The Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy opened the morning plenary session.

Parliamentarians honoured the memory of those who perished in the tragedy that had taken place in the occupied Kerch the day before. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine A.Parubiy expressed condolences to relatives of the innocent victims.

Laws, bills and resolutions passed

On restoration of solvency of businesses and individuals

--Draft law No.8060

By 237 ayes, there has been adopted the code of Ukraine on bankruptcy procedure. The document designates conditions and procedure of restoration of solvency of a debtor-corporate entity or adjudging it bankrupt and applying a liquidation procedure in order to meet creditors’ claims, as well as restoration of solvency of an individual.

The code consists of four books: 1 - General part, 2 – Insolvency officer, 3 – Bankruptcy of corporate entities, 4 – Restoration of solvency of an individual.

The bill is meant to compatibly change the economic (commercial) code of Ukraine, the civil code, the civil procedure code, a range of laws of Ukraine on mortgage, pledge, enforcement proceedings, banks and banking, insurance, financial re-structurization, and state registration of corporate entities, individuals-entrepreneurs and social associations.

On further use of St Andrew’s Church

--Draft law No.9208

By 237 ayes, there has been passed the law of Ukraine “On peculiarities of the usage of the St Andrew's Church of the National preserve "Sophia of Kyiv".

The new law specifies the features of usage of the church aiming to henceforth allow the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s divine service in Ukraine and to uphold the people’s right to freedom of worship.

Through the law, the church is handed over to the said patriarchate free of charge for sustained use with the aim to conduct divine service, religious exercises, ceremonies and the like.

On criminalization of illegal border crossing

--Draft law No.7017

The parliament carried the law “On amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine as to responsibility for illegal crossing of the state border”.

The bill supplements the code with the Article 332 [2] “Illegal crossing of state border”, providing for criminal liability for illegal crossing of Ukraine’s border by a person with citizenship of an aggressor country, or by another person in favour of the aggressor state’s interests that go against Ukraine’s national interests, committed in whatever way beyond the border checkpoints, or through the checkpoints without due documents or with documents that contain misinformation. Such offences shall be penalized by a three-year incarceration. Once the same is committed repeatedly or in groups, it shall then be penalized by three to five years of incarceration. Once again, if the crimes mentioned are perpetrated with the use of weapons, the punishment shall be extended for up to five to eight years of incarceration.

On changes to Ukraine’s budget code 

--Draft bill No.8044

On the first reading, there has been passed the draft bill No.8044 “On amendments to the Budget Code of Ukraine”. The bill alters the code to ensure introducing medium-term budget planning.

The instrument also specifies the code terminology and introduces a range of new definitions, frames legal grounds for drawing up and considering the Budget declaration, refines stages and procedure of the budgetary process, sets new principles of applying MBO (Management by Objectives) to the budgetary process, introduces such an instrument as “spending review” to increase budget transparency and effectiveness, articulates legal principles of fiscal risks management, determines structure and composition of a local financial plan, reframes regulations that orchestrate approachability, public presentation and promulgation of the budget information, implementation of budget programmes, attaining the objectives, goals and performance indices by major budget owners, defines the concept of “a shared (joint) investment project”.

On medium-term budget planning

--Draft bill No.8043

On the first reading, there was taken the bill on “Amendments to certain legislative enactments as to introducing medium-term budget planning”.

The bill offers to alter the parliament’s rules of procedure and the law of Ukraine on the cabinet of ministers in order to normalize procedures that regulate drafting the Budget declaration, its approval by the ministers and adoption by the parliament.

The bill introduces a new definition “a Budget declaration”; ordains the ministers to approve the paper no later than June 1 of the year preceding the year of plan; commissions the parliament to review the declaration no later than June 30 of the year preceding the year of plan or during a week scheduled for plenary work; stipulates that after a reasoned application of the budget committee at a plenary meeting, there shall be heard a ministerial performance report; establishes that only upon reviewing the above issue the parliament is entitled to make its decision over the Budget declaration; empowers the cabinet to elaborate, consider and approve the Budget declaration no later than June 1 of the year preceding the year of plan, and within five days to table the paper up to the parliament which is to review it pursuant to a special procedure prescribed by the parliament’s rules of procedure.

On amendments to Ukraine’s budget code associated with 2019 state budget preparations

--Draft bill No.9084

The bill is drafted to regulate the issues, relating to the 2019 state budget document preparations, through specifying certain provisions of the code as per the laws in force and taking into account financial resources available to state and local budgets.

The bill, in particular, suggests transferring of 5% of land rent from mineral extractions of national value to local self-governance budgets at the domicile of such extraction areas; transferring of personal income, assessed by a tax agent or an individual who gains income from a person that is not a tax agent, from earnings received by individuals through leasing out (subleasing, emphyteusis (fee-farm)) of land lots, land shares allocated or not allocated in kind (afield), to corresponding budgets at the domicile of such rentals; and entitling local authorities to make foreign borrowings and issue local guarantees for special purposes listed in the law to name but a few.

On 2019 state budget conclusions and proposals

--Draft resolution No.9000-P

After considering the draft 2019 state budget of Ukraine elaborated by the cabinet for the first reading, the parliament approved the conclusions and proposals to the draft law as the parliament’s budget conclusions.

The resolution commissions the cabinet to prepare the draft 2019 state budget document for the second reading in accordance with the above budget conclusions, and to table the bill for the parliament’s eye within a fortnight lapse of time from the date the resolution comes into effect.

The presiding officer closed the meeting.