What did Kyiv's mid-March 2018 decisions change?
A look back at the appointments, laws and currency changes announced in the days before 20 March 2018.
What was decided in Ukraine in the days before 20 March 2018? Looking back at that date, several changes to the country's institutions had just been made, in the army, the central bank and social policy.
On 16 March 2018, President Petro Poroshenko appointed Serhiy Nayev commander of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces, created to replace the ATO Headquarters. The appointment marked a change in how military operations were directed.
A day earlier, on 15 March 2018, the president signed amendments to the law on the social and legal protection of servicemen and their families. The changes were aimed at removing what was described as social injustice in granting military personnel the right to cash compensation for renting housing.
The same day, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed Valeriya Hontareva as head of the National Bank of Ukraine and appointed Yakiv Smolii in her place. Earlier, on 14 March 2018, the National Bank presented new coins of 2, 5 and 10 hryvnias and announced that it would stop minting small-denomination coins.
An international backdrop
Also 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 imposing sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia, had been signed on 2 August 2017.
Taken together, these decisions show a week in which military command, central banking and social policy all saw changes in Kyiv, while sanctions pressure on Russian nationals continued from Washington.
