Page 17 - UKRRptFeb21

Ukrainians died for every baby born. Deaths totalled 549,170, Births totalled 268,900.
About half of Ukrainians say they will not take a coronavirus vaccine even if it is free​. Rating polling group found that 52% of 1,600 adults interviewed last week would turn down a free vaccination. Support for free vaccinations fell to 43% last week, from 55% in November. At same time, fear of infection has also dropped to 40% today, from 57% in November. Compared to November, publicly registered infections have dropped by about two thirds, to 4,383 yesterday morning.
President Zelenskiy asked the EU for more help in procuring coronavirus vaccines after his government rejected Russian offers of help,​ reported Reuters. “For all countries of the Eastern Partnership initiative, in particular Ukraine and Moldova, the issue of obtaining vaccines is important,” Zelenskiy said while hosting Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Kyiv. The Eastern Partnership is an EU initiative to work with six post-Soviet states: Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova. “The countries of the Eastern Partnership should be given increased attention by the EU states in matters of joint procurement procedures and accelerating the supply of vaccines.”
Foreigners who invest over $100,000 in companies they set up in Ukraine will be able to apply for an immigration permit, ​according to a resolution approved on January 13 at the Cabinet of Ministers. Investments will have to be documented by bank transfers.
Akhmetov, Kolomoisky control more than a third of Rada MPs, news site says​ ​About 100 MPs of Ukraine’s parliament have worked this session in the interests of billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, while about 70 MPs have worked in the interests of billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky, according to the investigations of the bihus.info​ news site on Jan. 11. Such work includes writing legislation advantageous to these oligarchs, voting for bills advantageous to them, undermining disadvantageous bills, submitting amendments and riders to bills, submitting complaints to the Constitutional Court, submitting claims with law enforcement bodies, participating in parliament investigative commissions and conducting media attack campaigns. Currently, the Rada has 422 active MPs.
The US has added seven Ukrainians and four media sites to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List for attempting to interfere in the 2020 presidential election​, the US Treasury Department announced yesterday. The list includes Oleksandr Dubinsky, Rada member from President Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People party, who previously worked as a host on 1+1 TV, owned by Ihor Kolomoisky. Others include former chief prosecutor Konstantin Kulyk, former diplomat Andriy Telizhenko. They “were part of a Russia-linked foreign intelligence network associated with Andriy Derkach," Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said yesterday. He said Derkach, a Rada member, “has been an active Russian agent for more than a decade.” People on the sanctioned list cannot do business with Americans or American businesses and their properties in the US are blocked.
Ukraine’s Kremlin-aligned political party, the Opposition Platform For Life, has emerged as the nation’s second-leading force​ and is closing the gap with the pro-presidential party, according to the latest poll released on Jan. 5. About 17.4% of decided voters would cast their ballot for Opposition
17​ UKRAINE Country Report​ February 2021 ​ ​www.intellinews.com