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Parliamentary Update – September 5-12, 2022

Parliamentary News

Ukraine’s Parliament approved several laws and resolutions at the plenary meetings on September 6-7.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine:

  • simplified the submission of the information on the ultimate beneficial owners and ownership structure by legal entities and created a system of methodological assistance to legal entities in determining the ultimate beneficial owners and ownership structure (#6320),
  • introduced the obligation to pay a fixed amount of advance payment from the income tax of enterprises for their subdivisions that carry out trade in currency values in cash form (#7655),
  • introduced the right to voluntary pay pension contributions for persons who have reached the age of 16 (#7649),
  • expanded of the list of persons falling under the category of "members of the fighting" (#7322),
  • restored of the pre-war system of registration of the right to lease land for agricultural purposes (#7636).
  • adopted the law on public health system (#4142),
  • appointed MP Rustem Umerov (Holos party) as a Head of State Property Fund of Ukraine,
  • amended competition procedure for the NABU Director, prohibiting persons who, after the start of the full-scale war on February 24, were abroad for a total of more than 21 days without a valid reason from applying for the position (#8003, which was presented instead of the controversial Draft Law #7654),
  • improved the emergency assistance system, which operates via a single telephone number 112 (#7581),
  • merged the Pension and the Social Insurance funds (#3663).

Among the adopted resolutions were the following:

  • on the agenda of the plenary meetings of the new session of the Parliament (#7740),
  • on the VRU’s operation amid wartime (#7736),
  • appeal to the EU on suspension of the issuance of tourist visas to russians (#7710, 7733),
  • on the operation of the Rada TV channel amid the war (#7739).

Several draft laws were also passed in the first reading, namely those on:

  • amended submission of a single report on a unified single security social contribution and personal income tax (#6120),
  • authorization of a body in the field of critical infrastructure protection of Ukraine (#7607),
  • the selection of candidates for the position of a Constitutional Court Judge on a competitive basis (#7662),
  • empowerement of the Congress of Judges of Ukraine to appoint one person as a member of the Advisory Group of Experts (referring to the selection of a judge of the Constitutional Court) (#7663),
  • administrative responsibility for mobbing (#5749),
  • the obligation to pay a fixed amount of advance payment from the income tax of enterprises for their subdivisions that carry out trade in currency values in cash form (#7655),
  • the right to voluntary pay pension contributions for persons who have reached the age of 16 (#7649),
  • expansion of the list of persons falling under the category of "members of the fighting" (#7322),
  • restoration of the pre-war system of registration of the right to lease land for agricultural purposes (#7636).
Ukraine’s Supreme Court confirmed banning the political party “Party of Shariy”.

According to the Chesno movement, which deals with political parties and their transparency, at the hearing on September 6, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal and upheld the decision of the first instance court.

Program News

For 26 weeks, USAID RADA: Next Generation Program has been assisting Ukraine’s Parliament in its external communication within the Communication Task Force of the VRU Secretariat,

mainly through narrative development and info production for social media, both in English and Ukraine daily.

Verkhovna Rada Secretariat learned about the work of the US parliamentary institutions and established cooperation with their American counterparts during a study trip organized by USAID RADA: Next Generation.

On August 25 - September 7, RANG organized a visit of 10 Ukraine’s Parliament's Secretariat members to get acquainted with the operation of visiting centers, the US Congressional Research Service, the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Congressional Ethics. Ukraine’s Parliament members will use this experience and further contacts to establish similar offices within the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU).

The visit launched a new stage of cooperation between the two parliaments regarding research services’ operation.

The visit organized by RANG made it possible for VRU to start negotiating the memorandum’s signature with the House Democracy Partnership, which would refer to joint visitors events, trainings, study visits and professional exchanges.

Program experts continued to support the activities of a working group on parliamentary reform and assisted with the Code of Ethics and coalition-opposition interaction.

On September 7, RANG experts participated in the meeting of the working group's unit that deals with the issues of the Code of Ethics and the status of MPs. The participants of the meeting discussed the form in which ethical norms should be approved. The working group's unit will continue the discussion on this matter.

On September 8, Program's experts participated in the meeting of the working group's unit dealing with the issues of the coalition-opposition interaction. The participants continued to discuss proposals for improving relations between the coalition and the opposition.

Program agreed on the plan to educate MPs and parliamentary staff about the principles of European integration for the implementation of Ukraine’s roadmap towards EU membership.

On September 7, RANG held a meeting with the Ugis Sics, Leader of the project "Support to comprehensive public administration reform in Ukraine" (EU4PAR), and Mykhailo Latynskyy, Advisor to Mr. Ruslan Stefanchuk on EU integration. The participants of the meeting discussed joint activities on the preparation of training on European integration for the MPs and newly established parliamentary subcommittees on EU integration. After September 15 the list of participants for training will be formed, and A4U and RANG will develop the specifics of the training sessions. Furthermore, meeting attendees discussed the possibility of developing a video course on EU integration for Ukraine's Parliament.

Program assisted the MP’s team in identifying local issues while arranging information-consultative hubs to engage with voters in the Chernihiv region.

On September 8-9, Program conducted a strategic session in the frames of the Information-consultative hub in the Chernihiv region for teams of MPs Serhii Hryvko and Valerii Zub, Servant of the People faction. The purpose of the session was to conduct a SWOT analysis, identify current problems, prioritize them, and develop a Roadmap of activities in the constituencies for MPs and their teams amid martial law. As a result, a draft Roadmap with a list of pre-defined activities was created. RANG will continue to support the MPs' teams in finalizing and implementing the document.

Program upcoming events

On September 15, 3 pm, the Program will organize an online meeting with the Parliamentary Institute, Czech Republic,

on the role of parliament in the EU integration processes. The meeting will be available via the link: bit.ly/3S127BX.

On September 23, 3 pm, the Program will organize the presentation of the research on Law Drafting Offices

conducted by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy for the members of the VRU staff dealing with legal issues (law department, VRU leadership).