Another Ukraine development. Here's a report from RFE/RL's news desk:
Ukraine PM Calls For Resignations At Anticorruption Agency
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman has called on the entire state anticorruption agency to resign over persistent technical problems on a website where government officials electronically declare their assets.
Hroysman said on March 29 that the employees of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption "are not capable of managing the website" and have left “hundreds of thousands of people” potentially facing imprisonment for missing a deadline for submitting declarations.
There have been numerous complaints from government officials who have said that due to the technical problems they were unable to declare their income and assets electronically before the March 31 deadline.
"I can't submit my own declaration," Hroysman said.
As part of efforts to fight widespread graft, Ukraine has introduced a new anticorruption rule that requires all senior public officials to declare their wealth in a publicly searchable electronic database.
The system is aimed at increasing transparency in government.
The anticorruption agency said more than 100,000 forms were submitted when the online declaration system was first launched in October 2016.
Some officials declared millions of dollars in cash, while others said they owned luxury cars, expensive jewelry, and substantial real-estate holdings.
Based on reporting by unian.net and 24tv.ua
Here's a new item from RFE/RL's news desk:
London Court Dismisses Ukraine's Defense In Case Of $3 Billion Debt To Russia
A court in London has ruled that Ukraine has failed to present a court-ready defense in a suit by Russia seeking repayment of $3 billion lent by Moscow to the government of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Judge William Blair ruled in a March 29 pretrial hearing that because of Ukraine's failure to present a "justiciable" defense, the case could not go forward to trial.
Ukraine immediately asked for a stay of the decision pending an appeal. A stay was granted until the end of April.
Ukraine's defense in the case was based on four points: that the debt was incurred under duress; that the terms of loan were unfair; that the Ukrainian government at that time lacked the capacity to enter into the agreement; and that nonpayment was a justifiable countermeasure to Russia's 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and Moscow's interference in Ukraine's economic and political situation.
The judge ruled that the duress and countermeasure arguments were potentially compelling but that they were a matter of international law beyond the London court's jurisdiction.
Yanukovych contracted the debt when his government faced massive protests over his decision to suspend the signing of an Association Agreement with the European Union. He was forced out of power in February 2014 and fled to Russia.
Authorities in Kyiv say much of the money was lost to corruption on the part of Yanukovych and officials in his government.
Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
