A 50% rise in international tourists
Business Ukraine magazine reported that the number of international tourists visiting Kyiv has almost doubled since the lows of 2014, topping 1.5 million in 2017, according to new figures released in late January. The magazine noted: “Kyiv City Administration officials confirmed that just over 1.5 million tourists visited the Ukrainian capital in 2017, which is virtually twice as many as the 800,000 recorded during 2014. City officials reported that revenues from the Kyiv tourism trade have trebled over the same period, climbing from an estimated 6.1 billion hrv in 2014 to UAH 17.9 billion hrv in 2017, or approximately $650 million (U.S.). Just over 50 percent of international visitors in 2017 came from other European countries, with Asian nationals making up around a third of all tourists.” Business Ukraine also noted: “Kyiv will hope to continue this progress in 2018 when the city hosts the UEFA Champions League Final in late May. This global headliner event will place Kyiv firmly in the international spotlight and present the Ukrainian capital with an opportunity to shine.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Saakashvili comments on Poroshenko
Mikheil Saakashvili has vowed to push ahead with his struggle against Ukraine’s leadership in defiant remarks in Warsaw, a day after he was seized in Kyiv and banished to Poland in a dramatic expulsion he has blamed on President Petro Poroshenko. “I think Poroshenko does not have much time left,” Mr. Saakashvili told Current Time TV, a project of RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. “We will defeat him for sure. We will prevail over him thorough the peaceful resistance of the Ukrainian people,” Mr. Saakashvili said in an interview from Warsaw on February 13. “There will be a big protest of Ukraine’s united opposition on February 18. It will be neither [the] first nor last protest. The protests will grow eventually. In the end, they will have to surrender and retreat from power,” he said. “Either we beat them, or they will beat us.” Earlier, at a news conference in the Polish capital, Mr. Saakashvili vowed to “break the necks of Poroshenko and [Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy] Lutsenko,” adding, “They will go to prison – not to Europe, to Ukrainian jails.” Opinion polls indicate that Mr. Saakashvili and the political movement he has created have only limited popularity in Ukraine, where parliamentary and presidential elections are due to be held in 2019. Mr. Saakashvili, the former Georgian president who was tapped by President Poroshenko to head Ukraine’s Odesa Oblast but fell afoul of his friend over corruption and reforms, was detained at a Kyiv restaurant on February 12 and taken to the airport. He was flown to Poland, the country from which he returned to Ukraine in September 2017 – eluding a border blockade – after being stripped of his citizenship by Mr. Poroshenko in July. Switching among the Ukrainian, Russian and English languages, Mr. Saakashvili told the news conference he will not give up on his battle against Poroshenko’s government despite being outside Ukraine. “I am free here. A free Saakashvili is more dangerous for you, Mr. Poroshenko, when I am free [and] not under pressure like I was in Ukraine.” He appealed again to the Ukrainian public to support his cause. “Dear Ukrainian citizens, your country is run by liars, by people who’ve been lying to you and who lied to you four days ago,” Mr. Saakashvili said. “We need to save Ukraine from corruption. Ukrainian citizens deserve a better life.” (Current Time TV, with reporting by Merhat Sharipzhan, Christopher Miller in Kyiv, Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels, DPA, and RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Saakashvili arrives in the Netherlands
Mikheil Saakashvili has arrived in the Netherlands, his wife’s home country, after being expelled from Ukraine into neighboring Poland. Asked upon his arrival on February 14 how long he planned to stay in the Netherlands, Mr. Saakashvili said, “We will see. But for sure, it’s due to the circumstances I’m here because of what happened in Ukraine,” adding, “But, obviously, it’s a country I come to very often anyway.” Mr. Saakashvili’s wife, Sandra Elisabeth Roelofs-Saakashvili, was born in the Netherlands and has Dutch citizenship. Mr. Saakashvili said he planned to “go on a tour of Europe” to raise support for his campaign to topple President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine and his government in Kyiv. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Current Time TV, AP, AFP and Reuters)
Poltorak meets with U.S. defense secretary
On February 2, the Pentagon reported that Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis met his Ukrainian counterpart, Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak, at the Pentagon. The Pentagon’s account of the meeting noted: “Secretary Mattis emphasized the value of the U.S.-Ukraine security partnership. He praised Minister Poltorak for his country’s sustained courage in the face of Russian aggression, and reiterated U.S. support for Ukrainian defense reform goals. He cited the Law on National Security as an urgent priority, and expressed his hope that the Presidential Administration and Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, take swift action and pass legislation that ensures a solid legal basis for the implementation of defense reforms in support of a secure and democratic Ukraine. The two leaders pledged to strengthen a lasting partnership between the U.S. and Ukraine built on common security interests and shared principles.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Hungary, Ukraine urged to settle dispute
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and the United States are urging Hungary and Ukraine to resolve their differences over Ukraine’s new minority language law, which prompted Hungary to block a NATO ministers’ meeting with Ukraine this week. Mr. Stoltenberg said on February 13 that he has urged the leaders of both Hungary and Ukraine “to find a solution” to their disagreement over Ukraine’s law restricting schooling in the languages of ethnic minorities – including Hungarian minorities – which Hungary strongly opposes. “We are aware of the challenges related to the language law,” Mr. Stoltenberg said ahead of a scheduled NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels on February 14-15. He said Kyiv and Budapest should “find a balance between minority rights to learn a minority language” and the “right” of the state to ensure children learn the state language. “NATO will continue to work with Ukraine, continue to provide support to Ukraine,” despite the cancellation of a ministerial-level meeting with Ukraine at the NATO gathering this week at Hungary’s behest, Mr. Stoltenberg said. Hungary has vowed to block Ukraine’s bid for closer cooperation both with NATO and the European Union due to the minority-schooling law, which Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed into law in September 2017. Under the law, minorities – including the children of the 140,000 ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine – will not be able to receive schooling exclusively in their mother tongue beyond primary school, although they will be able to study their native language in separate classes. The United States and other NATO countries also are urging Hungary to stop blocking Ukraine’s NATO aspirations out of concern that could bolster Russia’s power in the region. “We should not be unable to have a NATO-Ukraine Council, because it is an important NATO effort to try to keep the boundaries of Ukraine and to allow them to hopefully be able to have a stable government and a place where they are not encroached on by Russian intervention,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison said on February 13. She said she hoped Hungary and Ukraine would “sit down under the rules of international law” and “work something out that is in their interest.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by DPA)
