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Ukraine reopened 60 of its border crossings with neighbouring E.U. countries to vehicular, rail and pedestrian traffic as of midnight, May 29​, the State Border Service confirmed, as reported by the​pravda.com.ua​ news site. Letters about the decision have been sent to inform neighbors, who decide independently and separately as to whether to reopen mutually, the service said. Another six crossings (two rail and four vehicular) were opened with Moldova, which responded with a mutual reopening, the service confirmed this morning. Fifty-six crossings remain closed with Russia and Belarus. The decision was based on a cabinet resolution on relaxing quarantine restrictions issued on May 20.
Ukraine has agreed to conditions of a new SBA program with the IMF that are realistic and can be implemented​, the ukranews.com news site reported on May 24, citing its anonymous sources in the government. The conditions of the program are yet to be published along with the memorandum, which will become public after the first IMF tranche. But Ukranews said it learned the key conditions for the next tranches apply to the areas of energy, justice, fiscal, financial and antivirus, with no commitments in the painful direction of land reform.
The State Bureau of Investigations (DBR) of Ukraine has opened a criminal case on the alleged illegal wiretapping of phone conversations between former Ukrainian President Poroshenko and then-US Vice President Joe Biden​, the alleged audio recordings of which were published on May 19 by MP Andriy Derkach, the pravda.com.ua news site reported on May 25, citing an anonymous law enforcement source. The bureau will investigate whether Poroshenko’s phone was wiretapped, which could have harmed state interests, the report said.
Large reorganizations are being planned for Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers,​ Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency published on May 25. Firstly, the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection is planned to be split in two, he said. “It was strange for me when I was at the first Cabinet of Ministers meeting, when the energy minister began to report on the condition of affairs in atomic energy, then the coal industry, and then about Red Book plants and the catch of bloodworms. From that point, I became an advocate of a professional environmentalist overseeing the ecology, for whom this is familiar and has made a profession of it,” Shmyhal said.
Most public transport, including metro rail, reopened in the last week of May in the second relaxation phase​. However, 6 regions – Kyiv, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Rivne, Volyn and Zakarpattia – in Ukraine didn't qualify for the opening up as infection rates were still too high. The second phase of Ukraine’s quarantine relaxation measures took effect on May 22, when much of intercity and intracity public transport was renewed, and on May 25, when metro rail in the largest cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv was renewed. Ukraine’s 18 other regions were allowed to adopt relaxations, at the discretion of local governments. Wearing masks and gloves were requirements set by the government for riding public transport, though drivers and officials weren’t enforcing the wearing of gloves, the pravda.com.ua news site reported today. Metro riders were urged to maintain a distance of 1.5 meter between each other. Metro railcars will be disinfected every three hours. Kyiv markets and public outdoor areas were reopened as of May 25.
Citing his infrastructure rebuilding plan, President Zelenskiy is
16​ UKRAINE Country Report​ June 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com