Ukrainian Law Blog: January 2017

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Are You Looking for Redemption in Bankruptcy?

By Heather Ries on January 31, 2017

POSTED IN BANKRUPTCY, CHAPTER 7, UNCATEGORIZED

What is “redemption” in bankruptcy?

Redemption is an option available to Chapter 7 individual debtor (not corporations or business entities).
Redemption may allow the debtor to keep personal property (intended for personal, family, or household use) which is acting as collateral for a secured debt.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry expresses deep concern over the intensification of the Russian-terrorist forces in Donbas.

For the last two days, the Russian occupation forces carried out massive attacks across the contact line using all available weapons, including MLRS "Grad", artillery of 152 mm and 122 mm, mortars of 120 and 82 mm, tanks, all prohibited by the Minsk agreements, and small arms. The Russian weapon has killed 8 Ukrainian soldiers and has left 26 wounded.

Trump picks conservative judge Gorsuch for U.S. Supreme Court

By Lawrence Hurley and Steve Holland

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Neil Gorsuch (L) after nominating him to be an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Neil Gorsuch for a lifetime job on the U.S. Supreme Court, picking the 49-year-old federal appeals court judge to restore the court's conservative majority and help shape rulings on divisive issues such as abortion, gun control, the death penalty and religious rights.

Deutsche Bank fined $630m over Russia money laundering claims

Jill Treanor

Authorities in US and UK issue fine after saying bank used offices in Moscow and London to move $10bn out of country

Deutsche Bank has been fined after New York and UK authorities found pervasive weakness in its money laundering safeguards. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Deutsche Bank has been fined more than $630m (£506m) for failing to prevent $10bn of Russian money laundering and exposing the UK financial system to the risk of financial crime.

This tax season, join a webinar, protect your data

Seena Gressin

Tax season has just begun, but tax identity thieves already are posting their “gone phishin’” signs: fake emails designed to trick companies into handing over their employees’ personal information. To help small businesses avoid the hook, the FTC and the IRS are hosting a free Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week webinar on Wednesday, February 1, at 4 p.m. EST.

Here’s what happens, according to the IRS. Cybercriminals send an email that looks like it’s from a corporate officer. It asks the company’s payroll or human resources officer for employees’ W-2s “for a quick review.” But it’s not real, and those who reply are sending employees’ names, Social Security numbers, and income information to scammers, who then file fraudulent returns for tax refunds.

by Corey Robin

Someone recently asked me: if you don’t think Trump is a fascist, what do you think is going to happen? I answered her as truthfully as I could: I don’t know. The fact is: none of us knows. Not even, I suspect, Trump or Steve Bannon.

DONALD TRUMP has not wasted time fulfiling campaign promises. In just his first week as America’s 45th president, Mr Trump signed executive orders and memoranda freezing federal hiring, backing out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, defunding “sanctuary cities” that protect unauthorised immigrants, undermining Obamacare, restoring the “global gag rule” on abortion counselling, restarting the construction of two controversial oil pipelines through Native American lands, building a wall on the nation’s southern border, blocking Syrian refugees and residents of several majority-Muslim countries from immigrating to the United States and slashing regulations on businesses. These moves have provoked fierce criticism from Democrats and studied silence from most Republicans. What are executive orders, and what limits a president’s authority to issue them?

The intense fighting around Avdiivka in the last few days, involving heavy shelling with proscribed weapons and leading to a considerable number of casualties, is a blatant violation of the ceasefire, as stipulated by the Minsk agreements. It puts civilian inhabitants at grave risk.

Furthermore, these latest incidents have already caused major disruptions in the provision of basic utility services to the local communities.

The administrative detention of human rights lawyer Emil Kurbedinov on 26 January in Simferopol, Crimean peninsula, continues a worrying trend of increasingly frequent attacks on the vital work conducted by human rights defenders to protect the rights of Crimean Tatars and of those who do not recognise the illegal annexation of the peninsula by the Russian Federation. The rights of Mr Kurbedinov should be respected and his release ensured.

