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said the closure will not “interfere with shipping through the Kerch Strait.”
YouTube has blocked the channels of TV stations ZIK, 112.Ukraine and NewsOne that were sanctioned and belong to Viktor Medvedchuk, the head of the Political Council of the Opposition Platform, For Life Partyand a personal friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Channels are displayed in the service search, but the content is not available for viewing. On February 2, 2021, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decree on the introduction of sanctions against MP of Ukraine from the Opposition Platform - For Life faction Taras Kozak who is the nominal owner of the channels, as well as eight limited liability companies. The sanctions in fact locked operations of three TV channels – 112.Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK affiliated with Medvedchuk. In February 2021, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine sent to YouTube the decision of the National Security and Defence Council of the country on sanctions against NewsOne, ZIK, and 112.Ukraine TV channels with a request to close their pages on YouTube.
This autumn Ukrainian Navy officers will take part in Turkey’s Dogu Akdeniz 2021 naval exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean, reported Ukraine’s military news site, ArmiyaInform. The Ukrainians are to be stationed aboard Turkey’s Ada-class corvettes. In coming days, Turkey and Ukraine are to sign a contract for joint production of four corvettes. Ordered for Black Sea patrolling, the first is to be built in Turkey and the next three at Mykolaiv’s Okean shipyard.
In April the Rada made progress on one key IMF demand: restoring jail terms for officials who fail to fully declare their assets. Last October the Constitutional Court called an earlier law allowing for jail terms ‘excessive’ and struck it down. The new bill must be approved in final reading to be signed into law.
Talks with the IMF are progressing and September is a realistic date for the tranche, said Serhiy Marchenko, Finance Minister (LB.ua). “We are now narrowing the range of unresolved issues.” “In January, when there was a mission, there were many issues. Now there are fewer, they should be resolved,” he said.
The government plans to fully vaccinate 11mn adults – about one third of the total -- by the end of this year, according to an officially approved blueprint issued yesterday by the 2021 National COVID-19 Preventive Vaccination Plan. By this summer, the Health Ministry plans to perform 5.65 vaccinations a month. All the vaccines that Ukraine intends to buy require two jabs, spaced one month apart.
Russia’s Rosneft stopped supplying diesel through pipelines and rail cars to Ukraine on April 1, Reuters reported in a story based on interviews with five traders. Rosneft does not plan to resume supplies next month and Belarus’ Mozyr refinery plans to cut supplies to Ukraine by 37% next month as it undergoes planned maintenance. Ukraine consumes 7mn tons of diesel a year, importing two thirds from Russia and Belarus. In 2019, Ukraine bought four mn tons of diesel from Belarus, paying $2.4bn. Efforts to compensate with sea and rail shipments are not making up for the diesel shortfall, traders advised Reuters.
Pressured by Russia’s military threats against Ukraine, the Presidents of
11 UKRAINE Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com