Page 12 - UKRRptOct19

one and half years to a new and more comprehensive EFF that runs over three years.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a bill to legalize gambling in hotels in Ukraine​. The version that goes to the Rada in coming days restricts gambling to high-end hotels and only “on gaming equipment using software that meets international standards.” “We want slot machines to disappear from the streets,” said Prime Minister Honcharuk. It is not clear if the average Ukrainian gambler will want to gamble in luxury hotels. President Zelenskiy wants the law adopted within two months. The government predicts gambling will draw $100 million in tax revenue next year.
US releases defence and security aid funds to Ukraine ​The US government is releasing funds to support Ukraine’s reform and self-defence efforts under the new government of President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Voice of America news agency reported on Sept. 12, citing government officials. The funds include $250mn from the Department of defence and $141mn from the Department of State.
Ukraine is negotiating an ‘all for all’ exchange of prisoners with Russia,
Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s chief negotiator, tells the Financial Times. A trade could result in the freedom of as many 350 Ukrainians held captive in Russia and Russia-controlled Crimea and Donbas. The Sept. 7 prisoner swap proved enormously popular in Ukraine, strengthening Zelenskiy’s hand to win quick approval in the Rada of legislation for free-market economic changes. Russia and Ukraine swapped 35 prisoners each in September.
The US Embassy in Ukraine called for law enforcement authorities to immediately and thoroughly investigate and prosecute those who ordered and carried out the Sept. 17 arson attack on the suburban Kyiv home of Valeria Gontareva, ​as well as the numerous threats against her. That demand was repeated by the EU Delegation to Ukraine hours after arsonists destroyed the home of Gontareva, who served as National Bank of Ukraine governor between 2014 and 2017 and conducted numerous highly contested bank nationalizations. “The recent, obvious series of attacks on the former NBU governor and her property are unacceptable, as the president of Ukraine announced this morning,” said its statement published on Twitter. “We expect that law enforcement bodies to conduct investigations immediately and prosecute those responsible.” Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Riaboshapka will hold a meeting today of law enforcement heads to discuss the investigation of the arson attack on Gontareva's home, the office’s website reported on Sept. 17. “Currently under the prosecutor general’s direction, the police is conducting immediate investigations in order to determine the true conditions of the fire and review all possible versions in the case,” the statement said. “A criminal case has been opened for deliberate destruction of property. Its investigation in under the control of the Prosecutor General’s leadership.”
Ukraine won’t be allowed to join NATO and should reconsider its relations with the international defence organization​, said on September 23 Iryna Wereschtschuk, the president’s representative to Ukraine’s parliament. “We want to join, but they’re not taking us,” she told the Russian-oriented 112 television network. “We are knocking on a closed door and are losing our reputation. We can’t go where we’re not awaited. We need to move forward, become stronger, more coordinated. We have a program of
12​ UKRAINE Country Report​ October 2019 ​ ​www.intellinews.com