Cooperation on telemedicine in Ukraine
On February 7, Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Regional Development, Canada’s Department of Global Affairs and the World Bank signed a memorandum of cooperation on increasing the availability and quality of health-care services in rural areas, Ukraine’s Presidential Administration reported. Ukraine’s acting Minister of Health Dr. Ulana Suprun stated, “In order to fully guarantee access to quality health-care services for all Ukrainians, we have to help those who live in rural areas.” Ukraine’s Ministry of Health also announced that the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the Government of Ontario would shortly sign a memorandum of understanding regarding cooperation on health-care programs. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
FSB detains Ukrainian in Crimea
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) says it has detained a Ukrainian national in Russian-controlled Crimea on suspicion of espionage. In a February 12 statement, the FSB said that Kostyantyn Davydenko was detained on February 11. According to the statement, Mr. Davydenko is suspected of illegally collecting classified information related to the FSB and Russian’s National Guard. It alleged that he had planned to give the information to Ukrainian authorities. Rights activists say Russia has jailed several Ukrainians on trumped-up, politically motivated charges since Moscow seized control of Ukraine’s Crimea region in March 2014. In March 2017, the European Parliament called on Russia to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who were in prison or other conditions of restricted freedom in Russia, Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed militants. The list included filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, who is serving a 20-year sentence in a Russian prison after being convicted of plotting terrorist attacks in a trial supporters called absurd, and reporter Roman Sushchenko, held in Moscow on suspicion of espionage. The list, which the Parliament statement said was not complete, also included several leaders of the Crimean Tatar minority, which rights groups say have faced abuse and discrimination since Russia’s takeover. (RFE/RL)
Odesa mayor detained in probe
The mayor of the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa, Hennadiy Trukhanov, has been detained upon arrival from abroad on suspicion of embezzlement. Officials at Boryspil International Airport told RFE/RL that Mr. Trukhanov was detained by border guards and handed over to officers of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) after his flight arrived from Warsaw on February 14. In a February 13 statement, NABU said that Mr. Trukhanov had been officially informed that he is a suspect in an investigation into suspected embezzlement. It said that a deputy mayor and two Odesa City Council members were also informed that they were suspects in the case. Mr. Trukhanov had been away from his office for 50 days. His press service said on February 14 that he had to cut short a business trip to the Czech Republic and “return to Ukraine to take part in the ongoing investigation.” It said Mr. Trukhanov would make a public comment later. Former Odesa Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili had accused Mr. Trukhanov of corruption and pledged to bring him to justice. But he quit in 2016, accusing President Petro Poroshenko’s government of undermining his efforts to fight corruption and carry out reforms. Last autumn, NABU said it searched Mr. Trukhanov’s office, his residence and premises of the Odesa City Council. Mr. Trukhanov said at the time that the investigators had searched not his apartment but that of his ex-wife. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Ukrainian journalist on trial in Belarus
The Supreme Court of Belarus says it has started the trial of a Ukrainian journalist charged with espionage. Court spokeswoman Yulia Lyaskova told RFE/RL on February 12 that the trial of Pavlo Sharoyko is being held behind closed doors. “We cannot comment when exactly the trial started and who is the judge as the trial is closed for outsiders,” Ms. Lyaskova said. Her comment came hours after Mr. Sharoyko’s lawyer, Larysa Bykava, said that her client had gone on trial. Mr. Sharoyko was detained in Belarus in November 2017. Ukraine and Belarus expelled each other’s diplomats after Mr. Sharoyko’s arrest. Mr. Sharoyko’s colleagues said at the time that he had been working on stories related to the search for Pavlo Hryb, a 19-year-old Ukrainian citizen who disappeared in Belarus after being arrested and was later found to have been sent to Russia, where he was charged with terrorism-related offences. Relations between Russia, Belarus and Ukraine – mostly Slavic former Soviet republics with deep historical and cultural ties – have been strained since Moscow seized control of Ukraine’s Crimea region and threw its support behind militants in eastern Ukraine in 2014. (RFE/RL’s Belarus Service)
EBRD to provide financing for solar plant
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it is supporting a new 36 megawatt solar plant in western Ukraine as part of its commitment to making the energy mix in its countries of operations greener. The investment is made together with the Clean Technology Fund, the Bank’s partner in advancing green energy. The EBRD noted: “The EBRD will provide a 10-year loan of 17.3 million euros, while the CTF will extend an 11-year loan of 6.9 million euros to Energopark Yavoriv LLC, a special company set up for the construction of the plant and majority-owned by the entrepreneur Zinoviy Kozytskiy. The 36 MWp (megawatt peak) solar plant is the first stage of a project which is expected to double to 72 MWp at its final stage. The solar plant will be built on the site of a former chemical plant near the village of Ternovytsia in the Yavoriv district of Lviv region.” The EBRD also pointed out: “The National Renewable Energy Action Plan for Ukraine, which was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers in October 2014, prioritizes the development of renewable energy in the country and commits to increase its share in the energy mix to 11 percent by 2020.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)