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2.11pm EDT 14:11

Right then, thats about us. But do pop next door for the two night games because what else is to do? Exactly. Ta-ra.

2.10pm EDT 14:10

Austria will also be fortified with the confidence you get from doing it when you absolutely have to. Ukraine had played pretty well until this point, only to shrink at the crucial moment, but make no mistake: Austria were a big part of making that happen.

2.07pm EDT 14:07

Back to Austria, theyve got enough about them to cause Italy some problems. Im not sure how theyll cope with the midfield running thatll be necessary, nor the inveterate pressing of their back four, but if they can get themselves into the game, they can make something of it.

2.05pm EDT 14:05

And heres Nick Ames match report.

Christoph Baumgartner strike sinks Ukraine and puts Austria in last 16

2.04pm EDT 14:04

Bit of news bad news for Arsenal, great news for Lyon.

Danille van de Donk leaves Arsenal and joins mammoth Lyon overhaul

2.03pm EDT 14:03

The Netherlands have run into some form then. Like various of the sides in the draw, its hard to see them winning three hard games in a row, but theyve got enough to beat anyone on a good day.

2.02pm EDT 14:02

Its absolutely hilarious how much football there is and theres more.

Finland v Belgium: Euro 2020 live!

Russia v Denmark: Euro 2020 live!

Updated at 2.02pm EDT

2.00pm EDT 14:00

The Netherlands have beaten North Macedonia 3-0; they meet a third-placed team next.

North Macedonia v Netherlands: Euro 2020 live!

1.59pm EDT 13:59

So Ukraine finish on three points, fewer than Switzerland who came third in Group A, with a goal difference of -1. There are various combinations of results that would make that enough Belgium beating Finland and Denmark beating Russia 1-0 would help, so too Slovenia beating Spain and Scotland drawing 0-0 or 1-1 with Croatia. But realistically, theyre struggling.

Updated at 2.51pm EDT

1.54pm EDT 13:54

I cant believe how poor Ukraine were today, but Austria were excellent and now meet Italy at Wembley!

Updated at 2.51pm EDT

1.52pm EDT 13:52

90+3 min Matviyenko advances down the right and looks to get the ball into the box, but again the excellent Grillitsch is there.

1.52pm EDT 13:52

90+2 min With everyone expecting a cross, Yarmolenko slips Zinchenko a reverse-pass; he stands a ball up towards the back stick; but Marlos was offside, and thats another non-opportunity gone.

1.49pm EDT 13:49

89 min Ukraine knock it about the back four with no sense of urgency I dont get it. Eventually, they stick one towards the box, and Grillitsch, whos played well, sees it away.

1.47pm EDT 13:47

87 min Yup, its mixa time, but with everyone expecting the same, a quick pass to Yeremchuk sees him turn adroitly and dash outside Hinteregger, swivelling into a cross-shot that scoots narrowly wide of the far post.

1.46pm EDT 13:46

87 min The line in the Austrian national anthem that goes Land der Hmmer (land of hammers) turns out to be relevant to this match, notes Peter Oh. Two silky-skilled craftsmen associated with West Ham United are out there doing their business Arnautovic for Austria and Yarmolenko for Ukraine. Im heavily invested in the former outdoing the latter today, but in any case, its Hammers time!

1.45pm EDT 13:45

85 min Shevchenko goes again, introducing Besedin in place of Mykolenko. Im really surprised by how his team have played today, given how they played against Holland, but pressure is an absolute brute.

1.44pm EDT 13:44

84 min @psychlop5 reckons using lifting teammates is against the laws, likewise using the frame of the goal for leverage.

Updated at 1.44pm EDT

1.42pm EDT 13:42

83 min Ukraine are getting nowhere trying to play their way in. Its probably mixa time.

1.42pm EDT 13:42

82 min I feel like this should be frantic, but it just isnt. Karavaev crosses, Hinteregger thighs it clear.

1.41pm EDT 13:41

80 min Austria have been excellent today Ukraine have struggled to get anything going. As it stands, Austria will go through, Ukraine probably wont, and if Belgium beat Finland later, this group and that group will probably be the two with only two qualifiers. Thats great news for Portugal who, in that circumstance, could wear a two-goal defeat to France.

Updated at 1.56pm EDT

1.39pm EDT 13:39

79 min On the subject of the Netherlands being a plural, teaches Mark Eijkman, I can complicate things further for you by informing you that the official, full name of the Netherlands in Dutch is Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (Kingdom of the Netherlands), as it consists of four constituent countries (landen in Dutch), namely, European Netherlands, plus three Caribbean countries, the islands of Aruba, Curaao and Sint Maarten (the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin). But this state of affairs is quite recent, having been introduced in 2010. Before that, the KotN consisted of European Netherlands, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles (since 1954). And before that, the KotN was established around 1815, after Napoleons defeat, consisting of present-day Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

See here for further details.

Yet again, I am Donny from the Big Lebowski, hopelessly out of my element. Great stuff.

1.38pm EDT 13:38

78 min Would it be possible to ask Sandip what he feels about the former Portuguese colonies? asks Kevin, grumpily in coldish central Portugal. The big ones are easy enough. Nobody is arguing over Angola but what about Sao Tome and Principe? With or without the accents? And your lot have been swinging behind Timor-Leste whereas Id kind of like to stick to the East Timor that did prevail for quite some time. That should get him out of his bloody hammock at the least.

1.37pm EDT 13:37

76 min Austria have done a really good job of disappearing the second half, not with timewasting but with sensible football, and Alaba charges down the left yet again, looking for Ilsanker on the boust outside him. The pass is intercepted by someone Dragovic I think and Alaba then produces another decent corner but Ukraine manage to get the ball clear.

1.35pm EDT 13:35

75 min Yeremchuk and Zabarnyi contest a fifty-fifty; somehow, the ref appraises a foul and Ukraine can stick this into the box, but Marlos can only pick out Karavaev, who heads clear.

1.32pm EDT 13:32

73 min Lainers not going to continue, though he doesnt look too crook. Ilsanker replaces him.

Updated at 2.08pm EDT

1.31pm EDT 13:31

71 min Laimer goes down with something or other. He lies flat and has some cold stuff put on his face.

1.30pm EDT 13:30

70 min Again, Austria stretch Ukraine, Lainer pulling wide and sending a fine low ball into Arnautovic. He knows hes got Sabitzer behind him so allows the ball to pass between his legs, but its not got the pace to reach and Zabarnyi clears.

1.29pm EDT 13:29

69 min Zinchenko seems to have moved forward to play behind Yaremchuk.

1.28pm EDT 13:28

69 min This has been a really classy performance from Alaba, who picks up the ball at inside left and clips a searching cross towards the far post, where no one is.

Updated at 1.51pm EDT

Read more here:
Ukraine 0-1 Austria: Euro 2020 as it happened - The Guardian

Ukraine is setting up 250 Weigh in Motion (WiM)stations, made by Kistler, by 2025 in an effort to tackle rapidly increasing road damage by overweight vehicles.

The systems from Swiss manufacturer Kistler allow Ukrainian authorities to automatically fine overloaded trucks. In addition, authorities will be able to analyse the data to help predict when a given road surface will need replacement or where further infrastructure development might be beneficial.

IRD and Intercomphave both recently announced WiM deals in the eastern European country, where the rapid decay of road surfaces has long been a big issue for Ukravtodor, the state agency responsible for maintaining the countrys major roads.

Wheel ruts, cracks, potholes and other types of road damage are a common sight, especially on major Ukrainian transport routes where it is estimated that almost every second truck is too heavy.

Almost immediately after a road has been constructed or repaired, damages start to appear. In the capital Kiev, the problem is most acute. About 40% of all trucks on the road around the city are either overweight or violate size restrictions.

On the agencys website, Oleksandr Kubrakov, chairman of Ukravtodor comments that if everything is left as it is, a newly constructed roads lifespan is a mere two years.

To prevent this scenario, the national government launched a campaign to combat weight violations on Ukrainian roads that includes large-scale introduction of WiM stations to back up the governments resolve.

Already, 45 WiM sites have been set up on crucial transport routes across Ukraine. They weigh all passing vehicles without disrupting traffic and transmit the data to a control cabinet by the road for analysis. If the vehicle is too heavy, a camera automatically takes a picture of the license plate and sends the collected information to the local authorities, who will then fine the offending driver or logistics company.

Kistler says that the Ukraine is not the first country in the regionto install WiM technology on a large scale to reduce the number of overloaded vehicles.

We have been providing WiM systems for direct enforcement in countries like the Czech Republic, Russia and Hungary for several years now, says Tomas Pospisek, regional manager for Eastern Europe within the Traffic Solutions business at Kistler Group.

Combined with our expertise in collecting and analysing data from the sensors, our practical experience has allowed us to build a complete system that is very precise and reliable. All its components are streamlined and work hand in hand, says Pospisek.

Read more from the original source:
Ukraine invests in Kistler WiM - ITS International

At first blush, this Politico report from late last week has a familiar feel to it.

The Biden White House has temporarily halted a military aid package to Ukraine that would include lethal weapons, a plan originally made in response to aggressive Russian troop movements along Ukraine's border this spring. The aid package would be worth up to $100 million, according to four people familiar with internal deliberations.

As the reporting explained, the aid package was crafted in response to a Russian military buildup, but ahead of last week's summit between President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin, Moscow announced plans to draw down troop level near the Ukrainian border.

Should the circumstances warrant it, the military aid could still be dispatched to our allies in Kiev. What's more, this is just part of a larger picture: as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki explained in a written statement, "The idea that we have held back security assistance to Ukraine is nonsense. Just last week -- in the run-up to the U.S.-Russia Summit -- we provided a $150 million package of security assistance, including lethal assistance."

This hardly seems like the stuff of a political controversy, though Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) turned to social media to push a curious line: "Remember when freezing military aid to Ukraine was an impeachable offense?"

Well, no, not really.

Around this time two years ago, Donald Trump also froze military aid to Ukraine, not in response to Russian troop deployments, but as part of a corrupt extortion scheme: the Republican hatched a plan to leverage U.S. assistance in the hopes that Ukrainian officials would help Trump cheat in the 2020 presidential election.

During a notorious phone meeting, when Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stressed the importance of lethal aid, the then-U.S. president famously replied, "I would like you to do us a favor, though."

It led to the first of Trump's two impeachments, not because he froze military aid to Ukraine, but because he used U.S. resources as part of illegal extortion plan.

Whether Rubio intended to do this or not, he highlighted a critical difference between the two presidents: the Biden and Trump administrations superficially took similar steps, but only one of them engaged in brazen corruption.

It was, incidentally, corruption Rubio was quick to shrug off: the Florida senator, like nearly every other congressional Republican, voted against holding Trump accountable for his venality.

Perhaps Rubio is aware of these relevant details and thought his tweet would be amusing. Maybe he's genuinely confused and published this tweet because he doesn't understand the relevant details.

Or perhaps Rubio knows how foolish the comparison is, but hopes some of the Republican base will be fooled into thinking there's a controversy where none exists.

Link:
Why the new 'controversy' over Ukraine aid isn't controversial at all - MSNBC

Populism has always been prominent in Ukrainian politics as a means to stem the declining popularity of presidents and governments. After the Orange Revolution populist firebrand Yulia Tymoshenko became synonymous with this populism. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys new policy of de-oligarchization looks to return to Tymoshenkos discredited populism which was disastrous for Ukraines economy during her two governments.

With forty-two percentof Ukrainians disappointed in Volodymyr Zelenskys performance last year and sixty-seven percent believing the country is heading in the wrong direction, it is not surprising Ukraines president is turning to populism. Only twenty percentbelieved Zelenskys presidency was better than his predecessor Petro Poroshenko, thirty percentthought he was worse while forty-one percentwere of the opinion there was no difference between the two.

The traditional populist enemy in Ukraine has always been oligarchs. During election campaigns, all Ukraines political forces, ranging from left to right and irrespective of whether they are pro-Western or pro-Russian, promise to deal with oligarchs.

With one eye towards the next elections, Zelensky has launched a de-oligarchization campaign with two enemies in his sights. The first is the pro-Russian Opposition Platform For Life Party who he sees as the main competitor to his own Servant of the People Party among Russian speakers in southeast Ukraine. The second is Poroshenko against whom he has a personal grudge and seeks to dampen support for the center-right European Solidarity Party that the former president heads.

While the Ukrainian public traditionally blames oligarchs for all manner of sins they at the same time remain skeptical about Zelenskys motives, with only 31.5% believing he is striving for justice or that de-oligarchization will lead to improvements. Meanwhile over half of Ukrainians fifty-seven percentsee Zelenskyys de-oligarchization as either populism to increase his popularity ratings or an attempt to take over oligarch economic assets and media for the president's team.

