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Oleksandr Tupytskyi, Interfax-Ukraine said on July 13 citing a source in the Supreme Court. Zelenskiy in March dismissed Tupytskyi, who has opposed some anti-corruption reforms, calling his actions a threat to national security. The Constitutional Court decision to strike down many of the key anti-corruption laws last November sparked a constitutional crisis, after Zelenskiy tried to fire the judges. The decision effectively derailed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) $5bn Stand By Agreement (SBA). Without more IMF money Ukraine is unlikely to be able to cover the $20bn worth of debt redemptions that come due this year.
The Verkhovna Rada on July 13 gave foreign experts a crucial role in judicial reform in a revised bill after that role was undermined by an amendment passed in June. The bill was initially passed in the second reading in June but President Volodymyr Zelensky vetoed the judicial reform bill on July 8 due to the amendment that jeopardized foreign experts’ role. On July 13, parliament passed it again, eliminating the amendment and stipulating that foreign experts will have a decisive voice. The bill is meant to reform the High Qualification Commission of Judges, a body that hires and fires judges.
First week of Ukraine’s agri land market sees 322 sales. Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal stated that since the agricultural land market opened on July 1, 322 sales have been recorded. “Myths about the mass sale of land and the export of Ukrainian black soil remain just myths,” epravda.com.ua reports him as saying at a government meeting on July 7. As we reported previously, the opening of the land market ends a 20-year moratorium on domestic sales and purchases by private individuals. Commercial domestic transactions will be permitted from 2024, and there is no date yet for foreigners to receive permission.
The Ukrainian government has laid sanctions against 100 of the 134 Ukrainians on US government sanctions lists, the National Security and Defence Council’s Secretary Oleksiy Danilov stated in an interview on July 7. There are 130 on Treasury Department lists, and a further four sanctioned by the State Department, he told 24 Kanal on July 6. Furthermore, he stated that the Ukrainian government also sanctions its citizens based on information that it receives from its partners, including the US For example, Ihor Kolomoisky, who was sanctioned by the US in March has not been similarly sanctioned in Ukraine because the relevant information has not yet been shared by the Treasury Department. The same goes for the others on the list. Danilov called the process “not an express train”, but that the remaining people would be dealt with in time. However, zn.ua news site, which has investigated the sanctions, requested information from the US embassy regarding the information about Kolomoisky, and was told not only that the US does not have "common packages of documentation" regarding those sanctioned, but that since Kolomoisky committed most of his acts in Ukraine, the Ukrainian authorities "have every authority" to investigate those actions themselves.
On July 6 President Zelenskiy flew to Vilnius for the 4th Ukraine Reform Conference, the first to be held in two years, due to the Covid pandemic. Gathering political leaders, business leaders, and international donors, the two-day conference is designed to give international impetus to free market, pro-EU economic changes in Ukraine. Previous conferences were held in London, Copenhagen and Toronto. Zelenskiy will hold talks with Lithuania’s President, Gitanas Nauseda, and European Council President, Charles Michel.
14 UKRAINE Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com