- •Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund have failed to reach an agreement on additional financing. News reports say the lender wants parliament to pass a 2019 budget first. The IMF had sought a budget deficit of no more than 2.5 percent of GDP. A rise in household gas prices to market rates is also required. IMF Resident Representative Goesta Ljungman issued a statement saying “discussions are ongoing.” Ukraine is expecting a $1.9 billion loan before year’s end to help pay its debts.
- •In Kyiv for the Sept. 13-15 Yalta European Strategy conference, Italy’s former foreign minister, Franco Frattini, discussed with the Kyiv Post about how the challenge of countering Russia in Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region differs from the Russian-controlled Donbas in eastern Ukraine.
- •Ukraine’s new anti-corruption agencies — the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office — are fighting between themselves again.
- •Parliament has finally gotten around to appointing new members of the Central Election Commission to oversee the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections.
- •Foreigners have been chosen to help select judges for Ukraine’s first anti-corruption court.
- •A murder has put the spotlight on the troubles of military veterans after they leave the service.
