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Ukrainian Court Frees Ex-Leader of Georgia From Detention

By The Associated Press Dec. 11, 2017 KIEV, Ukraine — The former president of Georgia who became an opposition leader in Ukraine walked free on Monday after a court in the Ukrainian capital refused to authorize his arrest, and he vowed to push for a peaceful change of government.  The sudden turn of events for the former Georgia president, Mikheil Saakashvili, came three days after his arrest on allegations that he had colluded with Ukrainian businessmen tied to Russia to topple President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine, accusations that Mr. Saakashvili rejected. “I consider myself a prisoner of Ukrainian oligarchs,” he said in what appeared to be a reference to the business background of Mr. Poroshenko, who ran a chocolate business before he was elected. Prosecutors had asked to keep Mr. Saakashvili under house arrest, but the judge turned down the request, prompting applause by Mr. Saakashvili’s supporters. The court’s verdict was a defeat for Mr. Poroshenko, who has faced moun
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Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau launches case against sister agency

Ukrainian investigators on Tuesday said they had opened a criminal case into suspected extortion by officials at a sister anti-corruption agency, based partly on information from a whistleblower who also implicated the president’s office. The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NAZK) is a keystone of Western-backed reforms but has been criticized for making slow progress with its main task of verifying officials’ wealth declarations for evidence of ill-gotten gains. NABU - a sister agency investigating high-profile corruption cases - said it opened the case against NAZK officials on suspicion they received “undue benefits in especially large amounts, combined with the extortion of such benefits.”  Officials at other state bodies are also being investigated, a NABU spokeswoman said, without giving further details. While details of the case are not yet clear, the fact that a state-run anti-corruption agency is itself being investigated for corruption suggests the authoritie
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Candy Company Plans Haunt Ukrainian President

Every time there is a major leak of offshore documents, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko seems to get caught in another discrepancy regarding his plans for Roshen, his candy company. The latest leak, the Paradise Papers, gives the most detailed view to date of Poroshenko’s true intentions for the troubled restructuring of his confectionary empire. During his election campaign, Poroshenko publicly promised to sell his business if elected. But just days afterwards, his lawyers were asking a legal services firm to set up a structure that would allow him to move his company offshore, evade Ukrainian taxes, and stash money abroad. Citing the risks of associating with him, the firm eventually declined to deal with Poroshenko.   He ended up setting up a similar offshore structure with a different, less wary firm. A separate financial filing discovered by reporters raises questions about whether Poroshenko’s claims not to have moved any Ukrainian cash to his offshore holdings are t
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Russia’s Nationalists: Putin’s Critical Children

Russia is seeing a potential challenge emerging to Putinism, but it is coming from the unlikeliest of places: instead of pro-Western liberals, it is the nationalists, ones whom the Kremlin tried, but failed, to court, who are offering an alternative political vision. To a large extent, this is Vladimir Putin’s own fault. He has created a toxic and dangerous dichotomy in emerging Russian politics, one that has been thrown into sharp relief by the renewed drive for the creation of a nationalist opposition movement. Any wellsprings of genuine liberalism as understood in the West have been systematically poisoned or dammed by the Kremlin. Meanwhile, the dominant domestic model of economically liberal politics is championed by kleptocrats who are invested in better relations with the West but, for all their talk of rule of law at home, want to retain their freedom to steal. Much as the West may approve of such figures as former finance minister Alexei Kudrin, former prime minister Mi
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Chatham House Report . The Struggle for Ukraine

Four years since the start of its ‘Euromaidan’ revolution, Ukraine is fighting for its survival as an independent and viable state. Ukrainians took to the streets in late 2013 in protest at their government’s suspension, under pressure from Russia, of plans for a closer relationship with the European Union. While their activism forced President Viktor Yanukovych from power and heralded a more EU-aligned foreign policy under a new government, it also prompted a hostile response from Russia, which annexed Crimea in early 2014, started a territorial conflict in eastern Ukraine, and continues to try to fragment and enfeeble its neighbour.  This report is partly about Ukraine’s struggle to hold together and resist Russia’s interference and pressure – in the military, diplomatic, economic and media spheres. But it is also about a related internal contest to determine the political, institutional and civic future of Ukraine. In broader terms the Euromaidan was a response as much to
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After the Maidan: fighting corruption in Ukraine

Yulia Marushevska, known for publishing the video “I am ukrainian” that went viral in 2014 and her work fighting corruption in her country, was part of 2017’s College Freedom Forum at UFM, where she shared her story. She begins reflecting on the positive similarities between Ukraine and Guatemala, and questions, why are we so poor? Yulia says for Ukraine the answer is corruption, because for more than 25 years soviet political elites were stealing money from the government. During Viktor Yanukovych, presidency corruption grew to enormous scales, which provoked a turning point: people organized a pacific protest, in which several students were badly beaten. This caused thousands of people to protest all over the country for three months against the situation “It was a great moment for unity, when we said goodbye to post soviet heritage, when we decided together that we want to live in a more just society.” After some time, snipers started shooting the crowds. Yulia was despe
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A $250 000 bribe and 40 court hearings

A case against Serhiy Golovatiy in February 2016 became one of the two that were mentioned by the President Petro Poroshenko in his letters to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, Prosecutor General’s Office and the Cabinet of Ministers calling to actively engage against corruption. Since April 2016 – the case has been in Podil District Court of Kyiv city. Since then there have been around 40 hearings. On the one hand, compared to other cases – this one shows good dynamics. On the other hand – taking into account how creative the defense is in dragging the process, it will take long to come to an end. In Spring of this year the court finished researching the evidence provided by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. In particular, the court was provided with videos showing how former Head of the Unit of State Expertise of Dual-Use Goods of the Department for State Expertise of the State Service of Exports
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