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Euromaidan Newsletter No. 51
CIVIC SECTOR OF EUROMAIDAN GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT 2014 EuroMaidan Newsletter # 51 Kyiv commemorates the year since start of Euromaidan protests New Ukraine coalition seeks EU integration, sets NATO as a priority Holodomor Memorial Day, the Security Service of Ukraine November November A year ago one of the most unprecedented revolutions in (SBU) and Liberation Movement Research Centre released Ukraine’s history began. Here is how it unfolded via the most documents about Ukrainian protests during those years (Ukr, 24 important videos of the revolution. http://goo.gl/yCDQh0 photos) http://www.cdvr.org.ua/node/2731 ; Electronic - One in five Ukrainians took part in EuroMaidan. Archive (Ukr) http://avr.org.ua/ 18 http://goo.gl/OLBGN6 The SBU presented a book about the 1932-1933genocide of . The killing of more than 100 Ukrainians by the ousted Ukrainians. http://goo.gl/hPIOa5 51 president remains unpunished a year later, enraging those # Dancing with Stalin. The Holodomor genocide famine in who took part in the Revolution of Dignity, which started on Ukraine. http://goo.gl/WJ8NgG Nov. 21, 2013 when the government backed out of preparations for signing a major treaty with the European About the Holodomor. http://goo.gl/j9tmX6 Union. http://goo.gl/vPAU5h Today, on Holodomor Memorial Day, we commemorate "The Heavenly Hundred through their deaths prevented the those who died of starvation during the great famine of 1932- death of many other people. And Ukraine took a step forward. 1933. This post describes the treacherous path to the Thanks to such acts society consolidates and a nation recognition of this grave crime and concludes that Ukraine emerges. -
Contacts in Ukraine
IT WAS ALL [FRUMAN’S] CONTACTS IN UKRAINE During his media blitz, Lev Parnas has focused mostly on the people he needs to implicate to better his own outcome: President Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Victoria Toensing, and Joe DiGenova, along with Bill Barr who — Parnas seems to be suggesting — is protecting the others in the SDNY investigation, if not Barr himself. There’s been virtually no mention of his primary alleged co-conspirator, Igor Fruman. Indeed, in the first of two Maddow broadcasts, Fruman’s name only appears twice, when Maddow raised it. But Parnas made a single very provocative mention of Fruman in his otherwise unremarkable Anderson Cooper interview that aired last night. In discussing who he was speaking to in Ukraine, he suggested those people were all Fruman’s contacts. COOPER: You’ve been described — the position you ended up with Giuliani, you’ve described as a fixer for Giuliani in his efforts to dig up dirt on the Bidens. Is that accurate? PARNAS: I don’t know what you call a fixer. I mean, I was — COOPER: Arrange meetings, conduct meetings — PARNAS: Yes. I mean, that’s exactly what I did. I mean, I was the middleman between two worlds. Here I was, I had a partner in Igor Fruman that grew up in Ukraine, had extensive business there. And because of his businesses, he knew all kinds of people that were, you know, politicians — COOPER: He had — he had the contacts. PARNAS: It was all his contacts. I didn’t have any contacts in Ukraine. I don’t have any contacts in Ukraine. -
ASD-Covert-Foreign-Money.Pdf
overt C Foreign Covert Money Financial loopholes exploited by AUGUST 2020 authoritarians to fund political interference in democracies AUTHORS: Josh Rudolph and Thomas Morley © 2020 The Alliance for Securing Democracy Please direct inquiries to The Alliance for Securing Democracy at The German Marshall Fund of the United States 1700 18th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 T 1 202 683 2650 E [email protected] This publication can be downloaded for free at https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/covert-foreign-money/. The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the authors alone. Cover and map design: Kenny Nguyen Formatting design: Rachael Worthington Alliance for Securing Democracy The Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD), a bipartisan initiative housed at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, develops comprehensive strategies to deter, defend against, and raise the costs on authoritarian efforts to undermine and interfere in democratic institutions. ASD brings together experts on disinformation, malign finance, emerging technologies, elections integrity, economic coercion, and cybersecurity, as well as regional experts, to collaborate across traditional stovepipes and develop cross-cutting frame- works. Authors Josh Rudolph Fellow for Malign Finance Thomas Morley Research Assistant Contents Executive Summary �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Introduction and Methodology �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� -
List of Persons and Entities Under EU Restrictive Measures Over the Territorial Integrity of Ukraine
