Sunday, May 31, 2015

Проблеми правового регулювання валютного ринку України

Олег Макаров

На сьогоднішній день Українська держава переживає важку економічно-політичну кризу. Ця криза спричинена рядом факторів. Та власне на мою думку одним із головних факторів є валюта та власне, валютний ринок.

Якщо не враховувати політичні аспекти, які зіграли свою вагому роль в руйнуванні того хиткого балансу, який був на теренах України − саме знецінення національної валюти поряд з шаленим ростом попиту на іноземну валюту стали основною причиною сьогоднішньої кризи. Ця криза страшна в першу чергу через те, що вона ставить населення України на межі виживання. Девальвація національної валюти починаючи з 01.01.2014 року склала майже 200%. В результаті такий високий показник стає причиною росту індексу споживчих цін та стрімкої інфляції гривні. Для населення ми можемо спостерігати зниження реальної купівельної спроможності щонайменш в два рази. Також для середнього класу (якщо такий в нас ще залишився) інфляція унеможливлює зберігання своїх коштів в гривневих депозитах через «недовіру» до національної валюти, а в валютних депозитах через «незрозумілу» та «хитку» законодавчу базу в цьому питанні. І справді, якими правовими документами держава регулює відносини на валютному ринку та яким чином вона обмежує валютні розрахунки?

Russia and the West: Alternative reality

Vladimir Putin concocts a new story on Ukraine, leaving the West wondering what he is up to


IN THE original instalment of the “hybrid war” that it launched against Ukraine last year, Russia’s propaganda machine depicted its neighbour as a neo-Nazi state whose soldiers burnt villages and crucified children in the Russian-speaking east. But after the vast military parade Russia staged on May 9th, marking its victory over German (and by implication Ukrainian) fascism, a new story-line started to take shape. Ukraine is now portrayed as a failed state. It has defaulted on its debts and violated every international norm, and its Western sponsors are panicking. A new Maidan revolution could happen at any time—the smell of burnt tyres is in the air.

Western leaders, the story goes, have realised their mistake and are flocking to make amends with Vladimir Putin, the magnanimous Russian leader who tried to warn them against supporting Ukraine. First it was Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who sought an audience with Mr Putin. Then it was John Kerry, America’s secretary of state, who flew all the way to Sochi to pay his respects. “America has realised that Ukraine is not worth spoiling its relationship with Russia,” proclaimed Channel One, Russia’s main television station. Russia’s military might and its alliance with China, the channel implied, had forced America back to the table.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Moscow says EU "stop list" drawn up in response to sanctions


The Kremlin confirms it has sent some of the EU member states the blacklist of EU officials who are denied entry to Russia, according to a leading Russian news agency.

The "stop list" was purely and simply a response to the EU sanctions against Russia, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry source said, according to Russian news agency TASS.
The source confirmed that Moscow had provided the EU with a list of the EU nationals who are denied entry to Russia; however he declined to make name-by-name comments.
"They [the lists of names] were handed over to our European partners in confidential form, and their publication will be on the conscience of the corresponding countries," the source added.
"The answer to certain European countries' demands of explanations why such particular persons were put on the lists of those who are denied entry to the Russian Federation is simple – it was done as a response to the sanctions campaign unleashed against Russia by some of the European Union states and led by Germany," the source said.

Fatal police shootings in 2015 approaching 400 nationwide

By Kimberly Kindy, and reported by Julie Tate, Jennifer Jenkins, Steven Rich, Keith L. Alexander and Wesley Lowery

In an alley in Denver, police gunned down a 17-year-old girl joyriding in a stolen car. In the backwoods of North Carolina, police opened fire on a gun-wielding moonshiner. And in a high-rise apartment in Birmingham, Ala., police shot an elderly man after his son asked them to make sure he was okay. Douglas Harris, 77, answered the door with a gun.
The three are among at least 385 people shot and killed by police nationwide during the first five months of this year, more than two a day, according to a Washington Post analysis. That is more than twice the rate of fatal police shootings tallied by the federal government over the past decade, a count that officials concede is incomplete.
“These shootings are grossly under­reported,” said Jim Bueermann, a former police chief and president of the Washington-based Police Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving law enforcement. “We are never going to reduce the number of police shootings if we don’t begin to accurately track this information.”

