Ukraine News in brief. Wednesday 29 November. [Ukrainian sources]

WEDNESDAY HEADLINES:
US Treasury: Sanctions against Russia's energy, banking sectors come into effect.  Lithuanian government approved a free transfer of weapons to Ukraine.  In Minsk, confirmed the readiness to exchange prisoners in the Donbass.  Finland and the environmental corporation NEFCO will finance eco-energy in Ukraine. ‘DPR’ terrorists’ convoy heads for Donetsk through Debaltseve after ‘military coup’ in Luhansk.  USS James E. Williams docks in Odesa.  Average wage in Ukraine goes up by almost 40 percent in October.  Ukroboronprom prepares to test 3D-radar capable of detecting airborne targets within 500 km radius,.  Timchuk called the regions where Russia can arrange serious problems for Ukraine.  Canadian Toronto will launch a direct flight from Borispol.  SBU prevents Russian defense industry from acquiring Zaporizhia-produced military hardware. A Canadian hacker who worked for the FSB found himself guilty.

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The restrictive measured against the Russian energy and banking sectors that were imposed over Kremlin’s aggression against Ukraine have come into force.

As reported by Censor.NET citing UNIAN, this was stated on the U.S. Treasury website.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury published an updated instruction on the application of restrictions related to Ukraine and Russia. The changes concern amendments to Ukraine and Russia-related Directive 1 and Directive 2 of Sept. 29, 2017.

The U.S. has boosted sanctions against the energy and banking sectors of the Russian economy. Restrictions are imposed on the terms of financing of sanctioned Russian companies by American companies and individuals, as well as from the territory of the United States. Loan terms for Russian companies of the energy sector shall be reduced from 90 days to 60 days, and for sanctioned companies of the Russian financial sector - from 30 days to just 14 days.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

On Wednesday, November 29, the Lithuanian government decided to hand over a batch of weapons free of charge to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

It is reported site of the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania.

"Transfer of assets is a consistent and comprehensive support of Lithuania by strengthening its defense capability and ensuring its sovereignty," said Lithuanian Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis.

Lithuanian weapons can only be used for the needs of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and its subordinate institutions. The Ministry of Defense of Lithuania emphasized that the provision of this military assistance to Ukraine does not violate international agreements and conventions.

The Army will include automatic machines, machine guns, mortars, anti-tank weapons, ammunition and spare parts. This is a weapon that is no longer used by the Lithuanian Army, which has passed the NATO standards.

Earlier, it was reported that Lithuania wants to transfer arms to Ukraine for almost 2 million euros.

espreso.tv , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Representatives of Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group on Conflict Resolution in the Donbass and the representatives of the self-called "LNR" and "DNR" confirmed the willingness of the parties to carry out the exchange of those kept until the New Year's and Christmas holidays.

This was reported by the spokeswoman of the Ukrainian representative in the Leonid Kuchma group, Darka Olifer, based on the results of the talks in Minsk.

"They confirmed the readiness of the parties to carry out the exchange of detained persons on the basis of already approved lists and agree on the most expeditious procedure and date of the exchange, based on the desire to carry out this exchange until the New Year and Christmas holidays," she wrote.

Earlier it was reported that after the conversation with Putin, the leader of the "DPR" Zakharchenko declared the willingness of the prisoners of exchange , and the leader of the "LNR" - to check the health of Ukrainian hostages .

Advisor to the head of the SBU, Yuri Tandit, involved in the process of release of hostages, said that Ukraine is ready to hand over 306 detained or convicted people to fighters in exchange for 74 hostages of militants in the occupied Donbas.

Before the meeting in Minsk, the leader of the "Ukrainian Choice" movement and the president of Russia Vladimir Putin, Viktor Medvedchuk, who participates in the negotiation process on the exchange of prisoners in the Donbass, said that the exchange is scheduled to take place in two stages . In the first stage, Ukraine plans to transfer 306 detained or convicted people to the militants in exchange for 74 hostages in the occupied Donbas. After this, the second stage is planned - according to the formula 80 per 20.

hromadske.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

[center]Finland and the environmental corporation NEFCO will finance eco-energy in Ukraine[/center

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and the Northern Ecological Finance Corporation (NEFCO) have signed an agreement on the creation of a financial support fund for renewable energy projects in Ukraine.

