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What changed in Kyiv's security and finance posts?
Summary
A look back at the decisions on military command, central bank leadership and veterans' welfare reported in the days before 19 March 2018.
What was Kyiv's agenda on 19 March 2018? The days leading up to that Monday brought a cluster of decisions on military command, the central bank and support for servicemen, along with a sanctions move in Washington.
On 16 March 2018, President Petro Poroshenko appointed Serhiy Nayev as commander of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, created to replace the ATO Staff. The appointment placed one officer at the head of the new body.
On 15 March 2018, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed Valeriya Hontareva as head of the National Bank of Ukraine and appointed Yakiv Smolii in her place. The same day, Poroshenko signed amendments to the law on the social and legal protection of servicemen and their families. The changes addressed what was described as social injustice in the right of military personnel to receive cash compensation for renting housing.
Parliament had also acted on veterans on 13 March 2018, adopting law No. 7161. It amends the law on the rehabilitation of disabled persons to establish a disability group for participants in the anti-terrorist operation.
The National Bank, for its part, presented new 2, 5 and 10 hryvnia coins on 14 March 2018 and announced that it would stop minting small-denomination coins.
A sanctions step abroad
On 15 March 2018, the Trump administration imposed financial sanctions on 19 Russian nationals under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, including 12 of those indicted in the Special Counsel investigation. The act, a US federal law covering Iran, North Korea and Russia, was signed on 2 August 2017 by President Donald Trump, who nevertheless believed the legislation was seriously flawed.
Taken together, the reports show a week in which Ukraine reshaped its military command structure, changed the leadership of its central bank and widened benefits for those who served.