Business climate improved in Ukraine - American Chamber of Commerce

The business climate has improved in Ukraine, indicating the real changes in the country.
President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine Andy Hunder stated this at the 8th Kyiv Security Forum.
"I would like to say about the positive trends. The business events of past six months are very important because they have given an opportunity to show the world that same changes occurred in Ukraine," Hunder said.
As one of the main examples of the improved business climate he cited the introduction of 3G technology in Ukraine. "The business community says it is the most positive tender in Ukrainian history," Hunder noted.
According to the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, the foreign investors see Ukraine primarily as "a country at war, but more than 90% of foreign businessmen continue working in Ukraine."



G7 wollen Ukraine bei Reformen und Schuldenverhandlungen unterstützen

Dresden (dpa) - Die sieben führenden westlichen Industrienationen (G7) haben der ukrainischen Regierung weitere Unterstützung zugesagt. Die G7 seien entschlossen, alles zu tun, um die Regierung in Kiew bei ihrer ehrgeizigen Reformagenda zu unterstützen, sagte Schäuble am Freitag in Dresden nach einem Treffen der G7-Finanzminister und -Notenbankchefs. Es sei verabredet worden, in den Verhandlungen über eine Umstrukturierung der ukrainischen Schulden zu helfen.

Die Ukraine soll über ein internationales Hilfspaket gut 40 Milliarden Dollar erhalten. Der Internationale Währungsfonds (IWF) steuert rund 17,5 Milliarden Dollar bei. Hinzu kommen Hilfen einzelner westlicher Staaten. Weil das nicht reicht, verhandelt die ukrainische Regierung mit weiteren Geldgebern - darunter auch Russland -, um Kiews Staatsschulden auf ein tragfähiges Niveau zu senken. 

Zur G7-Gruppe gehören neben Deutschland die USA, Japan, Großbritannien, Frankreich, Italien und Kanada. Mit dem Ministertreffen wird der G7-Gipfel der Staats- und Regierungschefs am 7. und 8. Juni auf Schloss Elmau in Bayern vorbereitet. 

Ukrainian song about Kyiv

Ukraine and Turkmenistan to establish Trading Houses

In Ukraine and Turkmenistan there can be established Trading houses that are to promote the development of trade relations between the two countries, especially in small and medium-sized businesses. Such an agreement was reached during a meeting of the 4th joint Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Turkmen Commission on economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation. A Ukrainian delegation at the negotiations was led by Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities of Ukraine Hennadii Zubko.

On the results of the 4th session of the Joint intergovernmental Ukrainian-Turkmen Commission on economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation its co-chairmen Hennadii Zubko and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Baymyrat Hojamuhammedov signed the Protocol.

Also, the Protocol contains that among the top priorities of Ukrainian-Turkmen economic relations is cooperation in oil and gas, chemical and power industries.

Apart from that the document indicates that "between the companies of oil and gas complex of Turkmenistan and companies of Ukraine there is carried out active cooperation in purchase of pipe goods, oil and gas equipment, as well as design and building of oil and gas facilities".


In the framework of the visit, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Hennadii Zubko also met with the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. At the meeting they discussed a wide range of cooperation issues between the two countries, and the possibility to increase collaboration in trade, economic, energy and humanitarian spheres.

Finance Ministry's statement on call with ad hoc committee of international commercial creditors

Following today’s call between the principals and advisors of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the adhoc committee of international commercial creditors, the Ministry is pleased that engagement between bothparties on restructuring Ukraine’s sovereign debt is accelerating.

Next week will see intensified talks take place between advisors in London with a follow up call with theprincipals to assess progress on Friday, 5 June.

We reiterate Ukraine’s commitment to negotiate in a collaborative and good faith manner as perinternational principles. The Ministry is confident that a mutually beneficial agreement will be reached inaccordance with the targets agreed under Ukraine’s IMF program.

The Ministry of Finance also welcomes the statement from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble,noting the G7 Finance Ministers’ support for a successful resolution of Ukraine’s debt restructuring.


 

Poroshenko: deoligarchisation program to be realized regardless name of oligarch

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that among tasks of the newly appointed head of Odesa Regional Administration Mikheil Saakashvili is deoligarchisation.
"I hope that we would have absolutely new approaches in settling new tasks. On one hand, we should finance the army, defense and protect our territorial integrity and sovereignty, and everyone is to be equal under the law. No oligarchs will be in Ukraine anymore. Oligarchs are to pay more than the medium class, small business which fulfills its tasks by creating new jobs," the president said, introducing the new head of Odesa Regional Administration Saakashvili in Odesa on Saturday.
Poroshenko said that the deoligarchisation program will be "implemented, regardless the name of an oligarch."
"We will not have private armies that marching in cities and towns. They will be disarmed and punished. The guard company will be deprived of licenses and organizers will be imprisoned," he said.

