Coronavirus policy
After the end of nationwide lockdown on 11 May, the government plans to soften restrictions as part of the so-called adaptive quarantine, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. "If there are outbreaks of the infection in certain regions, we will tighten the quarantine there, not all over the entire country," he said.
Some markets will be able to open during the quarantine, provided they meet health and safety criteria, Shmyhal said. As many as 872 markets will be able to get back to work after a relevant government resolution is published on 30 April. The decision was taken after a series of farmers' and vendors' protests all over the country.
The cargo brought by the Mriya transport aircraft from China was partly humanitarian and partly commercial, which is why some of the protective gear is now being sold by a popular hardware supermarket chain, according to deputy chief of presidential staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko. His comments came in response to the uproar on social networks over face masks and suits from China hitting hardware stores.
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Vadym Prystayko will hold negotiations with countries which are interested in hiring Ukrainians for seasonal work. He denied reports that the government has banned Ukrainians with seasonal workers from going abroad for work, adding that there will be charter flights for them. However he described sporadic labour migration as a health risk.
Appointments
The Cabinet of Ministers appointed Oleksiy Lyubchenko head of the State Tax Service and Hennadiy Plys head of the State Audit Service for the period of quarantine. Lyubchenko used to be an adviser for the head of the State Fiscal Service while Plys was the first deputy head of the Kyiv city state administration in 2016-2017.
Parliament
Speaker Dmytro Razumkov called another emergency session for 30 April. MPs' proposals on the use of a special procedure during the second reading of the bill preventing the return of nationalized banks to former owners, the so-called anti-Kolomoyskyy bill, is also on the agenda.
Donbas
A soldier of the 93rd detached mechanized brigade, Oleksiy Lysin, from Zaporizhzhya was killed in combat in Luhansk Region.
Culture
Ukrainian art directors, researchers, artists and directors signed an open letter to the Supervisory Board of the Babi (Babyn) Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre, asking it to dismiss the art director of the Centre, Russian film director Ilya Khrzhanovsky. They said that the scandal around the method he suggested is fraught with reputational risks.
Coming events
Gorshenin Institute will hold an online roundtable "Quarantine in Europe: from Turkey to Great Britain. Common approaches and regional differences" at noon on 30 April.