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Analysis of the Agenda of the Plenary Session of the Verkhovna Rada Due to Take Place on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, from 10:00 to 15:00 (a total of 61 items):

1. Draft Resolution 4690 (D.Razumkov) ON THE AGENDA OF THE FIFTH SESSION OF THE VERKHOVNA RADA OF UKRAINE OF THE NINTH CONVOCATION - approves the agenda of the session of 1226 bills, withdraws 8 bills, and withdraws 228 bills from consideration.

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2. Draft Resolution 4691 (D.Razumkov) ON THE PLAN OF BILL WORK OF THE VERKHOVNA RADA OF UKRAINE FOR 2021 - approves the work plan on 376 draft laws to be developed by the Parliament for the whole of 2021; this year it should become a real guide for systematic work, as this Plan was developed for several months and agreed in a triangle Office of the President - Government - Verkhovna Rada Committees.

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3. Draft Law 4413 (Y.Kravchuk) (second reading, the Committee recommends the be adopted as a whole) ON CHANGES TO THE LAW OF UKRAINE "ON PUBLIC TELEVISION AND RADIO UKRAINE" TO ADDRESS CONFLICTS IN THE APPOINTMENT AND DISMISSAL OF SUPERVISORY BOARD MEMBERS NATIONAL PUBLIC BROADCASTING COMPANY UKRAINE PARLIAMENTARY FACTION AND GROUPS - proposes that deputy factions (groups) do not elect a representative to the supervisory board of NSTU, but delegate. Such representatives are delegated for 5 years. Deputies of the current convocation shall delegate new members no later than 45 days before the end of the term for which the previous representatives were delegated by the previous Verkhovna Rada.

FOR (+) 4413: eliminates conflicts in the issue of appointment and dismissal of members of the Supervisory Board of NSTU by parliamentary factions and groups, which is important, because the powers of the majority of members of the Supervisory Board expire in January 2021.

AGAINST (-) 4413: the election procedure provides for selection according to certain criteria, and when delegating the criteria are leveled.

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4. Draft Resolution 4689 (President) ON THE APPROVAL OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE OF UKRAINE OF 1 FEBRUARY 2021 "ON APPLICATION OF SECTORAL SPECIAL ECONOMIC AND OTHER RESTRICTIVE MEASURES (SANCTIONS) TO THE REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA" - says NSaD decision of 1 February 2021 "On application of sector special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) against the Republic of Nicaragua ", enacted by the Decree of the President of Ukraine № 41/2021.

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5. Draft Law No. 4229 (D. Maslov) (first reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a whole, with consideration for the Committee’s proposals) “ON AMENDING THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON THE JUDICIARY AND THE STATUS OF JUDGES’ AND THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON THE HIGH COUNCIL OF JUSTICE’ REGARDING TERMINATION OF THE PROCEDURES IN THE COMPETITION FOR POSITIONS OF JUDGES OF LOCAL COURTS” – the bill provides for the termination by the High Council of Justice of the competitions previously started by the High Qualifications Commission of Judges (before the day of formation of a competent composition of the HQCJ), including the conduct and completion of the special audit, the announcement, conduct and determination of the results of the competitions for the candidates, and submitting proposals to the President of Ukraine for appointing the respective judges without recommendations from the HQCJ.

FOR (+) No. 4229: Protection of the rights of candidates for the position of judge of a local court under conditions of termination of powers of the HQCJ members; filling of vacancies of judges and ensuring the rights of citizens to access to justice.

AGAINST (-) No. 4229: Repeat qualifications examination for candidates who scored less than 75% of the possible maximum points the first time they took the test; there will be no bottom line for admission to re-examination, i.e. even very weak candidates, e.g. scoring 1% in the first examination, will be given a second chance.

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6. Draft Law No. 3716 (P. Pavlovskyi) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE AIR CODE OF UKRAINE TO IMPROVE THE LEGISLATIVE REGULATION IN THE SPHERE OF REMOTELY PILOTED CIVIL AIRCREAFT” – the bill defines the terms “remotely piloted aviation system,” “remotely piloted aircraft,” “remote pilot”; provides that aviation rules must specify the requirements regarding the competencies of a remote pilot, the pilot’s training, retraining, confirmation/restoration of qualification and upgrade training, as well as mandatory insurance of liability for damage caused to third parties by the user of a remotely piloted aircraft; establishes that it is not mandatory to obtain the certificate of RPA user.

FOR (+) No. 3716: The bill singles out the requirements related to RPA users, enhances the level of their awareness and liability, decreases the level of difficulty of the requirements regarding RPA, which will enable business to use “drones.”

AGAINST (-) No. 3716: The wording of some provisions of the bill is inappropriate.

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7. Draft Law No. 3742 (Y. Kisyel) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE REGARDING SOME ISSUES OF PERFORMING WEIGHT AND SIZE CONTROL” – the bill regulates issues pertaining to so-called weight and size control (W&SC) and charges for the passage of overweight big trucks; establishes requirements as to how a consignment note should be filled in and introduces an electronic register of consignment notes; establishes the rights/duties of the cargo send and the cargo receiver; provides for a 10-fold increase (up to 1,000 times the nontaxable minimum income) in the amount of fines for transporting cargo or passengers without appropriate documents; and also introduces liability for refusal to present documents to authorized persons; the liability is differentiated, based on the level of “overload,” into 6 categories: up to 2%; 2-5%; 5-10%; 10-20%; 20-30%; and more than 30%.

FOR (+) No. 3742: Regulation of the rights and duties of the participants in cargo dispatching; improvement of the W&SC will be conducive to a lower rate of deterioration of road surfaces and, as a consequence, to lower spending on road maintenance and repair.

AGAINST (-) No. 3742: Expenses of the state necessitated by the need to meet the requirements of the Law; the considerable increase in the amount of fines will be a burden on the transporters; Draft Law No. 3742 is related in a systemic way to Draft Law No. 3743, but they will not be considered jointly.

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8. Draft Laws Nos. 3236 (S. Demchenko) and 3236-1 (D. Hetmantsev) (first reading; the Committee proposes that No. 3236-1 be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE DECREE OF THE CABINET OF MINISTERS OF UKRAINE ‘ON STATE TAX’” – No. 3236-1 provides for increases in state tax rates for performance of notary actions: for notarizing a will, a 50-fold increase; for certifying the correctness of copies of documents, the authenticity of each signature, issuance of certified duplicates, for marriage and divorce registration, a 100-fold increase.

FOR (+) No. 3236: Additional budget revenues.

AGAINST (-) No. 3236: Additional financial burden on Ukrainians; negative social effect in society.

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9. Draft Law No. 4486 (R. Stefanchuk) (first reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a basis) ON AMENDING CERTAIN LAWS OF UKRAINE REGARDING THE ‘NATIONAL’ STATUS AND EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF INSTITUTES OF EDUCATION AND STATE PROPERTY” – institutes of higher education and scientific institutions will be awarded the status of, respectively, “national” and “national scientific center” only by a Decree of the President based on a proposal from the Ministry of Health; the bill regulates the use of property by state and municipal institutes of education – annual property control and accounting by the managerial body; the possibility to transfer property to another institute – and to privatize such property in case it has not been used for 3 years.

FOR (+) No. 4486: Regulation of the network of education institutes, of the procedure for state and municipal property management (lease, free-of-charge use, privatization, etc.); development of the educational potential.

AGAINST (-) No. 4486: The Constitution does not empower the Head of State to award the status of “national” to relevant institutes; nonconformity of the Draft Law’s provisions with Article 80 of the Law “On Education” according to which objects and property of state and municipal institutes of education may not be privatized or used for non-educational purposes.

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10. Draft Law No. 2805-Д (A. Nikolayenko) (first reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE ON THE FUNCTIONING AND CIRCULATION OF AGRICULTURAL RECEIPTS” – agricultural receipts are defined as non-issue debt securities in the form of an electronic document in the Register of Agricultural Receipts or in undocumented form, as entries in securities accounts in the system of depository accounting of securities; the list of entities that can issue agricultural receipts is expanded; the mandatory details of agricultural receipts are updated, etc.

FOR (+) No. 2805-Д: Expansion of the range of agricultural producers and creditors against agricultural receipts; access of investors to information in the Depository System of Ukraine; special requirements for persons wishing to be creditors/debtors based on such receipt.

