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The Regions This Week
February 16, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 5
Eastern Europe
Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, green- lighted on February 7 in the final readings the amend- ments to the nation’s constitution regarding the strategic course of the state to secure Ukraine’s full membership in the European Union (EU) and NATO.
After being delayed because of the US mid-term elections, the US government is due to resume a debate about imposing “crushing” sanctions on Russia that sent stocks tumbling on February 12.
One in five Russians are prepared to protest with political demands, according to a new poll by in- dependent pollster the Levada Center released on February 12. President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating slipped again slightly from 66% to 64% over the same time period.
Reports of election violations and related vio- lence ahead of Ukraine’s presidential elections have intensified in the last week, according to the National Police and the Opora election moni- toring organization. In some regions blatant vote buying, especially among pensions, has been widely reported.
Minister of Economy Maxim Oreshkin admitted that the 2.3% GDP growth result for 2018 – a six year high – reported by Rosstat in January was “not sustainable” and “due to one-off factors.” The result raised eyebrows after Rosstat, which is now under the direct control of the Ministry of Econo- my, revised the construction output up in 2018 and boosted the overall growth figure dramatically.
Russia’s inflation in 2019 will be higher than the of- ficial forecast of the Economic Development Ministry at 4.3%, but will remain below 5%, Economic Devel- opment Minister Maxim Oreshkin told reporters.
The net export of capital from Russia by the pri- vate sector in January reached $10.4bn, which is almost 1.5 times higher than the figure for the same period last year, according to the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) Vedomosti reported on February 11.
Ukraine’s president Poroshenko calls for a pen- sion hike, citing higher customs revenue Only six weeks before the elections Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko called on the government to hike pensions, saying the country had earned more than expected from exports and has some cash to spare.
Russia’s retail banking powerhouse Sberbank increased the authorized capital of its Ukrainian subsidiary bank by UAH3.3bn ($122mn), or by 15.9%, to UAH24.065bn, the bank said on February 12. As a result of the increase in the authorized capital, the bank has formed additional reserves for loans, as well as increased capital adequacy, the bank said.
Ukraine's largest agricultural company Ukrlandfarming and its subsidiary Avangard- co have inked a restructuring agreement for
a UAH4.4bn ($162mn) debt owed to state-owned lender Oschadbank. At the same time, sides did not reveal parameters of the debt restructuring.
Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved on February 13 the key parameters of a new Eurobond issue by Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railway) the Ukrainian News agency reported the same day. Ukrzaliznytsia tried to get a $500mn Eurobond away last November in the same week that the government issued a $3bn, but it failed.
Leading Russian gold miner Polymetal to build the largest gold concentrate processing plant in Russia. The project is worth $431mn and will eliminate the need to use a similar plant in China, the company said on February 11.
Apple Inc. detailed the user data it is storing in Russia, reports East-West Digital News (EWDN). Apple users in the region have data including their name, delivery address, email address and phone number stored on servers in Russia.