18 May 2016, 13:27
A total of 309 people's deputies registered at the session hall of the Ukrainian Parliament.
Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andrii Parubii opened the morning plenary meeting on Wednesday.
In his opening speech May 18 — the 72nd anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people, Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andrii Parubii called on the people's deputies to pay tribute to the victims of the deportation.
"Within the major wave of the deportation on May 18-20, it took then regime representatives three days to oust a total of 180,000 people. The deportation was catastrophic for the Crimean Tatars. Famine, and diseases took lives of over 30,000 Crimean Tatars," Andrii Parubii said.
According to the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada, only independent Ukraine let the Crimean Tatars return to their native land, from where their great-grandparents, grandparents and fathers had been deported long time ago.
Today the Russia's occupation of Crimea again threw the Crimean Tatars population to the times of cruel persecutions and oppression. The major self-organization body of the Crimean Tatars — the Mejlis — has been announced an extremist organization. The Russian invaders violently suppress any attempt to support the Crimean Tatars initiatives.
At 12:00, Ukraine and all the Ukrainians all around the world paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people.
Later, people's deputies delivered their speeches, provided information and announced their proposals.
After the speeches of the parliamentarians, Andrii Parubii announced entrance of Verkhovna Rada deputy Oksana Bilozir to the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction.
The Speaker also informed about the establishment of an interfactional deputy association named Ukrainian Watercraft Development Assistance at the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The association is headed by people's deputy Denys Sylantiyev.
At the request of two parliamentary factions, a break was announced in the plenary meeting for certain consultations.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted as a basis the draft law No. 2297 "On amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine" (as to creation of favorable conditions for introduction of charity text messages) that aims to gather funds with the help of text messages.
The draft law was adopted along with remarks announced during the discussion.
The people's deputies adopted as a basis the draft law No. 3467 "On amendments to Tax Code of Ukraine" (as to creation of favorable conditions for introduction of charity telecommunication messages).
The draft law offers to exempt charity telecommunication messages from value added tax.
The people's deputies also considered the draft law "On amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine" (as to introduction of integrated approaches in management of aquatic resources).
Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andrii Parubii closed the plenary meeting.
Next plenary meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 19.