Page 19 - UKRRptNov23

● Domestic Politics
A former Ukrainian presidential adviser has described Kyiv’s stalled counter-offensive as a “disaster” and accused Volodymyr Zelenskiy of making strategic mistakes. Oleksiy Arestovych said that Mr Zelenskiy and his military commanders have failed to break through Russian lines and that Ukraine now needed a new leader. “They are not telling the truth. There will be no return to the borders of 1991, and there will be no Crimea in the near future,” he said. Arestovych resigned in January as a presidential adviser after a row over the effectiveness of Ukraine’s air defence systems. This week, Ukrainian prosecutors opened an investigation into Arestovych for comments that allegedly promote violence against women. He has denied the allegations.
The OECD gives strong praise to Ukraine's achievements in anti-corruption policy. A Ukrainian delegation led by the deputy head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), Yaroslav Lyubchenko, participated in the presentation of the Report from the OECD during the 5th Round of Monitoring Under the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan. Ukraine received high marks from the OECD in five areas: anti-corruption policy, declaration of assets, independence of the judiciary, specialized anti-corruption institutions, and responsibility for corruption offenses. The report will be published and submitted to Ukraine for consideration of its recommendations. "Building integrity and good governance is key to bringing Ukraine closer to OECD standards and our future membership in the organization. There is still a lot of work ahead, but the positive assessment of our report by OECD representatives is another step on this path," Lyubchenko noted. Last year, Ukraine applied to join the OECD, which unites 37 of the world's most developed countries.
Damage to Ukraine's infrastructure has exceeded $151B. As of September 1, direct, documented damage to Ukraine's infrastructure resulting from Russia's full-scale invasion increased by $700M to $151.2B, according to a KSE report. At the beginning of autumn, the largest share of the total direct losses is the loss of housing, with $55.9B. In total, 167,200 real estate objects were destroyed or damaged due to hostilities. In second and third place in terms of loss amount are the infrastructure and industry sectors, with $36.6B and $11.4B, respectively. 18 airports, civilian airfields, at least 344 bridges and overpasses, and more than 25,000 km of highways have been damaged since the beginning of the war. Losses in the industrial sector total at least 426 large and medium-sized private enterprises and state-owned companies. The education sector suffered losses of $10.1B (+$400M). The total number of damaged and destroyed educational facilities already exceeds 3,500. Losses in the healthcare industry are also increasing and are estimated at $2.9B.
Government appoints 3 new deputy defence ministers. Ukraine's government appointed Ivan Havryliuk, Stanislav Haider, and Dmytro Klimenkov as new deputy defence ministers as part of recent personnel changes in the defence Ministry, the government announced on Oct. 5.
The Ministry of Reconstruction has presented an anti-corruption program for rebuilding the country. The Ministry identified 50 key corruption risks and has developed countermeasures to prevent fraud. The risks relate to the reconstruction process, public procurement, management of state-owned enterprises entrusted to the ministry, and abuses in road transport. One of
19 UKRAINE Country Report November 2023 www.intellinews.com