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via Ukraine after completion of a new pipeline, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier says during citizen dialogue. That is more than the 5bcm that Stockholm court rules Russia must send and about a third of the pipes capacity worth approximately $1bn in transit fees, down from the current $3bn a year Ukraine earns.
Poroshenko to visit US after arms request submitted. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will visit the US between Sept. 24 and 27, during which he will address the United Nations and meet with key authorities, according to Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN. He will submit UN resolutions to address the militarization of Crimea and Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia, Yelchenko told an Aug. 27 press briefing. The Ukrainian government has submitted a request for purchase of three anti-aircraft defence systems from the US at a value of $2.25bn, Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Valeriy Chaly told Ukrainian radio on Aug. 28. “Our needs in the next period, in my view, is the naval space, air space,” he said. “It’s that without which we simply can’t ensure our country’s defence.” These military needs were discussed between the two presidents in Brussels and with John Bolton, the US national security advisor.
The English Court of Appeal will announce on September 14 its ruling on the Ukrainian Finance Ministry's appeal of a $3bn debt to a Russian state fund , the Interfax news agency reported on August 30, citing the court’s announcement. Recall, a Russian fund is demanding that Ukraine repay in full $3bn in Eurobonds issued in December 2013 (the so-called “Yanukovych debt” with a two-year maturity). The fund was the only holdout of Ukraine’s Eurobond restructuring in autumn 2015, when $15bn in notes were restructured with payment postponed for four years, on average. The Russian fund demanded the bond’s repayment in an English court, which ruled in March 2017 that Ukraine had no arguments to avoid the repayment. The court allowed the Ukrainian side to appeal, a hearing took place in January 2018. It’s very unlikely that Ukraine’s appeal will be successful. Although Ukraine will have no choice but to respect the court’s ruling, it’s clear that MinFin won’t act to repay the debt. That’s because Ukraine’s parliament introduced a moratorium on the servicing and repayment of this debt in April 2016, and there is no chance to lift it, for political reasons. The only way for the Russian fund to recover anything soon from its “Yanukovych bonds” is to sell them to Gazprom, which will use the bonds to “pay” Ukraine’s state holding Naftogaz $2.6bn. Gazprom lost net $2.6bn in litigations against Naftogaz in winter 2017-2018, but is clearly not willing to pay with any liquid asset. It will be hard for Naftogaz to reject this “payment." As we highlighted above, the Ukrainian government will have to recognize this obligation once the UK court requires its payment. Alternatively, the overdue “Yanukoych debt” can be partially reconciled with Russia’s possible obligations to Ukraine for inflicting economic damages related to the illegal occupation of the Crimean peninsula and Donbas after Ukraine pursues these claims in international courts.
Anti-corruption prosecutors produce 234 indictments, report no convictions The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has submitted to courts criminal indictments against 234 suspects involved in 146 cases that were investigated since December 2015, the press service of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau said in an Aug. 28 press release. In the same time period, bureau detectives have identified 165 criminal suspects, informing them of their involvement in 646 criminal cases that are under investigation. Among the more prominent cases, bureau detectives said they are completing
8 UKRAINE Country Report September 2018 www.intellinews.com