Here's an item from our news desk on the sale of Sberbank's Ukrainian branches:
Russia's Sberbank To Sell Ukrainian Branches
The largest Russian bank, Sberbank, is selling its Ukrainian branches amid increasing pressure from the Ukrainian government and protesters in Ukraine.
State-controlled Sberbank said in a March 27 statement that a consortium led by Norvik Bank of Latvia and a private Belarusian firm would purchase the Russian bank's assets in Ukraine.
The sale comes less than two weeks after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree imposing sanctions on Sberbank and four other banks with Russian financing.
The bank's outlets in Ukraine have also been the focus of protests led by Ukrainian nationalists angered after Sberbank said it would comply with Russian President Vladimir Putin's February 18 decree ordering Russian authorities to recognize identity documents issued by Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Sberbank later said that it would not recognize the documents in Ukraine.
Sberbank said the sale of its Ukrainian assets is expected to be completed by July after gaining approval from antitrust regulators.
Said Gutseriyev, head of the Belarusian company involved in the sale and the son of Russian billionaire Mikhail Gutseriyev, will become the largest shareholder in Sberbank's Ukrainian holdings after the transaction.
Sberbank said that it hopes the sale will allow for the "resumption of regular operations" and that its customers will no longer be hindered at its branches in Ukraine.
Based on reporting by Reuters, Interfax, and AFP
Good morning. We'll get the live blog rolling today with a few of the things that caught our eye while we were gone:
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
A new item from our news desk:
Poroshenko Signs Off On NGO Assets-Declaration Requirement
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed into law controversial amendments to the country's anticorruption legislation requiring representatives of nongovernmental organizations to file assets declarations.
Poroshenko on March 27 signed the amendments, which also relieve military officers of the obligation to file such declarations.
Poroshenko said the measure acknowledges "the necessity of taking into account the interests of hundreds of thousands of servicemen who currently defend Ukraine from Russian aggression."
Earlier, British Ambassador to Ukraine Judith Gough described the reporting requirement for NGOs as "a serious step back" for Ukraine that could "limit NGOs' capacity" and "expose them to pressure."
The reporting requirement for NGOs takes effect in 2018, and Poroshenko agreed to create a working group with NGO representatives to discuss its implementation.
In a meeting with NGOs in Kyiv on March 27, Poroshenko expressed his support for their efforts to fight corruption and said any political pressure or restrictions on their activity was inadmissible.