This ends our live blogging for July 13. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
Ukraine pension reform passes first vote in parliament:
Ukraine's parliament has given preliminary approval to a proposed pension reform -- a much-debated legislative change that is required to unlock loans under a $17.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout program.
Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman's Western-backed government had faced opposition in parliament to the pension changes.
"This will allow us to do something that nobody has done before -- reform the pension system in the interests of Ukrainian pensioners. This is the moment of truth," Hroysman said before the vote on July 13.
The reform is designed to keep a widening pensions deficit under control, but it has faced staunch opposition from populist lawmakers who say savings are possible without the planned partial increases to the retirement age.
Ukraine spends more on pensions as a percentage of gross domestic product than almost any other country. Ukraine has 12 million pensioners -- almost as many as the working population.
The bill, which has to go through another round of voting in parliament to become law, was backed by 282 lawmakers, comfortably over the 226 required to pass.
Hroysman said the final vote on the reform would be held after the summer recess.
Overhauling the pension system and lifting a ban on farmland sales are among laws Ukraine must pass to receive further cash under an IMF program that has been repeatedly delayed by stop-start reform efforts since it was agreed in 2015. (Reuters, Interfax)