Ukrainian President had a meeting with security officials due to the escalation of the situation in Avdiivka

President Petro Poroshenko had a meeting with security officials due to the drastic escalation of the security situation in the industrial area of Avdiivka, Donetsk region.

The President has instructed Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Kostiantyn Yelisieiev to submit the issue of escalation in Avdiivka for consideration by the UN Security Council immediately. “Today, we expect respective statements by our international partners,” the Head of State noted.

President Petro Poroshenko has had a meeting with the security officials due to the drastic escalation of the security situation in the industrial area of Avdiivka, Donetsk region.

National Health Service: 'A large majority of people that have given birth identify as women'

BY: Elizabeth Harrington

Doctors working for the United Kingdom's government-run National Health Service are being told to stop calling pregnant women "expectant mothers" because it is not "inclusive" to biological women who identify as men.

The trade union representing NHS doctors claims a "large majority of people that have been pregnant or have given birth identify as women," but said a change to remove the word "mother" is necessary because biological women who think they are men can get pregnant.

The Daily Mail revealed an official 14-page manual given to doctors and medical students entitled "A Guide To Effective Communication: Inclusive Language In The Workplace."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks during a news briefing on the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN summit in Sochi, Russia, May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

Ukraine and Russia blamed each other on Tuesday for a surge in fighting in eastern Ukraine over recent days that has led to the highest casualty toll in weeks and cut off power and water to thousands of civilians on the front line.

Колегія судів Судової палати у цивільних справах: у допуску до провадження Верховного суду України справи за позовом Опришка В.Ф. до ДВНЗ КНЕУ відмовити

Ухвала ВСУ from Kyiv National Economic University

ОСОБА_3 vs КНЕУ: Ухвала ВССУ від 14.12.2016

Monday, January 30, 2017

The Memorandum of Understanding for the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Initiative dated 12 May 2014 (PDF)

The Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Initiative (the “Initiative”) brings together representatives of the Government of Ukraine, business associations, and international financial institutions (“IFIs”) (together the “Parties”).

The Parties recognise the importance of accountability, transparency, and the rule of law in the proper functioning and effective regulation of the Ukrainian economy. They also acknowledge the resolve of the current administration to address the issue of corruption and the unfair treatment of business in Ukraine.

In addition to these, the Parties’ want to express their common principles and commitments to action by way of this Memorandum of Understanding.

The Memorandum of Understanding for the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Initiative dated 12 May 2014(PDF)

Governance & Securities Law Focus: Europe Edition, January, 2017

Governance & Securities Law Focus: Europe Edition, January, 2017 from Kyiv National Economic University

Trump fires acting attorney general who said travel ban was not lawful

Oliver Laughland

Demonstrators jam the international arrivals area at San Francisco International Airport. Photograph: UPI / Barcroft Images

The Trump administration replaced the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [Ice] just after firing the acting US attorney general as the backlash over the president’s controversial travel ban continues to grow.

President Petro Poroshenko is satisfied with the dynamics of the Ukraine-German relations at the highest level. “This is the tenth visit and our tenth meeting with Ms. Chancellor. It is symbolic that our meeting takes place during the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Germany. Over the given period, our partnership has reached an unprecedented level,” Petro Poroshenko noted at the joint press conference with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.

Denmark takes point in Ukraine

BY NIKOLAI HOLMOV

With effect from 1st February The Kingdom of Denmark takes the EU lead when it comes to anti-corruption initiatives in Ukraine.

Naturally a reader wishes the Danish well in this endeavour. It will have obvious allies in civil society, some in the media, and government members such as Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze – and it will face obstructionism and populism in equal measure from the usual quarters within domestic politics, State institutions, some in the media, and big business too.

Where the EU Ambassador (and staff) to Ukraine figure in all this by way of leadership – if anywhere – remains somewhat unclear. Similarly the EEAS.

Ian Fleming - Thunderball (PDF)

Ian Fleming -Thunderball (PDF)

Week’s milestones. Railway row and diversity of blockades

Yevgeny Magda

Photo from UNIAN

Situation revolving around Ukrzaliznytsia may provoke a government crisis. Samopomich Party through its talking heads is trying to tackle the “waste blockade” of Lviv and tries to contribute to the blockade of railway connection with the areas in Donbas beyond government control.