The State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation reports.

The Fund provides for the provision of technical assistance and allocation of grant funds for the implementation of clean energy projects in Ukraine. The fund will amount to 6 million euros.

The main coordinator of the fund's work on the part of Ukraine will be the State Department of Energy Efficiency.

Projects will be funded through NEFCO.

Ukraine and Finland signed a memorandum on cooperation in renewable energy in January of this year .
Creation of a trust fund was initiated in order to comply with the provisions of this memorandum.

hromadske.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

The footage shows terrorists of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” (‘DPR’) leaving Luhansk by combat vehicles following the ‘military coup’ which ousted ‘LPR’ (“Luhansk People’s Republic”) terrorists’ leader Igor Plotnitsky.

As reported by Censor.NET, the video was posted by Debaltseve online on YouTube.

The video shows the terrorists' vehicles without license plates riding by occupied Debaltseve under the flags of the illegal armed formations and the Russian Federation. Some vehicles have three-digit identification marks on their sides. One truck has 'Chechen' written on its side.

The author of the video called it "Luhansk is ours now" and wrote the following comment: "The militants return to Donetsk through Debaltseve after the military coup in Luhansk."



en.censor.net.ua, Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Odesa Sea Port hosts the Arleigh-Burke class AEGIS guided-missile destroyer James Williams DDG95 of the U.S. Navy.

Censor.NET reports citing the statement by Ukraine's Navy press office.

"We expect the vessel to stay here until approximately Dec. 2. Ukraine's Navy attaches great importance on the visit of the vessel, considering it to be a sign of continuing support to Ukraine," the statement reads.




The vessel deployed from its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia on May 23 and has been sailing in both the Navys 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation. According to the 1936 Montreux Convention, the international agreement regulating sea traffic through the Bosporus Strait, James E. Williams can only remain in the Black Sea for a maximum of 21 days. When the ship left Norfolk in May, the crew expected to be home for Christmas, according to news reports.

The last U.S. Navy ship to visit the Black Sea was USS Porter (DDG-78), which departed on September 1 after finishing the Operation Atlantic Resolve exercise in August.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

The average nominal wage of a full-time employee in Ukraine in October 2017 increased by 0.4 percent from September 2017 and by 37.9 percent from October 2016, to 7,377 hryvnia (about $274.5).

This is evidenced by the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, Censor.NET reports citing UNIAN.

The real wages in October 2017 decreased by 0.8 percent compared to September 2017, but increased by 19.9 percent compared to October 2016.

As reported, the minimum wage in Ukraine more than doubled from January 1, 2017, to 3,200 hryvnia (about $119 at the current forex rate) per capita. The average nominal wage of a full-time employee in Ukraine in September 2017 increased by 3.3 percent from August 2017 and grew by 37.2 percent from September 2016, to 7,351 hryvnia (US$274.6). Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Hroisman earlier announced that the average wages in Ukraine would be 10,000 hryvnia ($372.2) per capita per month in the medium-term outlook.

According to statistics, the largest increase in the average wage of full-time employees in October 2017 compared with October 2016 was observed in Ternopil (54 percent), Chernivtsi (51.4 percent), Kirovohrad (48.9 percent), Zakarpattia (48.6 percent), Khmelnytskyi (48.4 percent), Kherson (47%), Vinnytsia and Cherkasy (46.9 percent), Sumy and Zhytomyr (46.7 percent), Ivano-Frankivsk (45.3 percent), Volyn (45.2 percent), Chernihiv (44.9 percent), Lviv (44.1 percent), Poltava (43.3 percent), Kharkiv (42.2 percent) regions and Kyiv City (30.9 percent).

The growth of wages in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (excluding the ATO zone) was 20.8 percent and 22.4 percent respectively.

The highest level of wages in the past month was recorded in Kyiv at 11,454 hryvnia, the lowest one in Chernivtsi region at 5,772 hryvnia.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Ukroboronprom State Concern is going to test its sophisticated 3D-radar.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko wrote on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.



"Ukroboronprom SC prepares its 80K6T 3D-radar for testing. This radar is capable of detecting aerial objects at ranges of up to 500 km updating the data every five seconds and tracking the targets with high precision. The radar's outstanding capabilities allow combining it with any anti-aircraft missile system in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and using it as an information link between the Air Force detachments," Poroshenko said.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Ukrainian People's Deputy and head of the Information Resistance Dmitry Timchuk believes that the Russian Federation can handle serious problems Ukraine in Odessa and Zaporizhzhya.