Situation in Ukraine's eastern regions. Map

The situation in eastern Ukraine remains tense. Despite the declared ceasefire, Russian-backed terrorists continue to fire at Ukrainian army positions and settlements in Donbas.
The map reflecting the situation in Donbas as of 12.00 on May 30 has been released by the information and analytical center of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council.



Saakashvili officially becomes governor, pledges to turn Odesa into 'global miracle'

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko personally presented former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili (2004-2007) as new head of Odesa Regional State Administration in the city of Odesa, in the south of Ukraine, on May 30.

While presenting Saakashvili as new Odesa governor to the public, Petro Poroshenko said: "There will be no power of oligarchs in Ukraine. But there will be discipline in the country! These are the tasks I commission the new Odesa governor to do".

In addition, Poroshenko stressed that he had known Saakashvili for 25 years and believed that he would be a person who is eager to support Ukraine and Odesa."
The president also tweeted on Saturday that he had signed a presidential order to grant Ukrainian citizenship to Mikheil Saakashvili.



TERMS OF REFERENCE For the position of Head of Mission, European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM)

Project to which the consultancy is contributing: European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine
Organisation:
European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine
Job Location:
Odesa, Ukraine
Contract Regime:
Individual Contractor (IC)
Job Titles/Vacancy
  • Head of Mission, EUBAM
Deadline for applications:
26 June 2015
Email address to send the CV:
Project to which the consultancy is contributing: European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine
Background:
In June 2005, the Presidents of Moldova and Ukraine sent a joint letter to the EU requesting assistance for enhanced border management capacities, including the development of an international standard of border and customs control at the state border of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The EU responded positively to this request and an EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine was established, based on a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 7 October 2005 by the European Commission, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The initial duration of EUBAM was 2 years, until November 2007. Its mandate has been extended most recently until 30 November 2015, EUBAM Phase 10. Suggestions to amend the MoU are under discussion, and the next mandate, currently being negotiated, for EUBAM Phase 11, is slated to cover 1 December 2015 – 30 November 2017. IOM is the European Commission’s implementing partner for the EUBAM project.

Law of Ukraine "On Prohibition of Gambling Business in Ukraine"

Date of entry into force:
June 25, 2009

(Abstract)

The Law introduces limitations on gambling business in Ukraine.

Article 1 of the Law provides definitions of the main terms used in the Law. Gambling business is an activity aimed at organizing and conducting gambling in casinos, slot machines, in bookmaker offices and in electronic (virtual) casinos, carried out by organizers of gambling to receive profit.

According to Article 1 of the Law, gambling includes any game that requires the player to make a bet that enables them to receive a prize, and the result of which depends on chance partially or completely.
Gambling does not include:
·         organizing and holding lotteries;
·         organizing and holding creative competitions, sporting events, etc., regardless of whether their conditions include a prize in monetary or property form;
·         pool, bowling and other games that do not involve awarding of prizes to the winner;
·         games on "crane machine" type of gaming machines (two-coordinate machines), in which the player receives exclusively material prizes (toys, candy, etc.);
·         free draws that are part of advertising (promotion) of a certain product, service, trademark, brands of goods services, types or directions of business entities or commercial programs, with prizes in a monetary or property form;
·         draws in form of competitions (games, quizzes), on conditions of free participation and awarding of money or property prizes to the winner based on the best display of personal knowledge and skill;
·         free draws carried out for purposes of entertainment, charity or education.

Chinese Security Laws Elevate the Party and Stifle Dissent. Mao Would Approve


BEIJING — China’s new national security law, released in draft form this month, has little to say about such traditional security matters as military power, counterespionage or defending the nation’s borders.
Instead, to the surprise and alarm of many people here, it reads more like a Communist Party ideology paper and a call to arms aimed at defending the party’s grip on power. The law, together with two other recently published draft laws, constitutes the most expansive articulation yet of President Xi Jinping’s vision of national security, and the widest interpretation of threats to the Communist Party and the state since the Mao era.
Analysts say the laws are aimed at giving the security forces and courts greater leeway in muzzling Chinese civil society and corralling the influence of Western institutions and ideas, which Mr. Xi views as a threat.
Deploying the kind of retro-nationalist language that has become standard fare under Mr. Xi, the national security law says security must be maintained in all aspects of society, from culture to education to technology, “to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Friday, May 29, 2015

U.S. takes Cuba off list of state sponsors of terrorism


The United States has taken Cuba off the list of state sponsors of terrorism, a step that authorities in Havana had insisted upon in advance of the reopening of embassies.