Three political parties in parliament European Solidarity, Voice, and Tymoshenko's Fatherland who are not usually willing to cooperate with each other have drawn up their own alternative law on de-oligarchization which they submitted on June 15, thirteen days after Zelenskyys draft. Their draft with the long title of On De-oligarchization, Promotion of Competition, Removal of the Authorities from Corrupt Influences and Social Responsibility of Business seeks to deal with the many inconsistencies in the president's approach.

Zelenskys de-oligarchization is unclear about how oligarchs are to be defined and the names are restricted to a secret list of thirteenpeople who allegedly have inordinate influence in politics, the media, and over state officials. Zelensky seeks to remove the influence ofthese thirteen oligarchs over the media and political parties and deny them access to privatization of large facilities.

It is never explained how oligarchs would be forced to sell their media outlets. This would likely lead to protests in international organizations and human rights bodies about threats to media freedom in Ukraine. Similarly, with a huge shadow economy accounting for upwards of half of GDPand assets deposited overseas, Zelensky has not explained how the authorities intend to end the covert funding of political parties by big business. Big business after all provides financial donations to political parties in the US and Europe.

Indeed, it is perhaps not surprising Zelenskys de-oligarchization populism ignores Ukraines huge shadow economy as attempts to reduce its size would be unpopular among his base. Anti-establishment populists like Zelensky prefer to attack elites. The shadow economy contributes to widespread lower levels of corruption and widespread disrespect for the rule of law. Of the thirtymillion economically active Ukrainians only 37 percent(10.9million) pay taxes. 11.8 millionUkrainians who are able to work do not officially make any money; in other words, they work in the shadow economy where they earn unofficial salaries. Compounding this are high rates of tax avoidance in western Ukraine which does not see this as a contradiction in its claim to be the most patriotic region of the country. Tax avoidance is also high in the port city of Odesa and to a lesser degree in the capital city of Kyiv.

Ukraines largest industrial companies are too big and visible to hide in the shadow economy. Meanwhile de-oligarchization does nothing to improve Ukraines rule of law by, for example, reducing widespread corruption in the judiciary. As the conservative Heritage Foundation noted in its 2021 Index of Economic Freedom, [Kyiv] needs to boost investor confidence by continuing to upgrade the investment code and by undertaking deep and comprehensive reforms to strengthen rule-of-law institutions and improve the protection of property rights, judicial effectiveness, and government integrity.

Zelenskys populist de-oligarchization plans higher taxes on selective oligarchs who own Ukraines largest natural resources companies. These include a potential tripling of iron ore mining rent and as much as a three-fold increase in taxing the disposal of non-hazardous mining waste. The governments own official statistics show sixty percentof iron ore mined in Ukraine is exported while the Ukrainian metallurgical industry contributes twelve percentof the countrys GDP. 19 of Ukraines top 100 taxpayers are in the metallurgical sector. A recent survey estimated each job in Ukraines metallurgical industry has a knock-on effect in creating a further 2.2 jobs in other sectors of the economy, such as transportation or engineering.

As tax increases will lead to increases in production costs for Ukraines metallurgical sector and price increases for importers of Ukrainian metals, Zelenskyys populist higher taxes will create a window of opportunity for Russian competitors. Populist de-oligarchization would encourage importers and investors to seek sector stability elsewhere, particularly in the three quarters of the worlds metals market which uses a fixed rent rate rather than the progressive rate favored by Zelenskyy. Populist tax increases will encourage some of Ukraines trading partners to move their business to, for example, Russia, the EU, Australia, orBrazil.

There has been substantially increased demand from China for iron ore. But an increase in prices for Ukraines exports (due to populist higher taxes) would lead to Chinese importers looking for suppliers elsewhere. Should China turn to Russia to meet its iron ore needs, Zelenskys de-oligarchization would not only drive down demand for Ukraines commodities and make post-covid economic recovery difficult but would also drive market share to Russia.

Who stands to benefit from Zelenskyys election populism?

De-oligarchization will benefit oligarch Igor Kolomoysky who was instrumental in bringing Zelensky to power in 2019 and remains untouchable. Oligarchs close to Tymoshenko were also untouchable during her populist de-oligarchization. Zelensky has never once in his two years in power criticized Kolomoysky even though the oligarch has opposed all of his reforms. Kolomoysky controls a quarter of Zelenskyys Servant of the People parliamentary faction which has blocked government reforms. Kolomoysky directly interferes in Ukrainian politics through his For the Future political party which came fourth with twelve percentof the vote in last years local elections.