dhdsh PRESS Council of the European Union EN List of persons and entities under EU restrictive measures over the territorial integrity of Ukraine List of Persons Name Identifying Reasons Date of listing information 1. Sergey Valeryevich DOB: 26.11.1972. Aksyonov was elected 'Prime Minister of Crimea' in the Crimean 17.3.2014 AKSYONOV, Verkhovna Rada on 27 February 2014 in the presence of pro-Russian POB: Beltsy (Bălţi), gunmen. His 'election' was decreed unconstitutional by the acting Sergei Valerievich now Republic of Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov on 1 March 2014. He actively AKSENOV (Сергей Moldova lobbied for the 'referendum' of 16 March 2014 and was one of the co- Валерьевич signatories of the ’treaty on Crimea´s accession to the Russian AKCëHOB), Federation’ of 18 March 2014. On 9 April 2014 he was appointed acting Serhiy Valeriyovych ‘Head’ of the so-called ‘Republic of Crimea’ by President Putin. On 9 AKSYONOV (Сергiй October 2014, he was formally ‘elected’ 'Head' of the so-called 'Republic Валерiйович Аксьонов) of Crimea'. Aksyonov subsequently decreed that the offices of ‘Head’ and ‘Prime Minister’ be combined. Member of the Russia State Council. 1/83 dhdsh PRESS Council of the European Union EN Name Identifying Reasons Date of listing information 2. Rustam Ilmirovich DOB: 15.8.1976 As former Deputy Minister of Crimea, Temirgaliev played a relevant role 17.3.2014 TEMIRGALIEV in the decisions taken by the ‘Supreme Council’ concerning the POB: Ulan-Ude, ‘referendum’ of 16 March 2014 against the territorial integrity of Ukraine. (Рустам Ильмирович Buryat ASSR He lobbied actively for the integration of Crimea into the Russian Темиргалиев) (Russian SFSR) Federation. -
Compendium on Cyber Security of Election
Protecting the Digital Infrastructure of Democracy Liisa Past [email protected] “There’s been a lot of claims that our election system is unhackable. That's BS. Only a fool or liar would try to claim that their database or machine was unhackable.” Jake Braun, DefCon hacker voting village POOR SET-UP TO TACKLE CYBER THREATS • Terminological ambiguity • Digital governance is a national matter • Diverse systems, organizational set-ups • Lack of operational cooperation • Civil servants not cyber security experts HOWEVER • Most elections rely on some technology • Attack vectors and adversary often similar • Technology-related threats undermine democracy GEORGIA (2008, 2019) UKRAIN E (2014) Actual result Name Res Rank ult % Dmytro Yarosh 00.7 11 Petro Poroshenko 54.7 1 Yulia Tymoshenko 12.8 2 Serhiy Tihipko 05.2 5 Oleh Lyashko 08.3 3 Vadim Rabinovich 02.6 7 Image: https://www.stopfake.org/en/russian-first-channel-informed-of-yarosh-victory-in-ukraine-s-presidential-elections/ Screen grab: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zmakk3/researchers-find-critical-backdoor-in-swiss-online-voting-system Image Flickr CC, https://www.flickr.com/photos/147597828@N03/34208529880/in/photolist-24SJJLe-2c9YEhm-22jgpYM-Ui7UB5-Tinopk-U7TE8j-SYpxFh-Uve1UW Graphic: The Hacker News PARTIES AND CANDIDATES (2016/17) LATVIA (2018) Screen grab: https://eng.lsm.lv/ Voting Election technology Attacks on auxiliary systems, facilitators and vendors Integrated information operations Compendium on Cyber Security of Election Technology (2018) • Under the Cooperation -
The Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF GLOBAL AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES OLIGARCHIC PLURALISM IN THE 2014 EUROMAIDAN: HOW THE RISE OF OLIGARCHS IN GOVERNMENT SHAPED DEMOCRACY UN UKRAINE SIOBHAN FRANCES LEONARD SPRING 2020 A thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree with honors in Comparative Literature and International Studies with honors in Global and International Studies Reviewed and approved* by the following: JOSEPH WRIGHT PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE Thesis Supervisor JONATHAN ABEL PROFESSOR OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE AND JAPANESE Honors Adviser * Electronic approvals are on file. ABSTRACT During the 1990s, Ukraine experienced a change in its political system, becoming a nominal liberal democratic with contested multiparty elections in combination with post-Soviet oligarch community. These newly established dimensions impacted two major revolutionary periods in Ukraine, dating from 1992-2004 and 2005-2014, reaching a climax of violent civil unrest during the Ukrainian Revolution of 2014. The Ukrainian Revolution, also known as the Euromaidan and Revolution of Dignity, illustrates the stages of modernization in a post-Soviet society. The Euromaidan mobilized a variety of regional and ethno-linguistic groups to demand political and economic reform. Members of oligarch clans, consisting mostly of ethnically Russian economic elites, are often appointed in regional government positions largely in the East, and hold substantial power in Ukrainian politics. My research question poses: “How did oligarchic concentration of economic and media power influence government functions such as public service delivery, and shape corruption patterns preceding the protest uprising in 2014?” In my thesis, I seek to study the impact of oligarch clans as holding centralized power, and how this system may affect Ukrainian national politics as seen under the leadership of former democratically elected, Pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, during the Ukrainian Revolution of 2014. -
Annual Report