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry signed the order Friday, 45 days after the Obama administration informed Congress that it would remove Cuba from the list. The State Department determined that Cuba had not supported international terrorism in the previous six months, a requirement for getting off the list that now has only three names — Iran, Syria and Sudan. Cuba had been on it since 1982.
Jeff Rathke, a spokesman for the State Department, said the decision to drop Cuba from the list “reflects our assessment that Cuba meets the statutory criteria.”

Direct talks between the ukrainian government and the creditors' committee will be held on June 5

Ukraine's Finance Ministry said on progress in negotiations with private creditors on debt restructuring and an agreement to hold on Friday, June 5, a telephone conversation with the special creditors' committee after scheduled for the next week of intense negotiations between advisers.

"Today a telephone conversation between the representatives and advisers of the Ministry of Finance and a special committee of external commercial creditors. The Ministry notes with satisfaction that the process of cooperation between the two sides of the negotiations on the restructuring of sovereign debt of Ukraine is enhanced," - said in a statement the Ministry of Finance on Friday night.

According to her, the purpose of a telephone conversation June 5 - assessment of progress in the negotiations.

"We emphasize the commitment of Ukraine to negotiate in a spirit of cooperation and integrity, and in accordance with international principles. The Ministry of Finance believes that negotiations reached a mutually beneficial agreement on the restructuring, which will meet the objectives agreed within the framework of the cooperation program with the IMF" - said the Finance Ministry.

EU, Japan will never recognize illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia – joint statement

The European Union and Japan have agreed to never recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea.
This is according to a press statement released at a joint summit in Tokyo on May 29.
"We remain determined never to recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, and will continue to support the government of Ukraine to advance its reforms, aimed at strengthening and modernizing Ukraine for the benefit of its citizens," reads the statement.
The EU and Japan called on all sides involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine "to fully implement their commitments under the Minsk agreements to solve the conflict in Ukraine peacefully, respecting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The EU and Japan also agreed to continue to coordinate their policies on exploring new opportunities for cooperation aimed at modernizing countries as part of the EU's Eastern Partnership, including in the Western Balkans and the Black Sea region.

Kyivan Rus' as an Ancient Ukrainian State

From the viewpoint of contemporary European ethnology, the people who inhabited Southern Rus' in the 10th through the 13th century A.D. and were governed by the principalities of Kyiv, Pereiaslav and Halych had proto-Ukrainian ethnolinguistic traits

The historical heritage of Kyivan Rus' is a key problem in the history of Eastern Europe. It is undeniable that the Ukrainian lands governed by Kyiv played a leading role in the formation of the Eastern Slavic world and its statehood. Whether real or imagined, the heritage of Kyivan princes not only legitimized the very existence of young East European states (above all, Muscovy) in the late Middle Ages, but also provided the basis for their expansion into the rich territories of Southern Rus'-Ukraine. 

That is the reason why, as Russian historian Alexander Pypin put it, “the dispute between the southerners and the northerners” (i.e., Ukrainians and Russians) over Kyivan heritage has shown no signs of slacking in the five centuries since the formation of Muscovy. For obvious reasons Ukrainians (“Little Russians”), as “the younger brother” in the empire of Great Russians, found it hard to argue their case. The “older brother” had at its disposal a totalitarian government apparatus with a wide range of “weighty” arguments ranging from financial incentives and promotions for supporters to camps on the Solovky Islands and execution of its opponents.

LAWS OF ETHNOHISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

Special Report: Russian fighters, caught in Ukraine, cast adrift by Moscow

KyIV | BY MARIA TSVETKOVA


From his hospital bed in the Ukrainian capital, Russian fighter Alexander Alexandrov feels abandoned by his country, its leaders and even the local Russian consul.
Alexandrov, 28, says he's a Russian soldier who was captured in east Ukraine after being sent there on active duty with Russian special forces to help separatists fighting Kiev. He said he was serving on a three-year contract. "I never tore it up, I wrote no resignation request," he said. "I was carrying out my orders."
Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the face of widespread evidence to the contrary, has repeatedly said there are no Russian soldiers in Ukraine – only volunteers who have gone to help the separatists of their own accord.
So Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, another Russian who was captured with him, find themselves pawns in the deepest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.