Kolomoysky faces numerous lawsuits abroad but none at home where the Zelenskyy controlled prosecutors office has initiated no criminal cases. In August 2020, the FBI raided companies owned by Kolomoysky in Cleveland and Miami and seized properties in Kentucky and Texas. On March 5, 2021, the U.S. sanctioned Kolomoysky due to his involvement in significant corruption.

To ingratiate himself with President Joe Biden, Zelensky could follow through with Ukrainian sanctions against Kolomoysky, although this is unlikely. Ukrainian gas oligarch Dmytro Firtash, who the U.S. has been seeking to extradite since 2014 from Vienna on corruption charges, was sanctioned by Zelenskylast week. President Biden told Zelensky after this months NATO summit that Ukraine has to clean up its corruption to be invited into a Membership Action Plan (MAP). Cleaning up President Zelenskys inner circle would be a very good place to start Ukraines drive to enter a MAP as a stepping stone to joining NATO.

Ukrainians' fear that de-oligarchization will benefit Zelenskys circle seems, therefore.to be true. Kolomoysky would certainly attempt to take over large companies which went bankrupt from populist high taxes and loss of markets. It is interesting to note the manganese ore sector, already controlled by Kolomoysky, faced a mere twenty-five percenttax rate since 2020 at which time iron ore taxes increased to fifty percent. Inexplicably, manganese ore escaped any tax increase in Zelenskyys populist tax hikes.

Zelenskyys populist de-oligarchization has four fundamental problems. Firstly, it is poorly thought out because it is more geared to increasing the presidents popularity than undertaking any real change of the type long demanded by the U.S. in return for its support. Secondly, selectively targeting one of the key sectors of Ukraines economic growth and exports will only incentivize more companies to join the already large shadow economy. Thirdly, allowing Russia to take over Ukraines export markets would be unwise when nearly three quarters of Ukrainians believe their country is at war with Russia. Fourthly, Zelenskys de-oligarchization will benefit Kolomoysky at a time when he is sanctioned by the U.S. Fifthly, de-oligarchization is impossible without reducing Ukraines huge shadow economy, reducing widespread tax avoidance among Ukrainian citizens and fighting deep levels of corruption in the judiciary.

If President Zelenskyy wants Ukrainians and Washington to treat his de-oligarchization seriously and not as another round of election populism he should start at home by following the U.S. in sanctioning Kolomoysky. De-oligarchization will not be treated as anything other than populism while Kolomoysky remains untouchable in Ukraine.

Originally posted here:
Can Zelensky's Turn to Populism to Save Him in the Next Ukrainian Election? - The National Interest

Analysis of draft Law of Ukraine no. 5107 On amendments to several legislative acts of Ukraine on simplifying access to and improving the quality of free legal aid (hereinafter - the Draft Law), elaborated by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, was conducted within the framework of the Council of Europe Project Support for judicial institutions and processes to strengthen access to justice in Ukraine. The international consultant, Oleksandr Ovchynnykov, prepared the analysis in the framework of activities of the Council of Europe Project Support for judicial institutions and processes to strengthen access to justice in Ukraine in response to a request of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Legal Policy.

The aim of the current analysis is to establish the conformity of the provisions of the Draft Law with the Council of Europe standards on the provision of free legal aid which, inter alia, contained in a number of recommendations and resolutions of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the efficiency and the effectiveness of legal aid schemes in the areas of civil and administrative law and on the freedom of exercise of the profession of lawyer, as well as in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The conclusions of the analysis and the recommendations to the Draft Law, proposed by the international consultant, were discussed with parliamentarians, representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Coordination Center for Free Legal Aid and its regional centers, as well as with representatives of the legal community during the meetings and the round tables.

Analysis of draft Law of Ukraine On amendments to several legislative acts of Ukraine on simplifying access to and improving the quality of free legal aid (no. 5107):https://rm.coe.int/bh8751-po691406-oleksandr-ovchynnykov-1/1680a2f1e7

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The Council of Europe analyzed draft Law of Ukraine On amendments to several legislative acts of Ukraine on simplifying access to and improving the...