• The Verkhovna Rada has passed today the following draft bills/resolutions to presently emerge as full-blown pieces of legislation:

Bill No.2414-d <Second reading> - “On amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine’ concerning activities of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine”.

The law aims to improve the legal framework for activities of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (FIS). The act sets forth a redrafted version of the Law of Ukraine "On the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine", regulates the legal status of this service as well as the management of FIS's activities together with its general structure.

Bill No.2398-d <Second reading> - “On defence procurement”.

The purpose of the law is to define the general legal framework for planning, the procedure for determining the scope and features of carrying out procurement of goods, works and services for defence purposes to meet the needs of the security and defence sector, as well as the procedure for public, open and democratic civilian control in the field of defence procurements.

The law is also intended to harmonize Ukraine’s defence procurement legislation with the respective provisions of the Directive 2009/81/ EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on the coordination of procedures for the award of certain works contracts, supply contracts and service contracts by contracting authorities or entities in the fields of defence and security in accordance with the Association Agreement between Ukraine, on the one part, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, on the other part.

Home producers will exclusively be allowed to up the profitability ceiling for procurement contracts without falling back on competitive procedures.

The bill is aimed to foster, legally and economically, the development of a competitive defence procurement environment, improve quality of defence goods, works and services, meeting at the same time all basic requirements of EU law.

The act does not apply to defence procurements made through international specialized organizations and their rep offices/agencies – such as the NATO Support and Procurement Agency or U.S. Government’s Foreign Military Sales – as well as through specialized funds, enterprises, establishments and organizations to be determined by the government.

The law also bans any defence procurements intended to be carried out in bypass of procurement types or/and procedures prescribed either by this act or by the Law of Ukraine “On public procurement’.

Resolution No.3650 - "On the formation and liquidation of districts".

The document taken is intended to make over Ukraine’s territorial and administrative organization in its entirety. The whole territory of greater Ukraine will be reorganized in 136 brand new districts. The quantitative breakdown by oblast is as follows:

AR Crimea – 10 (districts).

Vinnytsia oblast – 6.

Volyn oblast – 4.

Dnipropetrovsk oblast – 7.

Donetsk oblast – 8.

Zhytomyr oblast – 4.

Zakarpattia oblast – 6.

Zaporizhzhia oblast – 5.

Ivano-Frankivsk oblast - 6.

Kyiv oblast – 7.

Kirovohrad oblast – 4.

Luhansk oblast – 8.

Lviv oblast – 7.

Mykolaiv oblast – 4.

Odesa oblast – 7.

Poltava oblast – 4.

Rivne oblast – 4.

Sumy oblast – 5.

Ternopil oblast – 3.

Kharkiv oblast - 7.

Kherson oblast – 5.

Khmelnytsk oblast – 3.

Cherkasy oblast – 4.

Chernivtsi oblast – 3.

Chernihiv oblast – 5.

The country’s administrative organization in force is to be cancelled by this resolution. Local elections in the cancelled districts shall not be conducted.

Resolution No.3736 - “The Statement of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine concerning the illegitimate nationwide vote on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol”.

In its statement, the Parliament strongly protests against a further, already habitual and even routine, violation of international law by the Russian Federation – the holding on July 1, 2020 of the unlawful and illegitimate all-Russian vote on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine: in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine hereby appeals to foreign parliaments and international parliamentary organizations asking to provide their principled political assessment of the illegal actions of the Russian Federation, to vehemently condemn Russia’s vote-associated activities; vigorously calls on all global democratic forces to keep and even heighten the international political and economic pressure on the Russian Federation with the aim to fully restore Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders including the Crimea plus Sevastopol.