Daily Digest: Top stories from Tuesday, Nov. 13

• Government and Law

Ukraine needs independent courts if it’s to attract good levels of foreign direct investment, according to Andriy Kobolyev, CEO of the state-owned Naftogaz energy company. On Nov. 13, he said that foreign investors are no longer naive about Ukraine and are asking pointed questions about the independence and reliability of the country’s justice system. Read the full story here, as reported by Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner.

USAID reports that the trust of Ukrainian people in their country’s justice system has improved slightly, from 5 percent to 16. At the same time, trust in the judiciary among Ukrainians who actually participated in court hearings is twice as high as among Ukrainians in general, according to the USAID New Justice Program. You can read the full findings here.

A full transcript of the speech given by Rick Perry, US Secretary of State for Energy, has been published online. Secretary Perry just completed a short working visit to Ukraine and Poland. He gave his remarks at an event held by the Kyiv Diplomatic Academy on Nov. 12. Perry, a former Texas governor and presidential hopeful, said that Ukraine still has huge amounts of untapped energy potential but highlighted rule of law, corruption and lack of transparency as obstacles to the country realizing its full potential in this sector. He also said, however, that the United States was prepared to do more to help Ukraine enjoy the full benefits of its energy sphere.

In the face of mounting pressure related to a criminal corruption investigation, former Ukrainian tax chief Myroslav Prodan has fled Ukraine for Poland, reports Bermet Talant. Authorities said he ignored their summons for questioning and instead fled to Warsaw via Chisinau.

A new investigation reveals that Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Pavelko has been enjoying an undeclared, luxurious lifestyle. He allegedly spent more than $750,000 over the past two years on undeclared expenditures that included a $17,000 per month apartment. Investigators have also claimed that he and his partner use a private jet to travel, with the average cost of a trip per person being around $8,000.

• Business and Economy

Andriy Kobolyev, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Naftogaz, also said in Kyiv on Nov. 13 that law enforcement agencies have opened dozens of criminal cases against him. He also said he has faced criticism in relation to multimillion-dollar compensation packages for him and his company’s top managers, but argued that Naftogaz has delivered results and that it’s better to earn a high salary and bonuses honestly rather than take the even more lucrative route of corruption.

Creating an eastern European energy hub will allow Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania to become energy independent from Russia, Andriy Parubiy, Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, said at a press conference in Lithuania on Nov. 13. “We’ve discussed joint actions in energy security… In particular, we are talking about the idea of creating a single energy hub and combining our efforts,” he told reporters.

The IMF says that Ukraine can boost growth by battling corruption and unlocking its land market, reports Natalia Datskevych. Ukraine’s GDP growth of 3 percent might be good for a country at war, but the economy is still falling behind the rest of Europe, where growth is up to 5 percent per year, Gosta Ljungman, the head of Ukraine’s IMF office, said on Nov. 13. “Ukraine is growing at a slower pace and needs to have higher growth just to catch up to where it was in 2013,” Ljungman said.

As winter arrives in Ukraine, a dispute over gas supply has left hundreds of thousands of people freezing. At a time when temperatures are starting to plunge, thousands are left without heat due to a long-standing dispute between the national gas company and regional utility providers. In response, angry Ukrainians took to the streets and blocked roads on Nov. 13. Read the full story here.

• Defense and Security

Is it really all quiet on the Eastern Front? No, according to James Wilson, writing in the EU Observer. According to him, it’s time for Europe to wake up to an emerging threat on its eastern flank. Russia is actively sponsoring Europe’s right-wing and populist movements, creating across the EU a network of allies sympathetic to Russia.

The EU has again said that Russia should stop fuelling conflict in the Donbas. The European Union is deeply concerned about the presence of Russian military hardware and personnel in areas controlled by Russian-backed militants in the Donbas, according to a new statement issued at a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Nov. 12. The EU once again urges Russia, in its statement, to immediately stop fuelling the conflict by providing financial and military assistance to armed groups.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak has refuted speculation that the country signed a contract to acquire Bayraktar TB2 UAVs from Turkey. In an interview with Ukraine’s Channel 5 TV station, he denied that such a deal would go ahead. Ukrainian defense sources frequently tell reporters that the Ukrainian armed forces need both anti-air capabilities and their own unmanned aerial vehicles.