ukraine signs agreement with Chevron Local budgets to have 10 percent of returns from joint hydrocarbon production Adriatic gas corridor delayed World Bank to give Ukraine 350m dollars to improve heating efficiency Naftohaz Ukrayiny loses stake in largest gas trader 3 © Gorshenin Institute November 2013 All rights reserved ISSUE 37 (156) IN THE SPOTLIGHT 11/11/2013 TOP NEWS European politicians do not rule out signing of association deal with Ukraine might be delayed The issue of jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko has not been resolved yet. You can find more details in the section “INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL. Ukraine- EU”, as well as in the section “DOMESTIC POLITICAL. Ukrainian opposition”. Ukraine owes Gazprom over 2bn dollars Ukraine's debt to Gazprom has reached 800m dollars for the August gas deliveries and 1.4bn for the October supplies. You can find more details in the section “INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL. Ukraine- Russia”. Ukrainian economy continues to deteriorate As of the beginning of November, there was 51.3m dollars left on the treasury single account. Ukraine's foreign exchange reserves shrunk by 1bn dollars to 20.6bn dollars in October. Yuzhmash, Turboatom and Antonov companies likely to be privatized soon. You can find more details in the section “ECONOMY”. INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL UKRAINE-EU European politicians do not rule out signing of association deal with Ukraine might be delayed The issue of signing the association agreement with Ukraine will be resolved at the last moment, the president of Lithuania, which is currently presiding over the EU Council, Dalia Grybauskaite, has said. The Lithuanian head of state also stressed that the association agreement might be signed after November 2013. For his part, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius believes that the statements on the potential postponement of signing the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU until a later date poses a threat to the possibility of signing the document. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt stated that he had never been certain that the association agreement would be signed at a summit in Vilnius. In the opinion of the chairman of the delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, Pawel Kowal, if the signing of the association agreement is derailed during the Vilnius summit, the parties might 4 © Gorshenin Institute November 2013 All rights reserved ISSUE 37 (156) IN THE SPOTLIGHT 11/11/2013 return to this issue no sooner than after two and a half years. He also stressed that this would have very serious consequences for both Ukraine and the EU. The Polish daily Rzeczpospolita quoted its sources in Brussels as saying that the EU member states had split into three groups on the issue of signing the association agreement with Ukraine. “Poland, the UK and the Central European countries want to sign the association agreement no matter what. Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden insist on [former Prime Minister Yuliya] Tymoshenko's release, while France and South European countries do not have a specific decision in this case,” the newspaper reported. At the same time, the influential Ukrainian business daily Kommersant Ukraina quoted its own sources as saying that the Ukrainian presidential administration did not rule out a possibility that the signing of the association agreement might be derailed. The editor in chief of the LB.ua news and analysis website, Sonya Koshkina, quoted a source close to the presidential entourage as saying that “the game [the negotiations on the signing of the association agreement - editor] will continue until the last moment”. She added that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych proceeded from the fact that Europe wanted to sign the association agreement and that for this reason “Ukraine will succeed in Vilnius”. Ukraine should fulfill EU requirements by 13 November – EU Parliament mission The European Parliament's monitoring mission, which is headed by Pat Cox and Aleksander Kwasniewski, has set 13 November as Ukraine's deadline to fulfill the following EU requirements for signing the association agreement: adopting draft laws on prosecutor's offices by parliament, improving electoral legislation, as well as releasing jailed former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, the Ukrainian deputy parliamentary speaker, Ruslan Koshulynskyy, has said. As previously reported, the Cox-Kwasniewski mission will release its final report on 14 November. The Council of the EU will decide on the signing of the association agreement with Ukraine on the basis of this document. The head of the Ukrainian pro-presidential parliamentary faction Party of Regions, Oleksandr Yefremov, noted that the co-chairmen of the mission were constantly in touch with Tymoshenko and representatives of the opposition, but they had never met members of the Party of Regions, which was the largest faction in parliament. In his opinion, the chief task of the mission is not the signing of the association agreement with the EU, but releasing the former prime minister. Ukrainian pro-presidential party questions benefits of country's European integration Disagreements about processes geared towards Ukraine's European integration have intensified in the pro-presidential parliamentary faction Party of Regions, the faction's head, Oleksandr Yefremov, has said. 5 © Gorshenin Institute November 2013 All rights reserved ISSUE 37 (156) IN THE SPOTLIGHT 11/11/2013 He added that residents of southern and eastern parts of the country, from where the Party of Regions derived most of its support, were not happy about economic conflicts with Russia. Such a situation in the regions influenced opinions of the Party of Regions MPs, Yefremov explained. The leader of the Party of Regions faction also said that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych always urged the pro-presidential party's MPs to move in the direction of European integration. Ukrainian parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Rybak stated that the president had held meetings with MPs of the Party of Regions and asked them to allow jailed former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko to go abroad for medical treatment but they had not agreed to do this. In his turn, Yanukovych stated that Ukraine could not give up its cooperation with the countries of the Customs Union in order to cooperate with EU member states. The Ukrainian head of state also stressed that the model of EU cooperation chosen by Ukraine was the most acceptable. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry says draft declaration for Vilnius summit ready A draft of the final declaration for a summit in Vilnius was drawn up during a meeting of representatives of the Eastern Partnership member states, which took place in Brussels on 4-5 November, the EurActiv website quoted Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Olefirov as saying. The Ukrainian diplomat added that the document envisaged the signing of the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU, as well as the initialing of the same agreements between the EU, Georgia and Moldova. Ukraine may finish first stage of plan for simplifying visa regime with EU by Vilnius summit Ukraine has not been able to complete the first stage of implementing an action plan to simplify the visa regime with the EU over the past three years, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara has said. Previously, the foreign minister of Lithuania, which is currently presiding over the EU Council, Linas Linkevicius, said that Moldova might be granted a visa-free regime with the EU as soon as at the beginning of the next year, while the situation with Ukraine was more complicated when it came to this issue.