NATIONAL BANK OF UKRAINE ANNUAL REPORT 2005 Dear Sirs, We would like to offer for your attention the Annual Report of the National Bank of Ukraine for 2005 prepared in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On the National Bank of Ukraine". The major achievements of Ukraine's macroeconomic development in 2005 primarily were the households' real income growth, unemployment decrease, inflation rate lowering and acceleration in the rates of foreign capi- tal attraction to Ukraine. Ukrainian banks essentially increased crediting of the economy, and the individuals' deposits unprecedentedly grew. International reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine almost doubled. The National Bank of Ukraine's monetary policy in 2005 was aimed at sup- porting the hryvnia stability as a monetary prerequisite for the economic growth, at reaching the long-term social, structural and institutional goals. We consider that the publication of the information of the results of the National Bank of Ukraine activity for the reporting year will promote trans- parency of its work and retaining of confidence in the national monetary unit. I would like to assure you that the National Bank of Ukraine will continue the weighed monetary policy directed towards restraining the inflation rate, ensuring the economic recovery and raising the people's welfare. Sincerely, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Volodymyr Stelmakh Council of the National Bank of Ukraine (as at 1 January 2006) Valerii Heiets Valerii Alioshyn Serhii Buriak Anatolii Danylenko Olexander Dubrov Chairman -
Citizens and the State in the Government-Controlled Territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions Problems, Challenges and Visions of the Future
Citizens and the state in the government-controlled territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions Problems, challenges and visions of the future Funded by: This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union through International Alert. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of International Alert and UCIPR and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. Layout: Nick Wilmot Creative Front cover image: A mother and daughter living in temporary accommodation for those displaced by the violence in Donetsk, 2014. © Andrew McConnell/Panos © International Alert/Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research 2017 Citizens and the state in the government-controlled territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions Problems, challenges and visions of the future October 2017 2 CONTENTS 1. Introduction 3 2. Methodology 6 3. Findings 7 4. Statements from interviewees 22 5. Conclusions and recommendations 30 Citizens and the state in the government-controlled territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions 3 1. INTRODUCTION The demarcation line (the line of contact)1 and the ‘grey zone’ between the government-controlled2 and uncontrolled territories3 of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions separates the parties to the conflict in the east of Ukraine. The areas controlled by the Ukrainian authorities and bordering the ‘grey zone’ are very politically sensitive, highly militarised, and fall under a special governance regime that is different from the rest of the country. In the absence of a comprehensive political settlement and amid uncertain prospects, it is unclear how long this situation will remain. It is highly likely that over the next few years, Ukrainians in areas adjacent to the contact line will live under very particular and unusual governance structures, and in varying degrees of danger. -
Separatists and Russian Nationalist-Extremist Allies of The
Separatists and Russian nationalist-extremist allies of the Party of Regions call for union with Russia Today at 17:38 | Taras Kuzio The signing of an accord to prolong the Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea by 25 years not only infringes the Constitution again, but also threatens Ukraine’s territorial integrity. If a president is willing to ignore the Constitution on two big questions in less than two months in office, what will he have done to the Constitution after 60 months in office? As somebody wrote on my Facebook profile yesterday, the Constitution is now “toilet paper.” The threat to Ukraine’s territorial integrity is deeper. Since President Viktor Yanukovych’s election, Russian nationalist-extremist allies of the Party of Regions have begun to radicalize their activities. Their mix of Russophile and Sovietophile ideological views are given encouragement by cabinet ministers such as Minister of Education Dmytro Tabachnyk and First Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Semynozhenko. Calls, which look increasingly orchestrated, are made to change Ukraine’s national anthem, adopt Russian as a state language, transform Ukraine into a federal state and coordinate the writing of educational textbooks with Russia. On Monday, Russian nationalist-extremist allies of the Party of Regions in the Crimea organized a meeting on the anniversary of the Crimea’s annexation by the Russian empire that demanded a full military, political and economic union with Russia. Russian nationalist-extremists in the Crimea were marginalized by ex-President Leonid Kuchma after he abolished the Crimean presidential institution in 1995. Then Deputy Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk undertook measures to subvert and undermine the Russian nationalist-extremists who came to power in the peninsula in 1994. -