AGAINST (-) No. 2805-Д: The range of persons bearing, together with the debtor, solidary liability based on an agricultural receipt is not identified; narrowing of the influence of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the operation and functioning of the Register of Agricultural Receipts.

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11. Draft Law No. 0850 (I. Alekseyev, MP of 8th convocation) (second reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted in the second reading and as a whole) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE (REGARDING THE SINGLE LEGAL SHARE OF A LAND PLOT AND THE PIECE OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTY LOCATED ON IT)” – the bill regulates the transfer of the right to use a plot of land; in particular, it establishes the procedure by which the acquisition of title to a piece of immovable property provides the new owner also with the rights to the plot of land on which the respective piece of property is located, without any correlation between the size and value of the purchased piece of property and the size and value of the plot of land on which it is located.

FOR (+) No. 0850: The bill will simplify the procedure of transfer of the right to use a plot of land in the event of acquisition of title to a dwelling house, building or construction located on it; the possibility for citizens to acquire title to real estate out of court and hence a decrease in the caseload on the courts.

AGAINST (-) No. 0850: The acquisition of plots of land the size and value of which are inadequately big compared to the pieces of immovable property located on them; violation of the principle of independence of objects that was established by the Land and Civil Codes; emergence of title to / right to use a plot of land without concluding a separate transaction in respect of it can be used for illegal hidden sale of land; the considerable decrease in the number of notarized transactions will lead to a reduction of budget revenues.

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12. Draft Law No. 3987 (Cabinet of Ministers), (first reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LAWS OF UKRAINE TO ENTER INFORMATION ON THE STATE BORDER OF UKRAINE IN THE LAND CADASTER OF UKRAINE” – the bill establishes the procedure for entering information and particularizes the information on the State Border of Ukraine which is to be entered in the State Land Cadaster; allows entering in the SLC of information on the State Border of Ukraine in accordance with the approved documents on the demarcation (redemarcation, delimitation) of the State Border of Ukraine; brings the VRU powers in the Law of Ukraine “On Land Management” in compliance with Article 85 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

FOR (+) No. 3987: Entering information on the State Border in the State Land Cadaster; a clearly regulated entry procedure and a clear set of information to be entered.

AGAINST (-) No. 3987: The terms “demarcation.” “redemarcation,” “delimitation” are not defined in the legislation of Ukraine or in amendments to legislation; moreover, it is not clearly specified which state body is empowered to approve documents on the demarcation (redemarcation, delimitation) of the State Border of Ukraine; furthermore, mention is made of an electronic document containing information on the State Border of Ukraine, but, once again, it is not clear which body must prepare such document.

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13. Draft Law No. 2024 (Y. Tymoshenko) (second reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a whole) “ON AMENDING ARTICLE 18-7 OF THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON STATE ASSISTANCE TO FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN’ TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF ALLOWANCE FOR CHILDREN WITH SEVERE ILLNESSES” – allowance paid for severely ill children will amount to 2 minimum subsistence rates (instead of 1, as before) for children of the respective age.

FOR (+) No. 2024: Increased social protection of children most in need of assistance.

AGAINST (-) No. 2024: Additional spending from the State Budget; the cost of support for the health of severely ill children is much higher than these expenses.

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14. Draft Law No. 3633 (A. Kozhemyakin) (first reading, the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE CRIMINAL CODE OF UKRAINE TO STRENGTHEN LIABILITY FOR COMMISSION OF CRIMINAL OFFENSES AGAINST JOURNALISTS” – the bill strengthens criminal liability for murder threat, violence, destruction of or damage to property in relation to journalists, their close relatives and members of their families, as well as for deliberate beating or inflicting bodily injury or harm of various degrees of severity in connection with the journalists’ professional activities. There will be stronger punishment, in the form of a fine, for obstructing legal professional activities of journalists.

FOR (+) 3633: protection of journalists, as well as their close relatives and family members, in particular against attacks, will be strengthened.

AGAINST (-) 3633: a tenfold increase in the amount of fines will have a rather limited impact on the dynamics of crimes against journalists, since a more effective indicator of protection would be high rates of successful investigations of crimes against journalists and criminal prosecution of those guilty of such crimes, namely: court sentences; strengthened liability is likely not to lead to improved real protection, in view of violation of the principle of inevitability of punishment.

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15. Draft Resolution No. 4479 (I. Kostankevych) “ON COMMEMORATING THE MEMORY OF THE UKRAINIANS WHO RESCUED JEWS DURING WORLD WAR II” – the Draft proposes establishing May 14 as the Day of Memory of the Ukrainians who Rescued Jews during World War II.

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16. Draft Law No. 2234 (I. Nehulevskyi) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE TO DETERMINE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FORMATION OF THE PRICING SYSTEM IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC ACCESS ROADS” – the bill empowers the Ministry of Infrastructure to approve the methods and standards for determining the cost of construction of public access roads with consideration for the sectoral specifics.

FOR (+) No. 2234: Adaptation of the national pricing system in the construction of public access roads to the best international practices.

AGAINST (-) No. 2234: Unlike the provision currently in force, the proposed version of the powers of the respective central executive body does not take into account the source of funding of the works.

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17. Draft Law No. 3045-1 (O. Kulinich) (first reading, the Committee proposes that the bill be dismissed) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LAWS OF UKRAINE (TO IMPROVE THE PROCEDURE FOR THE OPERATION OF ARBITRATION COURTS AND STRENGTHENING THE LIABILITY OF ARBITRATION COURT JUDGES FOR THE PURPOSE OF RESTORING CONFIDENCE IN THE ARBITRATION PROCESS)” – the bill designates the Ministry of Justice as the sole administrator of state registration of permanent arbitration courts (previously, this power was also vested in the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Justice); establishes requirements to the effect that a court’s registration will be conditioned on the availability of the Opinion of the Arbitration Chamber of Ukraine (ACU) on compliance with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Arbitration Courts” and on provision of such court with premises as well as material and technical facilities; changes the procedure for the creation of an AC; establishes the principle of voluntary implementation by the parties of an AC’s decision on settling a specific dispute on an ad hoc basis; extends the jurisdiction of administrative courts to cases based on appeals against acts, actions, or inactivity of the Arbitration Chamber; expands the competences of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Arbitration Judges as to the procedure for the creation of an AC and the requirements for its founder, composition (11 members), powers, and the procedure for the creation and functioning of the Arbitration Chamber.

FOR (+) No. 3045-1: Restriction on the possibility for an active judge of a court of Ukraine to act as an arbitration judge; expansion of the ACs’ jurisdiction, which will decrease the caseload on the Ukrainian courts; regulation of the procedure for disciplining an arbitration judge.

AGAINST (-) No. 3045-1: A part of the provisions coincides with those of Draft Laws Nos. 3411 and 3460; establishment of the procedure for the functioning of arbitration courts and the Arbitration Chamber is assigned to the competence of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Arbitration Judges.

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18. Draft Law No. 3411 (Cabinet of Ministers) (first reading, the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LAWS OF UKRAINE TO IMPROVE THE PROCEDURE FOR THE CREATION AND OPERATION OF ARBITRATION COURTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF RESTORING CONFIDENCE IN THE ARBITRATION PROCESS” – the bill establishes requirements regarding an arbitration court, organizations at which such courts can be created, regarding information that must be posted on a court’s website; proposes that the Opinion of the Arbitration Chamber of Ukraine (ACU) on compliance with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Arbitration Courts” will be required for a court to be registered; cancels restrictions on consideration by an arbitration court of cases arising from disputes about real estate; authorizes the electronic form for a statement of claim; extends the timeframe for appealing against a ruling refusing to issue a writ of execution to 20 days (15 days at present); and expands the powers of the Arbitration Chamber.

FOR (+) No. 3411: Improvement of the operation of arbitration courts will potentially be conducive to restoration of confidence in such courts; bringing the norms of the respective Law of Ukraine in compliance with the Civil Procedural Code and the Economic Procedural Code; expansion of the range of cases within the jurisdiction of arbitration courts; lower caseloads on the general courts.

AGAINST (-) No. 3411: A part of the provisions coincides with those of Draft Law No. 3045-1; the ACU is a self-governed organization and so whether or not the Chamber presents its opinion cannot be a decisive condition for the Ministry of Justice as to registration/refusal to register an arbitration court.

