• Aksyonov: Kerch Strait Bridge cannot be built without Ukraine's consent

    The head of Russian Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, said that Ukraine will have to agree on the construction of the Kerch Strait Bridge, the Kommersant newspaper wrote.

    According to Aksyonov, this is due to "international legal norms according to which the Sea of Azov is a joint area of navigation.”

    "It is 'unlikely' that we'll get Ukraine's consent,” the official noted, adding that construction of an underwater tunnel would be cheaper and would not require consent from Kiev.

    Russia and Ukraine …

  • Aksyonov blames high prices in Crimea on 'speculators'

    The Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Russian Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, explained that the high prices on medicines and food products in the Crimean peninsula are being driven by speculators. The prices are 30-40% higher than in adjacent Russian regions: Krasnodar and Rostov.

    “The prices on food products in specific areas are 40% higher than in the Krasnodar region. The price on pasta products is 46% higher. There are concerns of speculation in half of these cases, a parasitic …

  • Ukraine to receive $311 million loan from Japan

    Ukraine and Japan have ratified a second loan agreement worth $331 million, reported the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance.

    A statement issued by the Finance Ministry stated that "Ukraine has received a long-term soft loan worth $331 million from Japan within the DPL II joint project with the World Bank. The credit is granted through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.”

    The Finance Ministry also noted that the term of the loan is 20 years with a six-month grace period. The interest rate …

  • Ukraine begins criminal proceedings against Russian prosecutors and judges over Savchenko case

    The Prosecutor General’s office of Ukraine has initiated a criminal case against the judges of the Donetsk City Court in the Rostov region and the the Russian prosecutors involved in Nadiya Savchenko’s case, as stated by the Prosecutor, Vladislav Kutsenko, on the TV channel 112 Ukraine.According to him, Russian prosecutors Pavel Filipchuk, Dmitry Yunoshev and Vladislav Kuznetsov, are being investigated for "unlawfully bringing someone to criminal responsibility,” and against Leonid Stepanenko, …

  • Sources suggest Savchenko will be returned to Ukraine in the coming weeks

    Nadiya Savchenko, who was recently sentenced to 22 years imprisonment in Russia, will be returned to Ukraine in the coming weeks, as reported by Grani, citing a closed-door meeting held by the Ambassador of Russia to Ukraine, Mikhail Zurabov. Zurabov didn’t specify whether the release would be an exchange of Savchenko for arrested Russians.According to a spokesperson for Grani, who attended the meeting, Zurabov noted that Russia was ready to return Savchenko to her homeland by the 8th of March. …