Ukraine: Daily Briefing – June 20, 2018, 5 PM Kyiv time

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense reported at 12:30 PM Kyiv time that in the last 24 hours, no Ukrainian soldiers were killed and three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in action. In the last 24 hours, Russian-terrorist forces opened fire on Ukrainian positions on the Luhansk and Donetsk sectors of the front 26 times in total, including at least 5 times with heavy weapons – mortars and artillery.

Naftogaz Ukrainy stated on June 19, “Naftogaz today served Gazprom with an order to freeze assets in England and Wales. The order was issued by the Commercial Court in London on 18 June 2018 to enforce the Stockholm arbitration award, whereby Gazprom owes Naftogaz US2.6 billion. In addition to freezing assets, it requires Gazprom to provide Naftogaz with a list of all assets with a value greater than USD 50.000 located in England or Wales.

           The court has scheduled a hearing on the order for 6 July 2018. In the meantime, Gazprom is obligated to maintain assets in England and Wales equal to the value of the transit award.Naftogaz today has also notified the London offices of 17 banks doing business with Gazprom of that they may not facilitate any reduction in Gazprom’s assets in England and Wales of the order against Gazprom. Banks that fail to comply could be penalised.”

On June 19, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde issued the following statement, “I am very encouraged by the adoption of the law on the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) by the Ukrainian parliament, which is an important step forward in the authorities’ fight against corruption. The new law paves the way for setting up an independent and strong anti-corruption court that together with existing institutions (NABU and the Special Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office) will contribute to delivering the accountability and justice that the people of Ukraine demand of their public officials.

           In this regard, I commended the President for his leadership that enabled the approval of the law, and welcomed his intention to make the court operational by the end of this year. We agreed that it is now important for parliament to quickly approve the supplementary law submitted by the President to formally establish the court, as well as the necessary amendments to restore the requirement that the HACC will adjudicate all cases under its jurisdiction, including all appeals of relevant first instance court decisions, as it was in the draft law approved in the first reading.

          We also agreed to work closely together, including with the government, toward the timely implementation of this and other actions, notably related to gas prices and the budget, that are critical to allow the completion of the pending review under Ukraine’s IMF-supported program.”