Before the parliamentary elections in Ukraine. OSW Commentary No. 149, 15.10.2014

The parliamentary elections to be held in Ukraine on 26 October will bring about deep changes in the political composition of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament. It is very probable that after the elections only one or two of the five parties which are represented in the parliament today will remain, and the leading positions will be taken by groupings who were still considered marginal a year ago. The Petro Poroshenko Bloc, a party which according to polls can count on victory, did not exist a year ago and today still remains in the construction phase. It is likely that around two-thirds of the newly elected deputies will be people with no parliamentary or even no political experience. On the one hand, this may be a strong impetus to revival; but on the other the lack of experience of most of the parliamentarians may be a problem. Another source of potential problems may be the process of consolidating the internally unstable political parties which have emerged during the electoral campaign. All of the parties which will count in the upcoming elections have a pro-European programme. It is probable that the numerous supporters of an anti-Western orientation (although not necessarily a pro-Russian orientation, as recent events have shown) will be represented by very few deputies elected in single-mandate constituencies. On the one hand, this homogeneity within the Rada will facilitate the country’s reforms, including work on the new constitution, while on the other it might be a subject of permanent criticism by Moscow and its Ukrainian representatives. The elections will take place in the conditions of a growing wave of social disappointment and ongoing military actions in the eastern part of the country. Nevertheless, it can be expected that the vote will be held without any major disturbances, and its course will be transparent and fair.

The bumpy road. Difficult reform process in Ukraine. OSW Commentary, Number 192|30.11.2015

The post-Maidan Ukrainian government found itself forced to launch a comprehensive state reform process due to both the deep crisis in all the key areas of the state’s operation and the enormous demand for change among the Ukrainian public. The promise to carry out structural reforms based on the European model became a key point in Kyiv’s political rhetoric. However, one year after the formation of the second cabinet led by Arseniy Yatsenyuk (2 December 2014) and one and a half years since the inauguration of Petro Poroshenko as president (7 June 2014), it is clear that the reform process in Ukraine is moving at a snail’s pace and is far from fulfilling its post-Maidan declarations. It has also provoked increasing frustration among the public due to the lack of expected effects.

One year of Ukraine’s De-communisation. A change in the historical narrative. OSW COMMENTARY NUMBER 211/16.05.2016

A year ago, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted four bills on the policy of national memory: on granting access to the archives of the repressive organs of the Communist totalitarian regime in the years 1917–1991, on the legal status and commemoration of Ukrainian independence fighters in the twentieth century, on the immortalisation of the victory over Nazism in the Second World War, 1939–1945, and on the condemnation of the Communist and National Socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes and the forbidding of their symbolism from being promoted. The laws came into force on 21 May 2015. After a year, it can be stated that only the latter two are being observed – the official narrative regarding World War II has been changed, mainly due to the activity of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (UINR), but also as a result of public statements by President Petro Poroshenko. The process of removing from public places the names and commemorations referring to the Soviet era is underway, and the fears that this may trigger serious conflicts have not proved true. From roughly a thousand placenames subject to de-communisation some two thirds have been changed so far (parliamentary bills regarding the remaining ones are awaiting approval) and most statues of Communist leaders have been removed. However, the law concerning independence fighters, which raised the most serious controversies, did not have any practical consequences. Moreover, nothing suggests that this could change. The implementation of the de-communisation laws is associated with a significant change in Ukrainian patriotic narrative: it is no longer focused on national martyrdom and it is beginning to emphasize heroic motives, which is in line with wartime needs. The fact that some of these motives are likely to trigger problems in Ukraine’s relations with Poland seems to be viewed as a marginal ‘by-product’.