Оn January 29 Ukraine commemorates the defenders of Ukrainian People's Republic (Ukrainian state in the period 1917 - 1920), who died on this day in 1918 in an unequal battle near Kruty, defending the right of the Ukrainian people to live in their own state.

99 years ago at the railway station, located at a distance of 130 km. north-east of Kyiv, there was a battle between troops, which included students and militants of Free Cossacks – a total number was about 400 people, and the 4.000 unit of the Red Army headed by Mikhail Muravyov (later executed by the Bolsheviks for his cruelty and tyranny).

In the framework of the working visit to Berlin, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko had a meeting with German business circles.

The Head of State informed on the progress of Ukraine on the track of reforms.

Special attention was paid to the macroeconomic stabilization in the state, progress in purification of the banking system, deregulation, efforts within the reformation of the energy sphere and countering corruption.

Ukraińcy to nie faszyści

Jakub Mielnik

Ukraińcy to nie faszyści / Źródło: TASS

Ukraińscy patrioci nie czczą UPA za mordowanie Polaków na Wołyniu, tylko za walkę o niepodległą Ukrainę – mówi Jan Malicki z UW.

Big Law and the Business of Blockchains (a Tale of Three Bs)

Ian Lopez, Legaltech News

For companies looking to leverage blockchain technology, compliance can be both cumbersome and confusing. Steptoe & Johnson is attempting to fight these notions.

Credit: enzozo/Shutterstock.com

The terms blockchain, bitcoin and cryptocurrency may ring a bell, but many couldn’t even begin to tell you what those technologies are, let alone what they do. Yet advocates of the technology would have you believe it’s the wave of the future, and in recent years, that number of proponents has gone from few to many.

ANALYSE - Les présidents américain et russe ont eu un premier contact téléphonique, ce samedi, qui apparaît comme une première étape positive dans les relations entre Washington et Moscou.

Ukraine says more soldiers killed in deadliest clashes in weeks

The number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in an offensive by pro-Russian separatists over the past two days has risen to seven, Ukraine's military said on Monday, in the deadliest outbreak of fighting in the east of the country since mid-December.

The clashes between Ukraine's military and the pro-Russian separatists coincide with U.S. President Donald Trump's call for better relations with Moscow that has alarmed Kiev while the conflict in its eastern region remains unresolved.

By Mikhail Klikushin

Critical gas shortage and bitter winter cause former Soviet Republic to turn to Mother Russia for warmth

People dressed in traditional costumes celebrate the Malanka festival in the village of Krasnoilsk, Chernivtsi district in Ukraine. OLEKSANDR RATUSHNIAK/AFP/Getty Images

During the heady days of the Soviet economy, Ukraine consumed 120 billion cubic meters of natural gas yearly. Back then, the Ukrainian economy, although clumsy and energy ineffective, was in some industries on par with Germany’s.

Exclusive: How to Improve Your Writing Efficiency

Lucy Adams

Let's just make a reservation: speed writing doesn’t mean poor writing. Unfortunately, very often people determine the price for their work by the amount of time spent on it. However, you can spend a few days on the creation of a bad text while writing a masterpiece in a few hours. The only question is your professionalism. And the ability to work quickly with a large amount of information is one the components of a skilled writer.

In Solidarity with People Affected by the ‘Muslim Ban’: Call for an Academic Boycott of International Conferences held in the US

To sign the letter, please submit your name HERE

On 27 January 2017, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order putting in place a 90-day ban that denies US entry to citizens from seven Muslim majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia. So far, the ban includes dual nationals, current visa, and green card holders, and those born in these countries while not holding citizenship of them. The Order also suspends the admittance of all refugees to the US for a period of 120 days and terminates indefinitely all refugee admissions from Syria. There are indications that the Order could be extended to include other Muslim majority countries.

