The interim award issued by the Stockholm arbitration tribunal brought some really good news to the Ukrainian authorities. The Dutch Senate has ratified the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, thus offering a “piece of cake” for the bilateral summit to be held this summer. European Commissioner Johannes Khan is determined to fight Ukrainian corruption. Emmanuel Macron successfully passed the Putin test. Russian and American presidents continue to exchange resonant statements.

Months-long trial between Naftogaz and Gazprom in Stockholm Arbitration, traditional for such disputes, formally continues, but the parties have already received an intermediate decision, which has become a pleasant surprise for Ukraine. The Russian energy monopoly was refused their "take-or-pay" demand, which was laid down in the ill-fated gas contract of January 20, 2009. Coercion to implement it was fraught with financial losses for Ukraine totaling over $40 billion. The ban on the re-export of Russian gas has been lifted, which can play a role in building up the reverse supplies of the blue fuel from Europe. To put it briefly, Gazprom in its relations with Ukraine is deprived of the opportunity to use the political factor and now it’s full of vengeance to try to push the country out of the chains of hydrocarbon supplies to European consumers.

Another pleasing decision is the ratification by the Senate of the Netherlands of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement. The upper chamber of the Dutch parliament has actually completed the all-European process of approving this strategically important document, giving the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, the opportunity to affirm that that the document will formally come into force before the Ukraine-EU summit in July. For the official Kyiv, the ratification means not only the success of the seemingly failed venture following the last year's referendum in the Netherlands, but also the need to set new goals in its relations with the EU.

Judging by the statements made by European Commissioner Johannes Khan during his Kyiv visit, the EU intends to take up the fight against Ukrainian corruption in earnest, launching its own large-scale program and aiding Ukraine’s anti-corruption activists. The Ukraine-EU deal ratification and the provision of a visa-free travel also allows the Ukrainian government to compete for preferences within the DCFTA with the EU in case it shows anti-corruption success. It should be noted that Hahn, together with the head of the EU delegation in Ukraine, Hugues Mingarelli, visited Donbas on June 2, to witness the aftermath of the shelling of Shyrokine by Russian-backed militants. Recently, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has been using every opportunity to have as many foreign diplomats as possible visit the ATO zone.

Emmanuel Macron succeeded in his test of communication with Vladimir Putin, who decided to join a cohort of world leaders who had an opportunity to talk with the new French president. Macron announced the need for a meeting in the Normandy format as soon as possible and did not exclude the strengthening of sanctions against Russia in the event of an escalation of the conflict in Donbas, relaying the G7 decision following its meeting held in Sicily. With his visit to Paris Macron demonstrated to his constituents that he was still welcome abroad. By the way, Macron hardly decided to become a desperate advocate of Ukraine - it is much more important for him to ensure the transmission of an attractive image to his party, the members of which are yet to compete in the upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, American and Russian presidents continue to make resonant statements resembling artillery fire ahead of the decisive offensive. Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, fulfilling his election promise and creating conditions for economic growth in the United States. Putin in his native Petersburg was speaking of russophobia blooming in certain countries and once again laid the responsibility for the implementation of the Minsk agreements on the Ukrainian leadership.

Yevgeny Magda

UNIAN in Google News

Petro Poroshenko marked the triennium of his victory in the first round of Ukraine’s presidential elections. Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko intends to keep going after corrupt officials of different stripes, no matter what fate awaits them in courts. The Verkhovna Rada seemed to have finally awoken by passing language quotas for TV broadcasts but then again returned to a state of half-hibernation. Yulia Tymoshenko is desperate to remain in a public focus. Agrarian minister Taras Kutovyi’s resignation move became an unpleasant surprise for PM Volodymyr Groysman.

Petro Poroshenko firmly remains one of the key players in Ukrainian politics. Given the parliamentary-presidential structure of power and the challenges the country has faced in recent years, the fact that his political image is afloat can be considered a serious achievement, giving Poroshenko a real opportunity to qualify for his second term. Participation in the future presidential elections is in fact a must-do for the current guarantor of the Constitution, but to secure the victory in 2019 elections (today’s political situation does not allow presuming a snap campaign), Poroshenko will have to stock up with a fresher agenda and prepare for a tense struggle.

Although some experts saw the Parliament address by Prosecutor General Yuriy as a harbinger of his presidential ambitions, he completely denies he has any. It seems it’s much more important for him to succeed at his current post, which is objectively confirmed by Lutsenko's determination to continue mass raids against high-level lawbreakers, similar to the massive one carried out last week against former comrades-in-arms of ex-tax chief Oleksandr Klymenko and a younger oligarch from the Yanukovych era Serhiy Kurchenko. Due to a sudden burst of humanism, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv did not allow mass detentions of ex-tax officials to go under the scenario of Italy’s law enforcement tackling Mafia. Therefore, after the judges allowed many of the detained suspects to bail out, Lutsenko promised a new series of raids.

In relations with the deputy corps, the prosecutor general used the stick and carrot tactics, suspending the immunity strip appeals against two MPs - Andriy Lozovyi and Yevhen Deidei - and confirming that another deputy, Hennadiy Bobov, has paid his dues to the budget amounting almost $1.5 million in tax arrears and therefore will not be prosecuted. Another promise by Lutsenko that is worth noting is his determination to prove ex-president Viktor Yanukovych's guilt in high treason and the crimes against the Maidan protesters.

It would also be great if high-profile anti-corruption cases were accompanied by quality PR-campaign to channel to the public the positive impact of law enforcement efforts. The “mercy” of the Pechersk court toward the top-notch suspects shows that the judiciary reform has yet failed to yield any significant results. It will be incredibly difficult to justify the lack of anti-corruption results when another instance of "judicial humanism" occurs.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian legislators have failed to show any real will to show high efficiency for two consecutive weeks. After the adoption of the bill introducing a 75-percent Ukrainian language quota for the national-wide TV channels, the deputies suddenly stumbled and lost their pace. The loud vow to introduce visas with Russia turned out to be nothing else but a distracting maneuver from the Rada’s inability to play the first fiddle in the country’s political system. Perhaps, it was only Yulia Tymoshenko who tried to make up for her colleagues from Parliament but her act traditionally evidenced her undisguised desire to remind the public of her political existence. The experienced politician she is, Tymoshenko knows well how many Ukrainians are yet undecided with their sympathies, so she will continue to jump into a spotlight at every other opportunity.

It was only pillow talk when Volodymyr Groysman pedaled the issue of setting up a Rada vote for a non-confidence in the Cabinet of Ministers and him personally. At the same time, in real life, the head of the government saw an unexpected surprise coming from the agrarian minister, Taras Kutovyi, who wrote a resignation letter, thereby increasing the number of posts to be potentially used for political bargaining when the issue comes up to strengthen the parliamentary coalition. However, it’s too early to be talking seriously about the launch of the land market and the reforms of the pension and healthcare systems - the majority of people’s deputies seem to be thinking more about their summer vacation than about long-awaited transformations.

Yevgeny Magda

UNIAN in Google News