O balanço anual 2014 da Petrobras e a eficiência do mercado acionário no Brasil: um estudo de evento

Este trabalho propõe-se a estudar os efeitos sobre as ações da Petrobras decorrentes da apresentação dos balanços do terceiro e quarto trimestre de 2014, primeiros balanços apresentados após as denúncias da Operação Lava Jato. Avaliamos os impactos nos preços das ações da empresa através de um Estudo de Evento. Como controle, analisamos os efeitos da divulgação de 1.152 balanços trimestrais sobre outras 48 ações de que fazem parte da Carteira Teórica do IBOVESPA no período entre 2010 e 2015. Buscamos identificar a presença de retornos anormais e verificar se toda informação se transfere automaticamente aos preços, sugerindo a eficiência semiforte do mercado de ações brasileiro de acordo com a Hipótese de Eficiência do Mercado (HEM) desenvolvida por Fama (1970). Ao final comparamos os resultados específicos dos balanços em estudo com os resultados observados em outros balanços da própria Petrobras. Não foram encontradas evidências de eficiência de mercado durante o período 2010-2015 nem para o grupo de 48 ações, chamadas de NÃO_PETRO, nem para o grupo PETRO, formado pelas duas ações da Petrobras. Ao dividir os mesmos grupos em dois momentos, os resultados para o período batizado de Bonança (2010-2013), permanecem iguais ao do período completo, ao passo que o período chamado de Crise (2014 -2015) apresenta retornos anormais estatisticamente significativos nas janelas de eventos. Ao avaliar os retornos de balanços individuais da Petrobras, identificamos a necessidade de informações adicionais, extrapolando o escopo de um estudo de evento.

(Table 1) Crystal sizes of measured samples

Due to experimental difficulties grain size distributions of gas hydrate crystallites are largely unknown in natural samples. For the first time, we were able to determine grain size distributions of six natural gas hydrates for samples retrieved from the Gulf of Mexico and from Hydrate Ridge offshore Oregon from varying depths. High-energy synchrotron radiation provides high photon fluxes as well as high penetration depth and thus allows for investigation of bulk sediment samples. The gas hydrate crystallites appear to be (log-) normally distributed in the natural samples and to be of roughly globular shape. The mean grain sizes are in the range from 300-600 µm with a tendency for bigger grains to occur in greater depth, possibly indicating a difference in the formation age. Laboratory produced methane hydrate, starting from ice and aged for 3 weeks, shows half a log-normal curve with a mean value of ~40 µm. This one order-of-magnitude smaller grain sizes suggests that care must be taken when transposing grain-size sensitive (petro-)physical data from laboratory-made gas hydrates to natural settings.

Leyes, decretos y disposiciones administrativas referentes a la industria petrolera :

At head of title: Secretaría de Industria, Comercio y Trabajo.

Las tarifas de ferrocarriles y la industria minera /

Mode of access: Internet.

Varia sacra.

fasc.I., I.Annonymi chiliastae in Matthaeum XXIV fragmenta. Accedunt tractus De tribus mensuris et De Petro apostolo.-II. Piccoli supplementi agliscritti dei dottori Cappadoci e di S. Cirillo Alessandrino.-III. I fragmenti inediti dell'antica versione latina del commentario di Teodoro Mopsuesteno sui Salmi.

Petri Baptistae Burgi De dominio Ser.mae Genuensis Reip. in mari lingustico libri II.

Mode of access: Internet.

Epistole Francisci Philelfi nuper lima acriori castigate : cum quibusd? orationibus videlicet diui Ambrosii vignati Sabaudie legati Alaniq[ue] aurige de bello gallico : cum aliis eiusdemq[ue] epistola de miseria curialium et de egressu Karoli regis ex vrbe Parrhisia : superadditis litteris grecis vndiq[ue] suis in locis impositis

Mode of access: Internet.

Sancti Vincentii Ferrarii ... Opera omnia : tomus primus ...

Vita apostolici viri S. Vicentii Ferrerii ... / a Fr. Petro Ranzano ..., p. [25]-[40]

Mercurius trimegistus, sive De triplici eloquentia sacra española, romana : opus concionatoribus verbi sacri ... /

Cada parte de la obra con portada propia y escudo xilográfico.

Mansiones encomiasticae adaptatae quadraginta duobus : iuxta Evangelium Matthaei progenitoribus Christi Domini, ad quas mansiones praecedit Tractatus Isagogicus... : tomus quartus /

Mode of access: Internet.

La nebbia sgombrata difesa domenicana per la limpia, et Immaculata Concettione Della Gran Madre di Dio Maria /

Mode of access: Internet.

Flora comitatus pestiensis.

Mode of access: Internet.