Multi-jurisdictional business transfers: employee issues

Multi-jurisdictional business transfers: employee issuesument from Kyiv National Economic University

LendingRobot - Fintech Startup

LendingRobot is an automated investment service for Peer-to-peer lending for retail investors. It is based in Seattle, Washington, and was the first SEC-registered Investment Advisor in the Peer to Peer Lending industry.

#LendingRobot was originally created as a small script by Emmanuel Marot and Gilad Golan to automate their own, personal investments on Lending Club. After discovering that the most popular loans were gone a few seconds only after publication, they decided to offer the service to other individual investors.

The state flag of Ukraine is a banner of two equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow (Constitution of Ukraine, Article 20).

Turkey’s Erdoğan, British PM discuss boosting trade relations, Syria, Cyprus in Ankara

AA photo

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted British Prime Minister Theresa May in Ankara on Jan. 28 in the latter’s first visit to Turkey after she took office and the two leaders discussed a variety of issues extending from trade relations to advanced joint operations against terror in Syria.

John McCain

President Donald Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin is scheduled to take place amid widespread speculation that the White House is considering lifting sanctions against Russia. For the sake of America’s national security and that of our allies, I hope President Trump will put an end to this speculation and reject such a reckless course. If he does not, I will work with my colleagues to codify sanctions against Russia into law.

In just the last three years under Vladimir Putin, Russia has invaded Ukraine, annexed Crimea, threatened NATO allies, and intervened militarily in Syria, leaving a trail of death, destruction, and broken promises in his wake.

Ukrainian interest. Northern vector, disturbing PACE, and bloody paint on WWII graves

Yevgeny Magda

While in Finland and Estonia, Petro Poroshenko raised some Ukraine-related issues, significant for the country. At a January session of PACE, the friends of Russia were really close to getting a long-awaited revenge. Acts of vandalism against the Polish graves in Ukraine have a rather logical explanation.

Northern European states perceive seriously the threat posed by Russia. This was evidenced, in particular, by Finland’s public willingness to host the Center for hybrid threats counteraction, which is being set up by NATO and the EU.

Petro Poroshenko during his visit to Tallinn and Helsinki underlined that Ukraine was ready to share experience in combating Russia, noting the willingness to fight back a possible full-scale invasion.

Some 192,209 military men and soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who took part in the anti-terrorist operation, have received the status of war veteran since the beginning of the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine, Defense Ministry spokesperson Dmytro Hutsuliak has said.

At a briefing in Kyiv he informed that the Defense Ministry conferred a decoration to 36,000 soldiers and Armed Forces personnel, more than 12,000 soldiers were decorated by the state.

Original

France’s top court strikes down anti-smacking law

Text by NEWS WIRES

A French law condemning the smacking of children has been struck down by the Constitutional Council, dismaying opponents of a practice for which France has been rapped by the UN.

Loïc Venance, AFP file picture | Smacking, or ‘la fessée’, still has widespread support in France

The Constitutional Council, which vets legislation, on Thursday rejected on technical grounds a law that asked parents to swear off hitting their children.

Putin and Trump agree to try to rebuild U.S.-Russia ties, cooperate in Syria

By Andrew Osborn and Alexander Winning | MOSCOW

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to try to rebuild U.S. Russia ties and to cooperate in Syria, the Kremlin said on Saturday, after the two men spoke for the first time since Trump's inauguration.

The big white men of Brexit are a throwback to Britain’s imperial past

Ian Jack

The foreign secretary flew to Bengal and was feted. This is life as those who yearn for a new global order imagine it

Illustration by Matt Kenyon.

Fresh from Theresa May’s new “global Britain” – “a country that goes out into the world to build relationships with old friends and new allies alike” – Boris Johnson turned up last week in Kolkata. People seemed drawn to his size. His host, West Bengal’s chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, spoke of him as a “big man” in the British government. A Kolkata daily, the Telegraph, carried pictures of him playing cricket with the children of the Bournvita Cricket Academy and answering a question from students at Presidency University: “Boris big with bat & words” was the headline.

The Name of the Rose (Italian: Il nome della rosa) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery, in the year 1327, an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. It was translated into English by William Weaver in 1983.

The Name of the Rose (PDF)