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19. Draft Law No. 3460 (M. Dyrdin) (first reading, the Committee proposes that the bill be dismissed) “ON AMENDING THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON ARBITRATION COURTS’ TO ALIGN THE NORMS OF THE LAW WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL RULES OF ARBITRATION AND THE CURRENT LEGISLATION FOR INCREASING THE TRANSPARENCY OF THE OPERATION OF THE ARBITRATION COURTS, AND FOR EXPANDING THEIR USE BY LEGAL ENTITIES AND INDIVIDUALS” – the bill brings the subject- matter jurisdiction and the investigative jurisdiction over cases related to arbitration consideration in compliance with the CPC and the EPC; expands the range of cases that can be considered by an arbitration court (below, AC), in particular as regards protection of consumers’ rights; obliges ACs to publish the main information of the AC on its official web page; extends the timeframe for appealing against a ruling refusing to issue a writ of execution to 20 days (15 days at present); rulings enforcing an AC’s decision may not be appealed.

FOR (+) No. 3460: Expansion of ACs’ jurisdiction, which is bound to lead to a lower the caseload on the Ukrainian courts; higher transparency in the activities of ACs; removal of the norm requiring the creation and regulation of arbitration courts’ self-government bodies.

AGAINST (-) No. 3460: A part of the provisions coincides with those of Draft Laws Nos. 3411 and 3045-1.

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20. Draft Laws Nos. 4187 (P. Yakymenko), 4187-1 (O. Bondarenko) (first reading; the Committee recommends that No. 4187 be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL INDUSTRIES OF SUBSURFACE RESOURCES MANAGEMENT” – the bill proposes creating an Interactive Map of Ukraine’s Mineral Resources and posting it in the Internet, along with information on the State Subsoil Fund and State Mineral Deposits Fund; introducing a new type of use of subsurface resources – for the purpose of geological exploration with subsequent extraction of mineral resources; permanent use of subsurface resources is canceled; the period of short-term use of subsurface resources is increased from 5 to 20 years; the procedure for granting special permits to use subsurface resources and for their re-registration through a special electronic cabinet is specified; the bill establishes the right to sell, use as mortgage or otherwise alienate the rights to use subsurface resources and to transfer them to authorized capital.

FOR (+) No. 4187: The level of regulation of the sector is decreased; the bill establishes an exhaustive list of cases when a special permit can be granted without holding a competitive tender; the cancellation of permanent use of subsurface resources will lead to increased competition, facilitate higher mineral production and development of related raw material processing industries.

AGAINST (-) No. 4187: The provision on alienation of the right to use subsurface resources to other persons may lead to loss of State control in the sphere of use of subsurface resources; make it harder to administer rental payments for the use of subsoil resources; create conditions for payment evasion and the risk of a decrease in the revenues of budgets; cancellation of the requirement of assessment of the environmental impact in amber-bearing areas and cancellation of the provision on coordination with the local communities of permission to use local mineral resources are likely to have a negative impact on the environment.

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21. Draft Laws Nos. 3908 (I. Kostankevych), 3908-1 (M. Bardina) (first reading; the Committee recommends that No. 3908-1 be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE CODE OF UKRAINE ON ADMINISTRATIVE OFFENSES TO STRENGTHEN LIABILITY FOR COMMITTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND GENDER-RELATED VIOLENCE” – No. 3908 provides for a 100-fold increase in the amount of fines for domestic violence (it will be 17,000 – 69,000 UAH). No. 3908-1 adds a sanction in the form of community service; in such case, payment for the service will be directed to the aggrieved person; the bill proposes that servicepersons be prosecuted for this crime on the same basis as everyone else rather than in accordance with the disciplinary statute; a 6-month period is established for the consideration of such cases (the previous term was 3 months); and the case can now be heard in the absence of the perpetrator, provided that the latter has been duly notified of the hearing.

FOR (+) No. 3908-1: The extended period of consideration of such cases will be conducive to departure from the practice when perpetrators manage to avoid responsibility; financial support for victims and aggrieved persons.

AGAINST (-) No. 3908-1: It will be hard to enforce the sanction in the form of community service in practice, since such work may be unavailable in villages and small towns while payment is to be made from local budgets – which often allocate no funds for such purposes.

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22. Draft Law No. 3335-1-д (H. Yanchenko) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS TO INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE ACTIVITES OF THE NATIONAL AGENCY OF UKRAINE FOR FINDING, TRACING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASSETS DERIVED FROM CORRUPTION AND OTHER CRIMES” – the bill provides for the transparency of the work of the National Agency for Finding, Tracing and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA); it prohibits the sale (realization) of assets transferred to be managed by ARMA before the respective sentence comes into legal force; after that, sale is only possible based on a relevant court decision (except perishable assets or assets in respect of which its owner has provided written consent to its sale); the sale of confiscated assets will take place on electronic sites, on a competitive basis; the bill provides for the participation of ARMA’s authorized person in the court proceedings.

FOR (+) No. 3335-1-д: The protection of the owners of assets against arbitrary decisions by ARMA and other law enforcement agencies and courts regarding sale of assets without a guilty verdict by a court in respect of the owners of the assets; improved performance of ARMA; increased State Budget revenues from the sale of the assets.

AGAINST (-) No. 3335-1-д: No guarantees of non-disclosure of personal data in case ARMA is allowed direct access to confidential data from systems, registers and databanks (including classified ones) maintained by state bodies or local self-government bodies; extra Budget spending on implementation of the Law; contradictory nature of some provisions of the draft law; changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure require a separate Law.

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23. Draft Law No. 3755 (O. Bondarenko) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE CODE ON ADMINISTRATIVE OFFENSES OF UKRAINE TO STRENGTHEN THE LIABILITY FOR VIOLATION OF LEGISLATION IN THE SPHERE OF PROTECTION OF NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS AGAINST FIRES” – the bill proposes strengthening administrative liability, elimination of the disbalance between the factual amount of harm inflicted on the natural environment and the extent of sanctions, as well as increasing the efficiency of public administration and the performance of state oversight in this sphere.

FOR (+) No. 3755: Expansion of the competence of fish protection bodies and of railroad transport; alignment of the extent of penal sanctions with the amount of damage done.

AGAINST (-) No. 3755: Lack of due state oversight and effective levers of influence on the perpetrators who actually create conditions leading to fires.

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24. Draft Law No. 4079 (Cabinet of Ministers) (first reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a basis) – “ON AMENDING THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES’ TO IMPROVE ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT, REGULATION, RECORD-KEEPING, REGISTRATION, USE AND PRESERVATION OF GEOGRAPHIC NAMES” – the bill regulates the record-keeping, registration, use and preservation of geographic names, specifies and demarcates the powers of state authorities and local self-government bodies and also economic subjects.

FOR (+) No. 4079: Cancellation of the old system; the functioning of the register of geographic names in electronic form will increase its efficiency, create unimpeded and free access to the online version of the register; higher effectiveness of state agencies and local self-government bodies – faster decision-making on establishing and registration of geographic names.

AGAINST (-) No. 4079: Vesting powers of this sort in several bodies, including the power to conduct examinations of proposals and decisions of state agencies, can create certain bureaucratic barriers and will require additional spending from the State Budget.

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25. Draft Law No. 3337 (O. Dunda) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON REGULATION OF URBAN CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES’ REGARDING THE GENERAL PLANNING SCHEME FOR THE TERRITORY OF UKRAINE” – the bill specifies the main principles for state-level planning of territories; the procedure for adopting the decision on developing the General Planning Scheme; for determining the developer, the requester, the list of input data and the procedure for providing such data; the tools for monitoring and overseeing the implementation of planning documents.

FOR (+) No. 3337: The functioning of the General Planning Scheme on the basis of leading geoinformation technologies; improvement of legal regulation in the sphere of urban construction activities.

AGAINST (-) No. 3337: Lack of regulation of the issue of technical placement, functioning and administering the General Planning Scheme as “an interactive system of the complex geospatial models.

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26. Draft Law No. 3793 (B. Prykhodko) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON ENSURING LARGE-SCALE EXPANSION OF EXPORT OF GOODS (WORKS, SERVICES) OF UKRAINIAN ORIGIN THROUGH INSURING, GUARANTEEING AND CHEAPENING EXPORT CREDITING’ TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF THE EXPORT CREDIT AGENCY” – the bill expands the ability of the ECA to insure and reinsure export factoring; removes the risk of uncontrollable burden on the State Budget; expands the spheres of support for Ukrainian exports – goods with high added value; increases the size of the ECA’s authorized capital to 2 billion UAH; establishes that the controlling block of shares in the ECA’s authorized capital belongs to the state and may not be privatized.

FOR (+) No. 3793: Adequate and effective functioning of the ECA may stimulate the export of Ukrainian products; Ukraine’s improved balance of trade and payments.

AGAINST (-) No. 3793: The term “factoring” does not match the definition in the Civil Code and is not in line with the UNIDROIT Convention on International Factoring; at least a 10-fold increase in spending from the ECA’s budget.

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27. Draft Resolution No. 4243 (H. Tretiakova) “ON MEASURES TO INTRODUCE THE ELECTRONIC REGISTER OF SICK CERTIFICATES” – the bill establishes a series of tasks for the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to provide for the functioning of the Electronic Register of Sick Certificates in the nearest future, in particular to take measures aimed at speeding up the development and making of amendments to the respective normative legal acts for the purpose of introducing the Electronic Register of Sick Certificates, to submit the necessary bills to the Verkhovna Rada and to perform an audit of the effectiveness of spending the funds allocated for the introduction of this Register.

The problem with this Draft Resolution consists in that the dates specified by the draft are already in the past, while a Draft Resolution cannot be adopted in two readings. Nor does the current VR convocation practice making “verbal amendments” to acts before adopting them.

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28. Draft Law No. 0958 (O. Poroshenko – 8th convocation MP) (second reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a whole) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE TO PREVENT EXCESSIVE PRESSURE ON ECONOMIC SUBJECTS FROM MEASURES OF STATE OVERSIGHT (CONTROL) OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE LEGISLATION ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT OF THE POPULATION” – the bill deprives local self-government bodies of the power to carry out audits of enterprises’ compliance with the legislation on labor and employment of the population (they will only have the power to initiate such audits); it establishes administrative liability of officials of bodies of state oversight (control) for issuing orders, ordinances, decisions to impose financial sanctions if they are revoked in an administrative or judicial proceeding.

FOR (+) No. 0958: Decreased administrative pressure and financial load on business; determination of the deadlines for imposing financial sanctions for violating the legislation on labor and employment of the population; decreased possibilities for abuse of power in respect of economic subjects by oversight bodies.

AGAINST (-) No. 0958: Certain provisions are no longer relevant, since penalties for violating the labor legislation have already been decreased; fewer possibilities for detecting violations and protecting hired workers.

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29. Draft Law No. 3623 (Cabinet of Ministers) (second reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a whole) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE ON REGISTERING AN EMPLOYEE’S LABOR ACTIVITIES IN ELECTRONIC FORM” – the labor activities of employees and the social dues paid by them will no longer be registered on paper; this will be done only in electronic form – in the Register of Insured Persons within the State Register of Social Insurance. A 5-year transitional period is established for entering in the State Register of information from paper work-record books. The scanning and digitizing of copies of work-record books and references will be performed by the employee and the employer, with mandatory imposition of a qualified electronic signature. The original paper work-record book will be returned to the employee after all information from the book has been entered in the State Register.

FOR (+) No. 3623: The digitizing of labor record registration; the impossibility to forge work-record books and to manipulate the length of service and the sizes of salaries; automatic award of pension and determination of the most advantageous option; an individual’s right to increased pension as a result of delayed retirement; no negative consequences of losing the work-record book.

AGAINST (-) No. 3623: The employer will also have to enter information on admission to job, transfer to another position, and removal from job in paper work-record cards upon request from the respective employees; no reliable cyber protection of a large volume of data containing confidential information and personal data; impossibility for an employee to oversee the correctness of the entry of his/her data in the Register.

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30. Draft Laws Nos. 4167 (Y. Tymoshenko), 4167-1 (O. Marusiak) (first reading; the Committee recommends adoption as a whole) “ON PREVENTING, DECREASING, AND CONTROLLING INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION” – the bill establishes the legal and organizational principles for preventing, controlling and eliminating pollution resulting from industrial activities, so as to ensure a high level of environmental protection by introducing the integrated permit, identifying types of activities requiring an integrated permit, requirements regarding the use of the best accessible technologies and management methods, monitoring of emissions, and supervision of economic subjects.

FOR (+) No. 4167: Bringing the legislation in compliance with Directive 2010/75/EU and implementation of Ukraine’s obligations under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement; reduction of industrial pollution and related morbidity; the possibility of combining several environmental permits into one – integrated on the basis of creating a relevant Register of Industrial Enterprises receiving such permit; modernization of energy companies and replacement of their obsolete equipment.

AGAINST (-) No. 4167: Insufficient adaptation period for the introduction of a new permit system and the likelihood of negative consequences for the country’s economy; the vagueness of the evaluation criteria and of the grounds for suspension of the permit, empowering the permitting body to suspend or revoke the integrated permit without a court decision may create preconditions for corruption.

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31. Draft Law No. 4361 (I. Friz) (first reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON PUBLIC SERVICE’ TO EXPAND THE RANGE OF PERSONS WHO CAN APPLY FOR PUBLIC SERVICE POSITIONS” – the bill expands the range of persons who can apply for public service – this is achieved by including work as a lawyer, notary, or court- appointed manager in the general requirements for length of service (including administrative service) in positions of public service categories A, B, and C.

FOR (+) No. 4361: Provision of access to public service for categories of citizens meeting high qualification requirements.

AGAINST (-) No. 4361: The activities of lawyers, notaries, court-appointed managers are not related to managing large collectives; therefore a person performing such activities cannot be regarded as a priori having managerial skills; the specific character of the activities of notaries, lawyers, court- appointed managers in not quite in line with the type of work performed by the holders of positions of public service categories A and B.

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32. Draft Laws Nos. 4147 (O. Koval) and 4147-1 (Y. Hryshyna) (first reading; the Committee recommends that No. 4147 be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE ON THE FUNCTIONING OF THE NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS SYSTEM” – No. 4147 regulates the issues of formation, assessment and assignment of professional qualifications, the relationship between a person’s working conditions and professional qualifications, the development and introduction of professional standards, the formation of the Register of Occupations and Qualifications; rules out the participation of the State Employment Service in organizing verification of informal education; regulates the activities of Sectoral Councils in developing professional standards, etc.

FOR (+) No. 4147: the bill will make it possible to build an effective labor market management system and contribute to reducing unemployment; create a high-quality qualifications system for objective assessment of the quality of human capital, which will provide everyone with the right to work and a decent reward; stimulate citizens to engage in continuous professional development and lifelong self-education.

AGAINST (-) No. 4147: Changing the procedure for confirming the assessment and assignment of professional qualifications, assessing the results of informal vocational training of persons in working professions, etc., will lead to higher labor migration; increased spending from the State Budget and local budgets; terminological inconsistency of the project with the current legislation.

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33. Draft Law No. 4184 (D. Hetmantsev) (first reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE TAX CODE OF UKRAINE TO CANCEL TAXATION OF INCOMES RECEIVED BY NONRESIDENTS IN THE FORM OF PAYMENT FOR THE PRODUCTION AND/OR DISTRIBUTION OF ADVERTISEMENTS AND TO IMPROVE THE PROCEDURE FOR IMPOSING VALUE-ADDED TAX ON TRANSACTIONS OF PROVISION BY NONRESIDENTS OF ELECTRONIC SERVICES TO INDIVIDUALS” – the bill cancels taxation of nonresidents’ incomes in the form of payments for advertisements; improves the procedure of imposing the VAT on transactions of provision by nonresidents of electronic services to individuals in the customs territory of Ukraine; defines the concept of “electronic services” and specifies the place of their provision; establishes the specifics of registration of a nonresident as a taxpayer, determines the taxation basis, the timeframes for paying the taxes, for submitting tax reports, for challenging decisions of regulatory authorities; provides for the payment of a tax liability by a nonresident in foreign currency, the simplified procedure for registration of a nonresident VAT payer (remote registration is possible); nonresidents are exempt from the obligation to register tax invoices.

FOR (+) No. 4184: Involving nonresidents providing electronic services to individuals in value-added taxation; administering the payment of the tax is not burdensome for business and the state and nonresidents are exempt from the obligation to draw up tax invoices and register them in the Unified Register; VAT-related increase in State Budget revenues.

AGAINST (-) No. 4184: Noncompliance with the current legislation of the proposal to pay the VAT in foreign currency; ambiguity and confusion when using the terms “electronic resources,” “cloud technologies”; the “virtual registration” of nonresidents will make it harder to administer the tax and create conditions for VAT evasion; the creation of the electronic service “VAT for individual nonresidents” will require additional Budget spending.

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34. Draft Law No. 4318 (Y. Kravchuk) (first reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON CULTURE’ REGARDING THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR PROVIDING CULTURAL SERVICES TO THE POPULATION” – the bill is aimed at forming an effective system of guaranteeing observance of the cultural rights and needs of the population for receiving quality and accessible cultural services; determines the priorities of the state cultural policy, the powers of public authorities; a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of state policy in the sphere of culture and arts is introduced; minimum standards for providing the population with cultural services are determined; and the regulation of the financial and economic activities of cultural institutions is changed.

FOR (+) No. 4318: The modernization of the cultural infrastructure will improve the provision of quality and accessible cultural and artistic services to the population and contribute to aesthetic education of citizens, especially children and youth; strengthening the protection of cultural heritage and cultural values; preservation, reproduction and protection of the historical environment.

AGAINST (-) No. 4318: The reorganization may lead to the closing of some clubs, libraries and other cultural institutions and to reduction of their numbers; the risk of rising costs of services; inconsistency of actions and “competition of powers” in the sphere of guaranteeing observance of the population’s cultural rights and needs between local self-government bodies and local state executive bodies; additional spending from the Budget.

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35. Draft Law No. 3969 (Z. Andriyovych) (first reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE WATER CODE OF UKRAINE TO ADJUST THE LIST OF PRIMARY WATER USERS” – it is proposed that the list of primary water users should include persons having their own water collecting facilities/
equipment and receiving water from canals, reservoirs / water economy systems, water pipes of interbasin and intrabasin redistribution of water resources; it is proposed that such persons be obliged to conclude water supply contracts with asset-holding enterprises or with enterprises providing for transfer of water to regions with little water.

FOR (+) No. 3969: Mandatory conclusion of economic agreements by primary water users; increased funding of such asset holders and, as a consequence, improved material basis of water-supplying enterprises.

AGAINST (-) No. 3969: The bill aims at aligning the legislation with the respective CMU Resolution, while it must be the other way round: bylaws must be aligned with laws: the bill does not take into account the situation when the asset holder and the entity providing for transfer of water to areas with little water are different legal entities – it is unclear with whom the agreement must be concluded.

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36. Draft Laws Nos. 3950 (Cabinet of Ministers) and 3950-1 (N. Korolevska) (first reading; the Committee proposes that No. 3950 be adopted as a basis) – “ON AMENDING ARTICLE 121 OF THE CODE OF CIVIL PROTECTION OF UKRAINE” – the bill proposes compensation for the death of a civil protection employee occurring not only in the course of duty but also at any other time during the period of the employee’s civil service.

FOR (+) No. 3950: Social protection of the families of the dead employees; lowering the financial burdens on such families.

AGAINST (-) No. 3950: Additional spending from the State Budget.

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37. Draft Law No. 4259 (Cabinet of Ministers) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING ARTICLE 16 OF THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON PROTECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR’ TO REGULATE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES INVOLVING OZONE DEPLETING SUBSTANCES AND FLUORINATED GREENHOUSE GASES” – the bill determines the legal and organizational principles for regulating relations in the sphere of handling controlled substances the use of which affects the ozone layer and climate change as well as handling products containing such substances.

FOR (+) No. 4259: Potentially, gradual reduction of the use of substances affecting climate change, fulfillment by Ukraine of its international obligations.

AGAINST (-) No. 4259: Failure to refer the Law “On Regulating Economic Activities Involving Ozone Depleting Substances and Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases” to the category of legislation on protection of atmospheric air.

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38. Draft Law No. 4221 (H. Lichman) (first reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON SELF-REGULATION OF ECONOMIC AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES” – the bill establishes the general principles of self-regulation of economic and professional activities which is performed through self-regulating organizations, determines the legal status of such organizations, the principles and procedure for their formation and operation, the foundations of state regulation and state control; establishes a framework for the delegation to self-regulatory organizations of certain powers (functions) of public authorities and local self-government bodies in charge of regulating economic and professional activities.

FOR (+) No. 4221: The application of European practice will be conducive to economic activities, promote the creation of reputational benefits and the formation of consumers’ confidence in economic subjects and in subjects of professional activities, in the quality of products, works or services; promoting the entry of Ukrainian manufacturers into international SROs; improving the state’s investment attractiveness, business climate and competitiveness; reduction of administrative pressure on business.

AGAINST (-) No. 4221: The currently operating SROs will have to get re- registered within a three-year period; granting excessively wide powers to self-regulating organizations by delegating to them certain powers of public authorities, the NBU’s powers of controlling and/or regulating economic or professional activities may lead to irregularities.

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39. Draft Law No. 4017 (O. Fediyenko) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis and as a whole) “ON AMENDING ARTICLE 10 OF THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON STATE DECORATIONS’ (TO INSTITUTE THE HONORARY TITLE OF ‘HONORED WORKER OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SPHERE OF UKRAINE’”) – the bill proposes that the list of honorary titles be supplemented with the honorary title “Honored Worker of the Telecommunications Sphere of Ukraine.”

FOR (+) No. 4017: Recognition by the state of achievements of employees in the sphere of telecommunications and telecommunication services; an incentive for employees in that sphere to achieve high performance parameters in implementing tasks and plans.

AGAINST (-) No. 4017: Additional spending on the production of breast badges, certificates, payment of premiums and bonuses in addition to the fixed salary and of pensions to the title holders.

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40. Draft Law No. 3503 (S. Kuzminykh) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE CODE OF UKRAINE ON ADMINISTRATIVE OFFENSES REGARDING THE SPECIFICS OF DRAWING UP A PROTOCOL ON ADMINISTRATIVE OFFENSE FOR FAILURE TO OBSERVE THE LEGALLY ESTABLISHED TIMEFRAMES (DEADLINES) FOR RESPONDING TO AN APPEAL OR INQUIRY FROM AN MP OF UKRAINE” – the bill determines the specifics of drawing up a protocol on administrative offense for failure to observe the legally established timeframes (deadlines) for responding to an appeal or inquiry from an MP of Ukraine; it simplifies the procedures for registering violations in a situation when the person drawing up such document is territorially distanced from the person being brought to administrative liability; the person being brought to liability has the right to provide an explanation and remarks regarding the content of the protocol within 3 days from the moment of receiving the protocol – these materials will be appended to the protocol.

FOR (+) No. 3503: The creation of a mechanism for the exercise of the MPs’ right to submit inquiries and appeals for the purpose of effective state building; strengthening the parliament’s oversight function.

AGAINST (-) No. 3503: The possibility of abuse by MPs of their right to submit inquiries/appeals with no threat of liability; the timeframe for drawing up a protocol on administrative offense is not specified.

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41. Draft Law No. 3683 (Cabinet of Ministers) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS TO IMPROVE THE PROCEDURE FOR DEVELOPING, ADOPTING AND ENFORCING AVIATION RULES OF UKRAINE” – the bill provides that the Aviation Rules of Ukraine will be developed, adopted and enforced in accordance with the standards and recommended practice of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the regulatory acts of the International Air Transport Association, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol), the European Aviation Safety Agency, other international aviation organizations, and with consideration for the legislation of the European Union in the field of civil aviation. Such rules may be adopted in the original language and include provisions of standards and requirements for certification, supervision and operation of aircraft; they will also have the status of technical regulatory documents.

FOR (+) No. 3683: Improvement of the procedure for developing, adopting and enforcing Aviation Rules of Ukraine; implementation in the national legislation of acts of the European Union in the field of civil aviation.

AGAINST (-) No. 3683: Adoption of aviation rules in the original language may lead to a narrower use of the state language in the respective sphere.

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42. Draft Law No. 3318 (S. Cherniavskyi) (second reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a whole) “ON VETERINARY MEDICINE AND WELLBEING OF ANIMALS” – amendments will be made to 15 Laws (four of them will only have their name changed to “On Veterinary Medicine and Wellbeing of Animals”); the bill envisages the development and adoption of 36 bylaws (CMU Resolutions: 6; Orders of Ministries: 30); determines the legal and organizational principles for performing activities in the spheres of ensuring the protection of animals’ health and wellbeing, veterinary practice, production and circulation of veterinary medicines and side products of animal origin; cancels the necessity to obtain 2 veterinary documents; reduces the timeframe for the issuance of veterinary documents from 30 days to 1 day; allows the issuance of documents and prescriptions in electronic form; introduces termless registration of veterinary medicines; strengthens liability for violations in the spheres of veterinary medicine and wellbeing of animals (as a matter of fact, there is no such liability at present and so no one abides by the established rules).

FOR (+) No. 3318: Systemic and comprehensive regulation of social relations relating to protection of the health of animals and ensuring their wellbeing, veterinary practice, production, circulation and use of veterinary medicines; introduction of the European model of defining animal diseases as notifiable; development of international trade – for Ukrainian exporters, manufacturers of veterinary medicines located in Ukraine (in the medium and long run); development of private veterinary practice in Ukraine.

AGAINST (-) No. 3318: The point of the coming into force of certain provisions of the Draft Law is made dependent of the adoption of a bylaw; the bill provides for the possibility to delegate authority to private parties; terms are used the content of which is not explained in the current legislation or in the Draft Law itself; the bill resolves issues referred by the Constitution to the jurisdiction of the Cabinet of Ministers; the text of the bill contains provisions typical of bylaws; evaluative notions and declarative provisions are used.

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43. Draft Law 2351 (2nd reading) ON AMENDMENTS TO CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE (REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROVISIONS OF CERTAIN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS AND EU DIRECTIVES IN THE FIELD OF PROTECTION OF ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE) – prohibits: exterminate stray animals, beat, kill, poison or maim stray and domestic animals; begging with homeless, domestic and wild animals; give pets as prizes, awards or bonuses, inflict pain or suffering on them, train animals in a way that harms their health and general condition, drown, strangle animals, poison and use electricity; keep captive animals that pose a threat to humans or animals listed in the Red Book; use of animals for advertising, provide photo services with wild animals, except for zoos, circuses and dolphinariums, etc. It also provides for the strengthening of criminal and administrative liability for cruelty to animals. The powers of local governments in the field of protection of animals from cruelty are defined.

FOR (+) No. 2351: UA's fulfillment of international obligations; promoting humane treatment of animals; strengthening the fight against animal cruelty and poaching.

AGAINST (-) No. 2351: The transfer of powers of the Ministry of Ecology (Ministry of Environment) to determine the types and procedures for animal protection to local governments (regional councils) may worsen the protection of animals; consideration of cases of ill-treatment exclusively by courts will increase the burden on judges.

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44. Draft Law No. 3132 (repeat second reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a whole) “ON AMENDING THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON THE ANTI- MONOPOLY COMMITTEE OF UKRAINE’ AND SOME OTHER LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE TO IMPROVE THE SYSTEM OF BODIES OF THE ANTI-MONOPOLY COMMITTEE” – the bill provides for the creation at the AMCU of a Commission (Commissions) for considering complaints against violations of the legislation in the sphere of public procurement; such Commission will consist of no less than three commissioners empowered to consider complaints against violations of the legislation in the sphere of public procurement (a total of 10 commissioners), who will be appointed/dismissed by the Head of the AMCU; a commissioner can be appointed for up to two 7-year terms.

FOR (+) No. 3132: Decreasing the workload on the Panel and on the current State Commissioners of the Anti-Monopoly Committee and their greater focus on activities aimed at protecting competition, on merger/concentration permissions and other directly anti-monopolistic issues; improvement of the procedure for appealing against procurement procedures; improvement of consideration of complaints against violations of legislation in the sphere of procurement.

AGAINST (-) No. 3132: The absence of amendments to the Law on Public Procurement creates a legal conflict; the appointment and dismissal of Commissioners for consideration of complaints against violations of legislation in the sphere of public procurement must be performed in compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine and not in the manner proposed by the bill – by the Head of the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine; the threat of creating “pet” commissioners who will be using “informal directives” from the Head of the AMCU rather than the Laws of Ukraine.

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45. Draft Resolution No. 4500 (O. Stefanyshyna) “ON THE NATIONAL PLAN OF VACCINATION OF THE POPULATION OF UKRAINE AGAINST COVID-19” – the bill entrusts the Government and the Ministry of Health to develop and approve the National Plan for Conducting Immunization of the Population of Ukraine against the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 for overcoming the pandemic, based on epidemiological observation data, mathematical modeling and forecasting, as well as with consideration for recommendations from international organizations and experience of other countries. The Plan should include the identification of priority groups of Ukrainian population requiring urgent vaccination; contain financial calculations, organization of the vaccination logistics process, provisions on the appointment of persons responsible for implementing the Plan and coordination of vaccination at all levels, and provisions on organizing and conducting a nationwide large-scale communication campaign. Separate oblast-level regional plans must also be developed.

FOR (+) No. 4500: Establishment of clear benchmarks for the National Plan of Immunization against the Coronavirus.

AGAINST (-) No. 4500: The National Plan for the introduction of vaccine against COVID-19 was developed by the Ministry of Health on the basis of recommendations from the WHO back in mid-December; its details were reported by the Head of Government on December 18, 2020; in particular it was said that the Plan aims at vaccinating 50% of the population of Ukraine before the end of 2021.

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46. Draft Law No. 3731 (O. Ustinova) (first reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON THE NATIONAL GUARD OF UKRAINE’ (REGARDING IDENTIFICATION OF THE SERVICEPERSONS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD OF UKRAINE DURING PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC ORDER ENFORCEMENT TASKS AND PROVISION OF PUBLIC SECURITY)” – the bill proposes assigning a lifelong identification number to National Guard members; the number will be indicated on the helmet, in the certificate, on the badge of a NG member; a register of National Guard Members will be created on the basis of those numbers; disciplinary liability of NG members will be established for violating the rules of identification; the provisions of the bill will not apply in the Joint Forces Operation area.

FOR (+) No. 3731: The bill will simplify identification of servicepersons of the National Guard; as a consequence, it will be possible to discipline them for offenses; protection of NG members in the combat zone against identification by enemies.

AGAINST (-) No. 3731: The 3-months period may be insufficient to prepare for compliance with the requirements of the Law.

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47. Draft Law No. 4046 (Cabinet of Ministers) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE TO STIMULATE THE ACTIVITIES OF FARMING ENTERPRISES” – the bill regulates the composition of land plots that can be included in authorized capital – they can consist of land plots belonging to citizens who are members of the farming enterprise or to the farming enterprise itself; for young farmers managing a farming enterprise, non- refundable state support through the Ukrainian State Support Fund is introduced.

FOR (-) No. 4046: The opportunity for rural youth to implement their entrepreneurial initiatives; fewer young people leaving the countryside; strengthening the efficiency of farming enterprises by giving them the right to grow, with the lessor’s consent, perennial plants on the leased plot of land and to build waterworks and land reclamation systems, dwelling houses, buildings and structures.

AGAINST (-) No. 4046: The provision of state support to farming enterprises whose managers are under 35 years of age is not quite in line with EU Regulation 1305/2013 (“the age of the manager may not exceed 40 years”); in this connection, a significant number of farm managers 35 to 40 years of age will be deprived of state support; the bill does not provide advisory assistance to newly established farming enterprises.

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48. Law No. 3157 (S. Shtepa) (repeat consideration, together with proposals from the President; the Committee recommends that the bill, with the President’s proposals, be adopted as a whole) “ON AMENDING THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON THE STATUS OF MP OF UKRAINE’ REGARDING ELECTRONIC FORM OF DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT” – the bill empowers the MPs to address bodies of state power / local self-government bodies / enterprises / organizations of all property forms on paper or in electronic form and obliges the addressees to provide their reply in the same form in which they were petitioned; the President proposes that the addressees be allowed to provide replies in any form, regardless of the form in which the MP addressed them – this proposal has been taken into account.

FOR (-) No. 3157: Simplification of document circulation, acceleration of communication, reduction of paper purchase costs (after the introduction of the electronic system in 2020, there was a more than twofold decrease in the amount of paper purchased and so more than UAH 1 million was saved).

AGAINST (-) No. 3157: Low level of logistics of quite a few entities that an MP can address – not all of them can switch to electronic document management; it may be technically impossible for many or all of an MP’s addressees to receive electronic petitions.

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49. Draft Laws Nos. 4162 (D. Nalyotov) and 4162-1 (Y. Klymenko) (first reading; the Committee recommends that Mo. 4162 be adopted as a basis, with consideration for the Committee’s proposals) “ON AMENDING THE LAW OF UKRAINE ‘ON TOURISM’ AND SOME OTHER LEGISLATIVE ACTS REGARDING THE MAIN PRINCIPLES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TIURISM” – the bill sets out the main principles for tourist activities, the competence of the central and local bodies forming and providing for the implementation of the state policy in the sphere of tourism and resorts, the system of interaction of all participants in tourist activities, the conditions of financial support for tour operators; creates state supervision (oversight) in the sphere of tourism, protection of the rights and legitimate interests of tourists, and the Unified Tourist Register, which will contain information on all subjects of tourist activity; provides for the approval of a tourism development strategy with state policy priorities and the creation of local tourism development programs and local funds.

FOR (-) No. 4162: Deshadowing of the tourist business; reduction of corruption risks; updating the terminology in line with EU legislation; empowering individual entrepreneurs to acquire the status of subjects of tourist activity; protection of the rights of consumers of tourist services; insurance against violations of tourists’ rights; categorization of hotels in line with international standards; favorable conditions for attracting investment; increase in the number of tourists coming to Ukraine; creation of new jobs.

AGAINST (-) No. 4162: The cancellation of licensing of tour operator activities may have a negative impact on the quality of tourist services; the introduction of mandatory insurance is at odds with the Law “On Insurance.”

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50. Draft Law 3715 (L.Bilozir) (first reading, the Committee recommends that bill be adopted as a whole) ON AMENDMENTS TO SECTION X "FINAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS" LAW OF UKRAINE "ON PUBLIC PROCUREMENT" (ON THE EXCLUSION OF THE PROCUREMENT WITHOUT THE USE OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS PROCUREMENT) - it is proposed to exclude the current legislation, according to which goods, works or services necessary to prevent the occurrence / spread, localization / elimination of outbreaks, epidemics / pandemics COVID-19 could be purchased without the use of the Law on Public Procurement (without Transparent).

FOR (+) 3715: provide transparent procurement, without artificially narrowing competition, using an electronic system; will reduce purchases of dubious quality and at inflated prices of medicines, honey. products, laboratory equipment, PPE, disinfectants, antiseptics;

AGAINST (-) 3715: may adversely affect the speed of necessary procurement;

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51. Draft Law No. 4535 (V. Bezghin) (first reading; the Committee recommends that bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LAWS OF UKRAINE TO DEVELOP THE INSTITUTION OF STAROSTAS” – the bill strengthens the institution of starostas for towns that are not administrative centers of communities; the starostas will prepare budget proposals and report to the community; also, the bill empowers local self-government bodies to approve starosta districts and the Regulations on Starostas; establishes that from the day a newly created territorial community is vested with local self-government powers the powers of the persons who performed the duties of starosta in a starosta district are terminated.

FOR (-) No. 4535: Continuation of reorganization of local authorities in accordance with the new administrative territorial system; establishment of a population of 1,500 persons as a criterion for a starosta district (except for mountain or low density territories); strengthening the representative functions of starostas; clarity of powers of starostas after approval of the Regulations; expansion of the powers of starostas, who are granted the right to provide administrative services to the population; starostas are prohibited from combining their activities with the holding of another position, such as being a deputy of a rayon or oblast council or having another paid job.

AGAINST (-) No. 4535: Lack of clarity of the rules for conducting discussions in the process of election of starostas using various procedures – hearings, meetings of citizens and other forms of public consultation; termination of the powers of acting starostas will temporarily deprive citizens of timely receipt of administrative services; the formation and functioning of starosta districts is not provided for by the Constitution of Ukraine; no upper limit is set for the number of residents in a starosta district, which means that excessively large starosta districts may be formed; starostas’ being deprived of the right to be a member of an executive committee; uncertainty regarding the range of entities empowered to seek early termination of the starosta’s power by the council.

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52. Draft Laws Nos. 3360 (A. Motovylovets) and 3360-1 (I. Friz) (first reading; the Committee proposes that No. 3360-1 be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATTIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE TO ELIMINATE INCONSISTENCIES AND UPDATE THE SALE OF MORTGAGED PROPERTY AND PROPERTY IN AN ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDING” – the bill removes from the Law “On the Enforcement Proceeding” the mechanism for the sale of seized property for a fixed price; the powers to determine the procedure for conducting electronic auctions is transferred to the Cabinet of Ministers; the bill proposes that mortgaged items be sold at electronic auctions; the mortgage holder will receive from a notary a certificate on acquisition of property from an electronic auction that did not take place.

FOR (-) No. 3360-1: Strengthening the transparency of the system of sale of seized property; increasing the efficiency of enforcement of court decisions; clear legislative regulation of the sale of assets in an enforcement proceeding.

AGAINST (-) No. 3360-1: In the event of cancellation of the procedure for the sale of property at a fixed price, which applies to property worth up to 50 times the minimum salary, the expenses related to organizing and conducting an auction may be higher than the value of the seized property.

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53. Draft Law No. 4048 (Cabinet of Ministers) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS TO IMPLEMENT JUDGMENTS OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS” – the bill introduces a mechanism for alleviating punishment for persons serving a life sentence; convicts serving a life sentence will draw up an individual plan for reintegration in society and add it to their appeal for replacement of the unserved part of the punishment with a softer form; convicts are granted the right to ask the court, through the administration of the penitentiary institution, to provide them with electronic copies of materials of the criminal proceeding (criminal case) and documents appended to the case file; establishes that strikes at transport enterprises will be used in accordance with the legislation on the procedure for settlement of collective labor disputes (conflicts), but prohibits such strikes under conditions of a state of emergency or marshal law.

FOR (-) No. 4048: Elimination of inconsistencies contravening the case law of the ECHR, with due regard to its judgments in Naydyon v. Ukraine , Veniamin Tymoshenko and others v. Ukraine ; humanization of certain norms of the criminal legislation; extension of the rights of convicts to familiarization with the court judgment to situations of petitioning for substitution of punishment.

AGAINST (-) No. 4048: The noncompliance of the changes with the provisions of other legislative acts, in particular with the Law “On Social Dialogue in Ukraine”; impossibility to perform administrative supervision of persons sentenced to life imprisonment after their early release.

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54. Draft Law 4049 (Cabinet of Ministers) (first reading, the Committee recommends to adopt as a basic) ON AMENDING CODE OF UKRAINE OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFENSES, THE CRIMINAL CODE UKRAINE AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE UKRAINE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISIONS OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS - provides mechanism for viewing the position of life imprisonment freedom, a convict when he has served a sentence of at least 10 years will have the right to apply for replacement of life imprisonment with a term of at least 15 years; the convict will be in places of imprisonment for at least 25 years - 10 before the moment of appeal and 15 years after the moment of appeal; such a sanction as "administrative arrest" in Articles 44, 121, 178 of the Code of Administrative Offenses is removed, while the limits of other types of penalties are increased; it is proposed to reduce the term of consideration of the appeal against such a sanction; provides acquaintance with materials of criminal proceedings, after entry into force of the court decision; if the convict has applied, he receives the materials in electronic form through the administration of the institution where the sentence is served;

FOR (+) 4049: elimination of inconsistencies that contradict the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, taking into account the decisions "Fast against Ukraine", "Roosters against Ukraine"; humanization of certain norms of criminal law; expanding the rights of convicts to commute their life sentences with a milder one;

AGAINST (-) 4049: will require additional expenditures from the budget - 62 million; there are no norms that would determine the procedure for the transfer of electronic copies of the Crimea. cases to the convict; lack of clear rules on the application of parole to persons sentenced to life imprisonment;

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55. Draft Law No. 2037 (R. Kniazevych) (the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LAWS OF UKRAINE TO STRENGTHEN LIABILITY IN THE SPHERE OF PROTECTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE” – the bill adds to the list of violations a person’s failure to submit a report on a completed archaeological survey; provides for increased administrative punishment for: violation of the requirements of the legislation on protection of cultural heritage – for citizens, from 3.400 to 5,100 UAH (at present, 850 – 1,700 UAH); for officials, from 5,100 to 6,800 UAH (at present, 1,700 – 2,500 UAH); the powers to initiate prosecution under Articles 92 and 188-33 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses regarding violations of requirements of the legislation on protection of cultural heritage are transferred from administrative commissions to bodies in charge of protection of cultural heritage.

FOR (-) No. 2037: Compliance with international obligations on protection, preservation, promotion of cultural heritage and its transfer to future generations; prevention of violations in this sphere.

AGAINST (-) No. 2037: Absence of a body that will draw up the protocol on administrative liability; the creation of a new department/body for the protection of cultural heritage will require considerable spending of time and money; the level of the administrative punishment established by the Draft Law is incommensurable with the level of criminal punishment provided for by Article 298 of the Criminal Code and violates the principle of conformity of the social harm of a violation to the extent of administrative punishment; higher level of sanctions, as a rule, does not lead to a decrease in the number of violations of law.

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56. Draft Law No. 3474 (Cabinet of Ministers) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATTIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE TO CANCEL THE MARKING OF COPIES OF AUDIOVISUAL PRODUCTS, PHONOGRAMS, VIDEOGRAMS, COMPUTER SOFTWARE, DATABASES WITH CONTROL MARKS” – the bill cancels the ineffective system of marking copies of audiovisual products, phonograms, videograms, computer software, databases with control marks, declaring the Law of Ukraine “On Distribution of Copies of Audiovisual Products, Phonograms, Videograms, Computer Software, Databases” no longer valid; removes from the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses Article 164-9 “Illegal Distribution of Copies of Audiovisual Products, Phonograms, Videograms, Computer Software, Databases,” and from the Criminal Code, Article 216 “Illegal Production, Forging, Use or Sale of Illegally Produced, Received of Forged Control Marks.”

FOR (-) No. 3474: Laser discs are already hardly ever used for distributing copies of audiovisual products and computer software and so there is no need for respective control for possible prosecution.

AGAINST (-) No. 3474: The problem of forging / illegal copying of audiovisual products is not resolved; insufficient justification for the necessity for canceling the respective provisions of the legislation; no synchronization of the consideration of Draft Law No. 3474 with Draft Law No. 2812 “On Amending the Budget Code of Ukraine, which excludes payment for receiving control marks from the State Budget revenues.

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57. Draft Laws No. 4333 (A. Dmytruk) (first reading; the Committee recommends that the bill be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE CRIMINAL CODE OF UKRAINE TO STRENGTHEN LIABILITY FOR ILLEGAL EVICTION FROM RESIDENCE” – the bill establishes criminal liability for illegal eviction from residence; the punishment is a fine (10,000 – 25,000 times the nontaxable minimum income of citizens) or deprivation of liberty for a term of 3 to 8 years.

FOR (-) No. 4333: Protection of citizens against eviction from residence without sufficient legal grounds – citizens who, because of certain life situations, have lost their income, especially during the period of quarantine measures, and are unable to repay housing loans on time; protection of pensioners who find themselves in difficult situations when concluding lifetime maintenance contracts against other fraudulent actions.

AGAINST (-) No. 4333: Increased spending from the State Budget on the welfare of persons sentenced to deprivation of liberty for committing a crime and kept in penitentiary institutions.

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58. Draft Laws Nos. 4335 (I. Friz), 4335-1 (A. Sharaskin) (first reading; the Committee recommends that No. 4335 be adopted as a basis) “ON CIRCULATION OF CIVILIAN FOREARMS AND RELATED AMMUNITION” – the bill regulates the issues of manufacture, acquisition, possession, alienation, carrying, transportation, repair, and use of EXCLUSIVELY civilian firearms and related ammunition (hereinafter, civilian firearms), with indication of category of arms: A – automatic firearms; B – smooth-bore short-barreled firearms; C – short- barreled firearms; D – smooth-bore long-barreled firearms; and E – rifled-bore long-barreled and combined firearms. The requirements for the owners of the firearms are as follows: citizenship of Ukraine; absence of medical contraindications and of criminal record and cases of administrative persecution within the past year; mandatory civil liability insurance policy for possible damage to a third party. There will be mandatory courses to study the technical components of the firearms, the rules of handling and using the weapon. Short-barreled firearms can only be acquired by citizens who have attained the age of 28, provided that they have a 5-year experience of handling other types of firearms. Possession of the registration certificate for the weapon is a must.

FOR (+) No. 4335: On the legislative level, resolution of the issue of acquisition and possession of civilian weapons by citizens; establishment of technical requirements for civilian weapons; withdrawal of civilian weapons from illegal circulation; establishment of liability for violating the legislation on the circulation of civilian weapons; the prohibition of carrying short-barreled firearms (revolvers and pistols) will remain.

AGAINST (-) No. 4335: The bill does not involve the regulation of circulation of bows, crossbows, bow arrows, cold arms and products structurally similar to cold arms, and air guns; the bill proposes lifting the obligation of security personnel to provide first premedical aid to victims in case damage has been caused to their health; it only provides for “certain categories of citizens” who will be allowed to carry “traumatic” weapons; creates grounds for awarding short-barreled weapons to any persons, even in the absence of any justification, which undermines the value of weapons as a military award.

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59. Draft Laws Nos. 4336 (I. Friz), 4336-1 (A. Sharaskin) (first reading; the Committee recommends that No. 4336 be adopted as a basis) “ON AMENDING THE CODE OF UKRAINE ON ADMINISTRATIVE OFFENSES AND THE CRIMINAL CODE OF UKRAINE TO IMPLEMENT THE PROVISIONS OF THE LAW OF UKRAINE ON CIRCULATION OF CIVILIAN FOREARMS AND RELATED AMMUNITION’” – administrative and criminal liability is strengthened: the amounts of fines are increased (from 170 to 85,000 UAH); and in the event of a criminal offense, the punishment may be deprivation of liberty for a term of 5 to 10 years; the bill defines more precisely the limits of justifiable defense.

FOR (+) No. 4336: Increased State Budget revenues and expenses.

AGAINST (-) No. 4336: The strengthening of liability does not guarantee that punishment will be inevitable; the provisions of certain Articles of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code are vague, which may lead to conflicts when the provisions are applied in practice.

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60. Draft Law No. 2063 (S. Cherniavskyi) (second reading; the Committee proposes that the bill be adopted as a whole) “ON AMENDING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE ACTS OF UKRAINE TO ENSURE ACCESS OF A DEFENSE CONSEL TO A PERSON ENTITLED TO LEGAL DEFENSE” – the bill obliges the administration of a penitentiary institution to inform in writing, within 24 hours, the lawyer of a convict of each change in the terms of the convict’s imprisonment; the bill provides that a person in custody is entitled to meetings with his/her defense counsel that must not be limited in time or number, on any days from 7 to 20 hours; also, it provides for the responsibility of the head of the penitentiary institution’s administration for the placement of the convicts who have been brought to the institution, for ensuring that they exercise their right to receive visitors; the bill specifies that the number of close relatives who have the right to visit a convict is unlimited; notification of the refusal to grant permission for a visit must be justified and can be appealed in court; notification of the refusal to grant permission for the visit must be sent to the close relatives that requested the visit and be served on the convict immediately after its issuance; the bill establishes that convicts staying at in-patient hospitals have the right to legal assistance, confidential legal advice; in such cases, the duty to guard the convicts lies with the central executive body in charge of implementing state policy in the sphere of criminal punishment.

FOR (+) No. 2063: The convicts/detainees are guaranteed the right to legal assistance and confidential legal advice from a defense counsel, representative, advocate, lawyer, or legal expert; notification of the lawyer and the close relatives about change of the place of stay and/or the legal status of a person in custody.

AGAINST (-) No. 2063: There are no provisions regarding the responsibility of a lawyer or representative in case a person in custody requests a meeting but the lawyer or representative fails to come.

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61. Draft Law 3911 (1st reading, the Committee recommends to adopt as a basis) ON AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLE 259 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE OF UA CONCERNING STRENGTHENING LIABILITY FOR A KNOWLY FALSE REPORT ABOUT THE THREAT TO THE SECURITY OF CITIZENS – punishes “jokers about mining” not only with “imprisonment” for a term of 2 to 6 years, but also with confiscation of property, if the objects of false information are critical infrastructure or which provide the activities of public authorities or health care / educational facilities or in the event of serious consequences or recurrence of such crimes.

FOR (+) 3911: reducing the number of knowingly false reports about the threat to public safety; increase in state budget revenues due to the use of confiscation of property of criminals.

AGAINST (-) 3911: the strengthening of sanctions usually does not lead to a reduction in crimes, which is confirmed by the practice of strengthening sanctions for the same crimes in 2012 and maintaining the trend of increasing the number of these crimes; the use of confiscation in the absence of a focus on the criminal's own enrichment is contrary to the principles of confiscation; failure to resolve the issue of receiving such false messages from the territory of other states, or using the Internet; UA does not have an obligation to identify SIM card holders, which would be a more effective measure to reduce this type of crime.