Page 18 - UKRRptJul20
P. 18
covering the NBU’s performance was launched).
– Confidence in the NBU has been growing.
– The NBU’s Communications Strategy and Communications
Management System were created.
– Professional dialogue with stakeholders – partners and clients –
was taken to a new level.
– The NBU became the best employer in the financial market.
– The NBU was recognized the world’s most transparent central
bank in 2019 (Central Banking Awards).
– The NBU governor was named the Best Central Banker in Central
and Eastern Europe in 2019 (GlobalMarkets Award).
“I leave the NBU as an integrated institution that has a strategic vision, well-established processes, a strong professional team, and a good reputation among the world’s leading central banks and the international community. I’m leaving with my head held high. And I leave the NBU under your responsibility,” said Yakiv Smolii as he concluded his parliamentary speech and his nearly two years in office.
2.10 Politics - misc
The Ukrainian government is preparing to reintroduce a severe quarantine/lockdown on a national scale at the start of July in what the President’s Office has characterized in recent days as a second wave of the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic. The current infection rate, as of July 1, is 58 cases per 100,000 people. In a BBC interview published on June 30, PM Denys Shmyhal said the quarantine/lockdown will be reimposed nationally should the rate reach 60 cases per 100,000. About 484 fines were issued against establishments for violating the quarantine on June 30 alone, the office said. “We have quite decent care for the sick. After all, the level of use of artificial respirators and the casualty rate are rather low. We also began to better protect medical workers. If they accounted for a fifth of infections in mid-April, then that’s currently at 9.5%,” the president said at his daily coronavirus meeting with top officials.
New coronavirus infections in Ukraine set a single-day record of 689 cases on June 10, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov reported at his daily briefing.. An estimated 21 people died of the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus, while 372 recoveries were reported, he said. The biggest number of new infections occurred in the Lviv region (125) and city of Kyiv (91).
The E.U. Council decided on June 18 to extend a series of sanctions against Russia for its illegal occupation of Ukrainian lands, the eurointegration.com.uanews site reported. First on June 18, it decided to extend for a year sanctions for the illegal occupation of Crimea that include prohibitions on Crimean exports to the E.U., certain imports from the E.U., tourism activity in Crimea, and E.U. investments in Crimea, particularly in energy, transportation, and telecommunications. The next day, the E.U. Council extended for six months sanctions related to the occupation of Donbas and the lack of progress in fulfilling the Minsk Accords. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote tweets thanking the E.U. for its ongoing support.
Ukraine’s oil company Ukrtatnafta that is controlled by oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky won a tender to supply the Ministry of Defence with 3,500 tonnes of aviation fuel despite asking a price that was almost a third higher than the lowest offer and the highest price of all offers in the tender process.
18 UKRAINE Country Report July 2020 www.intellinews.com
