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cooperation, that’s all. But somehow Georgia has one section of work to do, and we have another. And not even the political section.”
Ukraine’s parliament backed legislation reinstating punishment for crooked officials​, a move that’s needed to seal a new loan from the International Monetary Fund. Lawmakers approved the so-called illicit-enrichment bill in a first reading on Wednesday. They also agreed to accelerate its passage so final approval can happen as early as next week. The vote followed the arrival to Kyiv of an IMF mission that will discuss new aid with the government. Ukraine is seeking an extended fund facility program of as much as $10bn, according to the central bank. Earlier legislation laying out punishments for corruption among officials was annulled under the previous administration.
Independent anti-corruption court begins to hear cases.​ ​The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine, an independent judiciary created to meet IMF loan requirements, has begun to hear criminal cases, its head, Olena Tanasevych, announced on September 5. More than 3,000 criminal cases are being transferred to the independent court from local courts, of, which 190 involve completed pre-trial investigations conducted by the independent National Anti-Corruption Bureau, under the procedural guidance of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, the pravda.com.ua​ news site reported, citing Tanasevych.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has pledged to establish "the agricultural land market model, under, which only Ukrainian citizens and companies can buy or sell land," ​he said on September 19. According to the president’s office, Zelenskiy believes that the issue of land sales is "too sensitive" and therefore requires wide public discussion. In particular, in order to find optimal and balanced solutions in the open land market model. "First and foremost: the land belongs to Ukrainians. In the model that we propose together with the government, only Ukrainian citizens and Ukrainian companies can buy or sell land. Horror stories about Chinese, Arabs or aliens who will take our land out in wagons are a nonsense," the president’s office quoted Zelenskiy as saying. "Land is the property of citizens." The statement will disappoint Ukraine's Western backers and multinational donors, which have insisted over the past years on a free land market in Ukraine. To curb the creation of vast estates,the draft law limits land purchases by one individual to 15% of of the farmland in a region and 0.5% at the national level. To promote small and midsized farmers, the Finance Ministry is drawing up a credit program with interest rates limited to 5%. All sales are to be through transparent electronic auctions. Zelenskiy wants the bill passed by Dec. 1.
Abromavicius orders investigation of alleged Ukrspetseksport machinations.​ ​Aivaras Abromavicius, the former investment banker and recently appointed general director of state defense monopoly Ukroboronprom, ruled on Sept. 5 to begin an investigation of the reported decision by his predecessor, Pavlo Bukin, to sign an order granting autonomy to Ukrspetseksport, the body’s procurement division. On Aug. 19, Bukin signed a new draft of the Ukrspetseksport’s regulations granting the company’s director the autonomy to hire and dismiss employees, set wages and plan staffing, the bihus.info​ news site reported on Sept. 3. The new regulations also prohibit Ukroboronprom from disciplining Ukrspetseksport employees, and, in general, maximally enhance the division’s authority at the expense of the state monopoly.​ ​ ​ ​Bukin was head of Ukrspetseksport between 2015 and 2018,
13​ UKRAINE Country Report​ October 2019 ​ ​www.intellinews.com