Smaller Businesses in Ukraine Struggle Amid Lack of Credit
SECTION PARTNER ADVERTISEMENT29 CAN UKRAINE’S BANKS SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL? IHOR OLEKHOV Partner, Baker & McKenzie, Kyiv Ukraine's commercial banks were hit hard by the economic turmoil. Barely two thirds of the banks survived the crisis. On 1 April 2016 Ukraine had 111 operational banks (compared to 180 on 1 January 2014 and 163 on 1 January 2015), which still seems quite a lot for the current level of Ukraine’s GDP. Is there light at the end of the tunnel for Ukraine’s banks in 2016 and beyond? Ownership Transparency While the fall of Ukrainian banks seems to have reached at its peak in 2015 and continues during the first half of 2016, the NBU could have had very few choices but to adopt aggressive measures aimed at making bank ownership transparent. Historically, many Ukrainian owners tended to be unscrupulous about insider lend- A customer purchases tea at Kyiv’s Tea & Honey shop on May ing and theirs banks are now facing the dilemma of either disclosing their owner- 27. Tatiana Popova, the owner of the small shop, wants to ex- ship structure and increasing capital immediately, or going out of business. The pand her enterprise, but says she can’t aff ord to take out loans NBU successfully implemented measures aimed at making the banks’ ownership transparent and imposed strict deadlines for the shareholders of banks to disclose from banks because of the high interest rates. (Serhii Popov) their genuine ownership structure. These measures were supported by clear sanc- tions applied to offending banks and a clear intention to continue applying such sanctions in the future. -
The Oligarchic Democracy: the Influence of Business Groups On
42 THE OLIGARCHIC DEMOCRACY THE INFLUENCE OF BUSINESS GROUPS ON UKRAINIAN POLITICS Sławomir Matuszak NUMBER 42 WARSAW September 2012 THE OLIGARCHIC DEMOCRACY THE INFLUENCE OF BUSINESS GROUPS ON UKRAINIAN POLITICS Sławomir Matuszak © Copyright by Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich im. Marka Karpia / Centre for Eastern Studies Content EDitors Adam Eberhardt, Wojciech Konończuk EDitorS Anna Łabuszewska Katarzyna Kazimierska Translation Ilona Duchnowicz CO-operation Nicholas Furnival Graphic Design Para-buch CHARTS Wojciech Mańkowski PHOTOGRAPH ON COVER Shutterstock DTP GroupMedia Publisher Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich im. Marka Karpia Centre for Eastern Studies ul. Koszykowa 6a, Warsaw, Poland Phone + 48 /22/ 525 80 00 Fax: + 48 /22/ 525 80 40 osw.waw.pl ISBN 978-83-62936-14-4 Contents THESES /5 MAIN SEctORS OF BUSINESS ActIVITY OF THE KEY UKRAINIAN OLIGARCHS /8 INTRODUctION /9 RESERVATIONS /11 I. THE EMERGENCE OF THE OLIGARCHIC SYSTEM AND ITS FORM IN 1991–2004 /13 1. The genesis of the oligarchic system /13 2. The formation of the clans /13 3. The beginnings of a system crisis /17 4. The Orange Revolution /20 II. THE OLIGARCHS IN 2005–2010 /23 1. The orange ‘oligarchic democracy’ /25 1.1. The business circles linked to the Party of Regions /26 1.2. ‘Orange’ business /27 1.3. The others /30 2. Tymoshenko’s conflict with the RUE Group /32 3. The attempt to form a grand coalition /32 4. The presidential election of 2010 /34 III. THE OLIGARCHS AFTER VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH’S VIctORY /37 1. The key groups of influence in the state administration/37 2. ‘The family’ – an attempt at a new quality /40 3. -
Cleaning up the Energy Sector
10 Cleaning Up the Energy Sector Victory is when we won’t buy any Russian gas. —Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk1 Ukraine’s energy sector is well endowed but extremely mismanaged. Since Ukraine’s independence, it has been the main source of top-level corruption, and its prime beneficiaries have bought the state. This long-lasting policy has undermined national security, caused unsustainable public costs, jeopardized the country’s balance of payments, led to massive waste of energy, and capped domestic production of energy. It is difficult to imagine a worse policy. In- stead, conditions should be created so that Ukraine can develop its substantial energy potential and become self-sufficient in coal and natural gas.2 The solution to these problems is no mystery and it has been elaborated in a large literature for the last two decades. To check corruption energy prices need to be unified. That means raising key prices four to five times, which will eliminate the large energy subsidies and stimulate energy saving, while also stimulating domestic production of all kinds of energy. To make this politi- cally possible, social compensation should be offered to the poorest half of the population. The energy sector suffers from many shortcomings, and most of these need to be dealt with swiftly. Otherwise, new rent-seeking interests will evolve, and soon they will become entrenched and once again impossible to defeat. The new government has a brief window of opportunity to address the most important issues. 1. “Ukraina osvoboditsya ot ‘gazovoi zavisimosti’ ot RF cherez 5 let—Yatsenyuk” [“Yatsenyuk: Ukraine Will Free Itself from Gas Dependence on Russia in 5 Years”], Ekonomichna pravda, Sep- tember 8, 2014.