National news
• Ukraine observes Armed Forces Day. President Petro Poroshenko said on Dec. 6 at a ceremony that “The Armed Forces of Ukraine enjoy the highest level of trust among all the state institutions.” In the past five years, he said, Ukraine had managed to achieve “the incredible” – built a strong army and “stopped the Russian aggressor.
• Health care reform critic Bohomolets to run for president. Olha Bohomolets, the head of the Ukrainian parliament’s health committee, and a leading critic of the health care reform implemented by Acting Health Minister Ulana Suprun, has announced she will run for president in the upcoming election. She was a candidate in 2014, coming in eighth with 1.91 percent of the vote.
Russia’s war on Ukraine
• Parliament votes to end Treaty of Friendship. On Dec. 6 The Verkhovna Rada decided by a vote of 277 for, and 20 against, not to prolong the Treaty dating from May 1997. It is due to expire on March 31, 2019.
• ‘Signs of escalation’ on the Donbas front. According to the Ukrainian military on Dec. 6, Russia-led forces mounted 15 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in the past 24 hours, with one Ukrainian soldier wounded in action. Three enemy troops were reported killed and another two wounded.
• Russian squeeze on Ukrainian Azov Sea ports being felt. Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan has revealed that the Ukrainian port cities of Mariupol and Berdyansk have been forced to reduce working hours because of Russia blocking the passage of vessels through the Kerch Strait.
• UN General Assembly to consider a resolution on the militarization of Azov Sea. Volodymyr Yelchenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, has informed the press that the issue of Russia’s aggression in in the Kerch Strait will be addressed by General Assembly on Dec. 17.
• Crimean Tatar lawyer detained in Crimea. Emil Kurbedinov, who defends many of the political prisoners in Russian-occupied Crimea has been detained ‘for extremism’. According to his colleagues, his arrest reflects growing pressure from the Russian authorities on lawyers and human rights defenders.
Business
• New gas field discovered in Kharkiv region. The state-owned Ukrgazvydobuvannya gas producer has announced the discovery of a fourth gas field located in eastern Ukraine. The reserves of the open field are estimated at at least 400 million cubic meters, and prospective resources could reach about 3.7 bcm. The total prospective resources of the four fields is 8.2 bcm.
• Ukraine opening up its natural gas sector. On Dec. 6, Ukraine began opening up the country’s natural gas production by launching the auctioning process for exploration and extraction rights at 30 onshore reserve sites. The auctions will take place online, through the state’s transparent bidding system Prozorro.
