Representatives of Ukraine and the Lugansk People’s Republic at the session of the Contact Group subgroup on economic issues have agreed the date of payment for the water supplied to the Republic from the Kiev-held area, press secretary of the LPR delegation in the Contact Group Maria Kovshar said.
“The session of the subgroup on economic issues has ended,” Kovshar said. “Water supply issues have been routinely discussed. The parties agreed the date of the next payment for the water supplied by Ukraine to the LPR.”
No progress has been made on other agenda items such as railway, Ukrainian mobile operator Vodafone’s electricity bill, and the plan for resuming socio-economic relations, she said.
The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014. Conflict settlement relies on the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, signed on February 12, 2015 in the Belarussian capital by the Contact Group members and coordinated by the Normandy Four heads of states (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine). The UN Security Council approved the document by Resolution No 2202 of February 17, 2015 and called upon the parties to ensure its implementation.
The document provides for comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal of all heavy weapons from the contact line, starting a dialog on reconstruction of social and economic ties between Kiev and Donbass. It also envisages carrying out constitutional reform in Ukraine providing for decentralization and adopting permanent legislation on a special status of certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
To facilitate the work of the Contact Group, four working groups were set up under its aegis to deal with issues of security, politics, return of internally displaced people and refuges, as well as with social, humanitarian, economic and rehabilitation issues. *i*s
