Week in numbers

Four Ukrainians were released from militant captivity, only 194 MPs voted for a resolution of no confidence in the Cabinet which was not enough to dismiss the government, Ukraine’s trade balance surplus amounted to $4.065 billion in 2015.

One claim was filed in the High Court in London by Russia accusing Ukraine of not paying a $3 billion loan, foreign media reported. This is the so-called "Yanukovych debt" Moscow earlier refused to restructure.

REUTERS

Russia’s gas monopoly Gazprom has two months to pay a UAH 86 billion penalty imposed by Ukraine for breaching the contract for the transit of gas through Ukraine, according to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.

Three attacks of drones carrying incendiary bombs were recorded on the rear control point of the 93rd separate motorized brigade in Donetsk region, according to volunteers. The UAVs’ main target was the ammunition depot.

REUTERS

Four Ukrainians were freed from captivity of the militants, said President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, with reference to the President’s envoy on the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Iryna Gerashchenko.

Photo from UNIAN

Kyiv police launched four criminal proceedings on hooliganism charges regarding the facts of looting in the capital center on the day of remembrance of the Heroes of Heavenly Hundred (Euromaidan protesters killed in clashes with the riot police in 2014), according to the press service of the National Police.

State Service of Geology and subsoil of Ukraine will auction seven oil and gas fields, two sand reserves, one lime reserve, and another one with graphite.

REUTERS

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation forecasts 15 years of stagnation in Russia given the absence of structural reforms and low oil prices, Russian media reported.

17 U.S. states are planning joint development of clean energy and transport, foreign media reported with reference to the declaration signed by these states’ authorities.

Photo from UNIAN

20% of the work has been completed in the framework of the European Wall aimed at reinforcing the state border line with Russia, according to Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk. To date, more than 200 kilometers of anti-tank ditches have been completed, and more than 70 kilometers of fences and 32 towers have been erupted, according to the prime minister.

27 political parties will participate in the local elections in Ukraine on March 27, 2016, according to the Central Election Commission.

REUTERS

28 people were killed and more than 60 were injured in an explosion in Ankara, foreign media reported.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission has recorded 55 cases of restriction of movement of the monitors since early February, most of which occurred in the militant-occupied territory. Since early 2016, the OSCE has recorded 160 cases of obstruction of freedom of movement of the monitors in the conflict zone.

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80% of senior police officers failed their re-certification in Kyiv, according to chief of Ukraine’s National Police Khatiya Dekanoidze.

REUTERS

The EU entry ban will be lifted against 170 Belarusian officials, including President Alexander Lukashenka, following the decision of the EU member states on removing the sanctions. The assets of said officials will be unfrozen. At the same time, the embargo on the sale of arms as well as the sanctions against another four individuals remains in place.

REUTERS

Only 194 Ukrainian MPs of the required 226 voted for a resolution of no confidence in the Cabinet. Thus, the parliament has failed to dismiss the government led by Arseniy Yatsenyuk despite the fact that 247 deputies earlier recognized the work of the Cabinet unsatisfactory.

Photo from UNIAN

292 people, including four children under 17, died from flu in Ukraine since the beginning of the epidemic season, according to the Ministry of Health. The highest incidence of influenza and acute respiratory viral infections were recorded in the city of Kyiv and Kyiv region.

Ukraine adopted 2,700 technical standards harmonized with the EU legislation in 2015, said Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Maksym Nefyodov.

7,300 soldiers have expressed their will to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a contract basis since early 2016, the Ministry of Defense reported.

The PGO prosecutor was arrested after offering a $10,000 bribe to the members of the competition committee to get employed in a managerial position in the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, according to NABU.

REUTERS

150,000 Adelie penguins have died in the last five years in East Antarctica due to the giant iceberg blocking the way to the feeding areas of the penguin colony, foreign media reported, citing a study published in Antarctic Science Journal.

580,000 children living in the areas of Donbas beyond government control and on the front line were affected by the conflict, according to UNICEF.

The population of Ukraine amounted to 42.7605 million people as of late 2015, according to the State Statistics Service. The number is 168,800 lower than that at the end of 2014.

Photo from UNIAN

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it plans to allocate $64 million in 2016 for humanitarian assistance to the internally displaced persons and those living in the zone of the Anti-Terrorist Organization.

Russia’s Gazprom delivered 1.727 billion cubic meters of gas to the areas of Donbas under control of the pro-Russian separatist forces in 2015, according to the annual report of the Russian company. As reported earlier, Russia believes it is Ukraine who has to pay for the gas supplied to these territories.

REUTERS

Ukraine’s trade balance surplus in 2015 amounted to $4.065 billion, which is up 21.1% compared to 2014, as reported by the State Statistics Service.

UAH 66.6 billion was the total losses of banks operating in Ukraine, excluding the insolvent ones as of the end of 2015, the National Bank of Ukraine reported. Thus, the banking system of Ukraine has posted record annual losses.

Margarita Andreyeva

UNIAN in Google News