Week in numbers

Three blasts in Brussels airport and a subway claimed the lives of 34 people, 21.5% of Ukrainians want the occupied areas of Donbas to separate from Ukraine, the country will save UAH 64 billion in 2016 due to the public debt restructuring.

A 1% economic growth was registered in Ukraine in February 2016, said Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk with reference to preliminary data of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.

Two suspects in the murder of Yuriy Hrabovskiy, the lawyer who defended the Russian GRU officer detained in Donbas, Aleksandr Aleksandrov, were arrested by Ukrainian police.

A man charged with fake bomb threat in Darnitsa subway station in Kyiv was sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment, according to Kyiv National Police Department.

Three explosions that hit Brussels airport and subway in a terrorist attack claimed the lives of 34 people, foreign media reported, with a total of 316 people affected. 25 of the victims are being treated at university and regional hospitals and burn centers across Belgium.

4% of Ukrainian hotels that passed a categorization procedure have a formal right to operate in Ukraine, as reported by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

Six Russian soldiers are presumed dead in Syria, Russian media reported. At the same time, only five deaths have been confirmed officially.

13 candidates for MPs from the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko were excluded from the electoral list at a party congress. In addition, the congress decided to terminate the powers of two BPP deputies – Yehor Firsov and Mykola Tomenko.

20 EU countries are ready to assist Greece in tackling the migration crisis and provide staff for consideration of applications for asylum and deportation of illegal migrants back to Turkey, foreign media reported with reference to the officials from the European Commission.

21 objects of state property and 74 objects of communal property have been sold by the State Property Fund of Ukraine, according to the ministry. The State Property Fund report also says that the state budget revenues from privatization since the beginning of 2016 amounted to UAH 10.1 million, which is 10 times less than in 2015.

REUTERS

21.5% of Ukrainians want to see the occupied areas of Donbas separated (75% of them – due to being reluctant as for the further influence of these areas on Ukraine), according to a study conducted by the Razumkov Center. 29.9% of respondents want the Anti-Terrorist Operation to restore control over the entire Donbas continue.

25 foreigners affiliated with the Islamic State militants were detained by the Security Service of Ukraine, according to the agency’s chief, Vasyl Hrytsak. 19 of the detainees are citizens of the Russian Federation. It is noted that in 2015 alone, the SBU prevented over 200 terrorist attacks across Ukraine.

Ukrainians spend 38.4% of their income on food and non-alcoholic beverages, according to the State Statistics Service. Utility bills take up to 15% of monthly expenditures.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia sentenced ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to 40 years of imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Bosnian war of 1992-1995. Karadzic was found guilty on 10 counts out of initial 11.

49 MPs appealed to the Constitutional Court to recognize unconstitutional the norms of a so-called "Law on party slavery."

REUTERS

62 camps to hold captured Ukrainian soldiers, civilians, volunteers and journalists were set up by militants in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014-2015, according to the military prosecutor's office. Nearly 3,000 people were held captive in these facilities.

A minimum price of vodka after the increase in the price of alcohol by Ukrspirt from April 1, 2016 will be at UAH 74, the Ukrainian media report.

135 criminal cases were launched against the citizens of Belarus who take part in hostilities in Ukraine, according to the foreign media citing a Belarus law enforcement official.

293 polling stations for holding pre-term mayoral elections in Kryvyi Rih were opened on Sunday, March 27, as 15 candidates campaigned for the post.

497 internal investigations and inspections were carried out by internal security service of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, according to its press service. Since early 2016, 84 criminal cases were opened into the facts of crimes committed by the SFS employees while on duty.

723 monitors are part of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine, according to the first deputy head of mission Alexander Hug.

127,133 soldiers and employees of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have received the status of combatants, according to the Ministry of Defense.

188,000 cubic meters of wood in the Bialowieza Forest, instead of the previously planned 40 000 cubic meters, is planned to be cut down, according to the Ministry of the Environment of Poland, foreign media reported.

738,000 votes were clocked by hackers in just 11 minutes in a massive cyber-attack on the website for petitions to the President of Ukraine, according to the Presidential Administration.

REUTERS

Ukraine receives a $331 million loan from Japan on the development of the financial sector as part of a long-term (20 years) loan, according to the Ministry of Finance. The funds are provided with a six-year grace period and a less than a 1% annual rate.

Russia wrote off $889.3 million of Uzbekistan’s debt, according to the Russian media reported. The corresponding intergovernmental agreement was ratified by the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

$26 billion per year is needed to stop the global HIV epidemic, according to the foreign media quoting Luiz Loures, deputy executive director at UNAIDS.

Ukraine will save UAH 64 billion in 2016 due to the restructuring of the public debt, says the Ministry of Finance.

Margarita Andreyeva

UNIAN in Google News