BDO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPASS

BDO IBC Overall ranking


The BDO International Business Compass measure the attractiveness of a country as a multi-dimensional concept in three dimensions: the economic, politico-legal and socio-cultural conditions. 

The appeal of a country is associated with its level of development. It is understood as a combination of economic, politico-legal and social factors. On the one hand, the attractiveness of a particular country with regard to potential investment decisions is at the forefront, which clearly expresses an economical perspective. On the other hand, economic factors alone can only reflect the situation of a country in a limited fashion, because political, legal, social and cultural aspects also play a part and ultimately have an influence on how appealing a country is as an investment location. The three dimensions correlate with each other and are therefore statistically not entirely independent. 

However, this is neither required for their aggregation within the index, nor is it realistically achievable. From a statistical point of view, the attractiveness of a country is a level variable as a result of the interaction of a number of factors. The selected indicators may have both a positive and a negative effect on the overall structure, ie increase or decrease the attractiveness. The selection of indicators is based on whether they have a logically explicable and, if possible, already proven influence on the attractiveness construct. The second step aggregates specific factors in two sub-indices. The aim is to bundle information through indicators that have an influence on the appeal of a particular country as a potential market or production site.

BDO IBC Overall ranking

Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances

The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances is a political agreement signed in BudapestHungary on 5 December 1994, providing security assurances by its signatories relating to Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The Memorandum was originally signed by three nuclear powers, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, and the United KingdomChina and France gave somewhat weaker individual assurances in separate documents.
The memorandum included security assurances against threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine as well as those of Belarus and Kazakhstan. As a result Ukraine gave up the world's third largest nuclear weapons stockpile between 1994 and 1996, of which Ukraine had physical though not operational control. The use of the weapons was dependent on Russian-controlled electronic Permissive Action Links and the Russian command and control system.

Putin Declares Soldiers’ Deaths and Wounds Secret, in War and Peace


MOSCOW — The deaths or wounds of Russian soldiers in “special operations” can be classified as military secrets, even in peacetime, President Vladimir V. Putin decreed Thursday. The decree comes as Russia faces accusations that it is sending its soldiers clandestinely to fight inUkraine, an allegation the Kremlin denies.

Mr. Putin’s decree amended a law that had let the military keep soldiers’ deaths or injuries secret only in times of war.

Mr. Putin has repeatedly insisted that Russian soldiers are not taking part in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where government forces and pro-Russian separatists keep fighting despite a cease-fire deal in February.

At home, Russia’s political opposition says that by refusing to acknowledge that its soldiers are in combat in Ukraine, the Russian military is unjustly denying them disability payments and denying their relatives death benefits and other awards.

All the while, there are widespread indications of a rising casualty toll for Russian soldiers, including wounded ones showing up at hospitals, new graves appearing in cemeteries and testimony from relatives of the dead.

The federalization will lead to disintegration of Ukraine

Leonid Kuchma, the second president of Ukraine (who was president of Ukraine in 1994-2005), said calls for the federalization of Ukraine are aimed at a "creeping" dismantling of the country.
"When Moscow calls for Ukraine to be turned into a federation, it is quite obvious that the goal here is not wellbeing, not the interests of our people, but building a foundation for the disintegration of Ukraine, for turning it into an incapable, amorphous state. Indeed, federalization of Ukraine is the first step towards the implementation of this scenario," Kuchma said in a new edition of the book entitled Ukraine is not Russia, an abstract of which was published in the newspaper Golos Ukrainy on Friday.
Kuchma said he is convinced that national identity is the cornerstone of the survival of any country, let alone Ukraine, which has regained its independence after being part of an empire for more than 300 years.

Criminal justice (1990-2014)


Offences detected, total
Convicted, total
Persons subject to administrative liability (thsd.)
Civil cases tried by courts (with court decisions) (thsd.)
Fires, total
1990
369809
104199
6515,9
379,2
х
1991
405516
108553
7841,5
358,5
х
1992
480478
115260
9723,9
364,0
х
1993
539299
152878
11767,1
407,7
х
1994
572147
174959
15997,7
399,2
х
1995
641860
212915
22400,6
453,3
47875
1996
617262
242124
14950,9
550,1
46824
1997
589208
237790
14232,1
599,8
42507
1998
575982
232598
13330,7
744,2
41294
1999
558716
222239
10542,0
772,6
40237
2000
567795
230903
9395,4
911,4
37596
2001
514597
202609
6384,1
1057,0
36814
2002
460389
194212
6472,4
1166,4
41794
2003
566350
201081
7097,3
1259,3
40374