He stated this in an interview with the publication "Crimea.Realii".

"We are looking at the influence not so much of the bright anti-Ukrainian groups, but rather of the local-level clans that form and control the regional policy, and analyze their influence on the situation in the region, while in the past, the most problematic were Odessa and Kharkiv, now, with all the difficulties, Kharkiv region more or less stabilized, "- said Timchuk.

According to him, the spike of work of local authorities, law enforcement agencies, local public organizations, activists from 2015 gave a result that allows you to neutralize the emerging threats.

"The situation in Zaporizhzhya is more complicated: there is one clan controlled by the situation, which does not always show love for Ukraine, but in the face of decentralization, which is absolutely necessary, but with careful control, we can expect different scenarios," the expert said.

Timchuk added that in Zaporozhye a popular slogan is about the restoration of economic ties with Russia.

"We understand that people who control regional enterprises, sharpened to work with Russia, suffer great losses. They are not important spiritual clichés of the Russian world, but money, but they will seek to restore ties with Russia, to oppose state policy and to destabilize situation ", - said the People's Deputy.

The expert said that in the Odessa region there are several political figures of the local level who have different personal interests - and the struggle of these interests destabilizes the situation.

"The paradox: the mayor of Odessa, Trukhaniv, who was accused of sympathy for the separatists, is difficult to call the Ukrainian patriot, but one must keep in mind that it is supported by the majority of Odessa ... The change in Trukhanov to a person who does not sympathize with the majority of Odessa citizens would destabilize the situation, he.

As reported by the "Apostrophe", Timchuk believes that the Kremlin can be expected to unite the terrorist "DPR" and "LNR" in one formation.

apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

The largest Ukrainian air carrier "International Airlines of Ukraine" will launch a direct flight from Boryspil to the Canadian city of Toronto

This is reported by Routes.

From June 6, 2018, Boeing 767 will fly three times a week in this area. From October 3, the number of flights will be reduced to 2 per week.

The flight will last about 10 hours.

On the UIA site you can already book tickets for a new flight.

espreso.tv , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Operatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) foiled plans of the Russian defense companies to wangle the products of a Zaporizhia-based enterprise vital for the defense industry of the aggressor state.

As reported by Censor.NET referring to the SBU press center, the law enforcers established that the Russian secret services elaborated a scheme to supply the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with military goods produced in Ukraine bypassing sanctions.

"The SBU operatives found that in 2016, the perpetrators planned to deliver sophisticated Ukrainian equipment to Russia using Ukraine-based companies owned by the Russian nationals to bypass existing restrictions.

"The traffickers were going to use resident companies to legally purchase dual-use goods and deliver them to the aggressor state. The relevant experts concluded that the equipment produced by a Zaporizhia-based factory could be used by the defense industry.

"The law enforcers searched premises of the producing company and the persons of interest and seized samples of dual-use equipment to examine it," the report reads.



Earlier, on Nov. 28, the SBU conducted search at Peretvoriuvach Plant PJSC in Zaporizhia over the company's possible cooperation with the Russian defense industry.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Federal Prosecutors in San Francisco report that starting in 2014, hackers from the team working on the Russian Federal Security Service illegally received access to 30 million Yahoo accounts and a number of Gmail accounts and stole more than 500 million users. Yahoo

According to Tsensor.NET with reference to Inopressa, the The Los Angeles Times writes about it .

"The youngest in this group, the 22-year-old Canadian Karim Baratov, who sold his hacking services to Russian agents, - on Tuesday convicted himself in one case of conspiracy to computer fraud and criminal computer use, as well as in eight cases of theft personal data for burdensome circumstances, according to the federal prosecutor's office, "- said in the article.

"His likely accomplices are three Russians: Dmytro Dokuchaev (33), Igor Sushchin (43) and Oleksiy Belan (29) fled - they are believed to be in Russia," the journalist said.

"This case is a striking example of the hybrid cyber threat we are dealing with. States collaborate with criminal hackers to commit malicious acts," said Paul Abbayet, executive deputy director of the FBI Criminal Division.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою