On May 12, 53 votes were taken in the Verkhovna Rada (including three signaling votes). In total, MPs have adopted 12 legislative initiatives as a whole, and 4 initiatives as a basis.

Besides that, MPs  voted "for" the passing the no-confidence motion to the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, Liudmyla Denisova, and dismissed her from her position.

Instead, the draft law No. 7402 on control over the concentration of business operators received only 194 votes of MPs, and was not adopted as a basis.

The average number of MPs present at the meeting was 87% (the same as at other meetings of the Rada in May). MPs voted “for” in 63.5% of cases, in 4.7% – they “abstained”, in 0.3% – they voted “against”. In 13% of cases, they did not vote at all. Besides, the absenteeism rate was 12.5%. 

In total, the adopted initiatives received from 234 to 316 votes in favor. In particular, MPs adopted the following legislative acts:

On the expression of distrust to the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, Lyudmila Denisova, that resulted in her dismissal from office – 234 votes "in favour"

Parliament dismissed Lyudmila Denisova from the post of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada. The Servant of the People faction explained the reason for her dismissal that she “hardly ever fulfilled her powers.” Lyudmila Denisova has worked as an ombudsman since March 15, 2018.

Regarding the implementation of technical regulation functions in the field of agro-industrial complex and mechanical engineering for agro-industrial complex (No.6070-1) – 283 "in favour"

The law aims at regulating the activities of conformity assessment bodies in accordance with the requirements of the Technical Regulations for the type approval of agricultural and forestry tractors, their trailers and replaceable trailer machines, systems, components and separate technical units.

The adopted Law proposes, inter alia:

  • to allow private technical services and testing laboratories to test tractors. This will provide an incentive to invest in technical laboratories, equipment, and appropriate professional staff;
  • to include the possibility for official dealers of agricultural machinery to carry out institutional state registration of new machinery that they sell to farmers;
  • to set the legal basis for further updating of the regulatory framework in the field of technical regulation in the agro-industrial complex, harmonization with the EU technical regulations on the circulation of tractors;
  • to solve the problems with obtaining certificates for new models of tractors, where manufacturers and suppliers of equipment have not been able to obtain  the appropriate documents and transfer it to farmers.

Regarding the establishment of a holiday — the Day of Ukrainian Statehood (No.5864) – 257 "in favour"

A new holiday has been introduced – the Day of Ukrainian Statehood, to be celebrated annually on July 28, on the Day of the Baptism of Rus. The relevant amendments have been made to the Labor Code of Ukraine.

Regarding the asset management during the martial law (No.7342) – 265 “in favour”

The National Agency of Ukraine for the identification, search and management of assets derived from corruption and other crimes, for the period until the termination or lifting of the martial law, as well as within one month from the date of its termination or lifting, will be able to:

  • open  accounts in depositary institutions, which 100 % of the shares (stakes) are owned by the state;
  • make decisions on the purchase of domestic government bonds "Military Bonds" at the expense of funds placed on the accounts of the National Agency in national currency, in the amounts agreed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, but not more than in 80 percent of the funds recognized on the deposit accounts of the National Agency.

Regarding the National Military Memorial Cemetery (#4225) – 286 “in favour”

The law defines the aspects of the placement, organization, construction, maintenance and protection of the National Military Memorial Cemetery to commemorate the memory and honorary burial of the deceased persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, ensured the fulfillment of official duties and the oath of allegiance to the people of Ukraine.

The law stipulates that "The National Military Memorial Cemetery is a tridimensional spatial object located on a specially designated land plot, which includes a military cemetery, a museum complex, a cereminial building and other necessary structures for the organization of honorary burials of deceased persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, ensured the performance of official duties and the oath of allegiance to the people of Ukraine."

The adopted Law stipulates that "the place of honorary burial is a specially designated land plot on the territory of the cemetery or outside it, intended for the organization of honorary burials, as well as the National Military Memorial Cemetery".

On introducing amendments to Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine "On Certain Issues of Debt of Enterprises of the Defense-Industrial Complex that are Members of the State Concern "Ukroboronprom" and Ensuring Their Sustainable Development" (No.7307) – 238 votes "in favour";

The law provides for:

  • expanding the list of cases of free transfer of property of business enterprises of the defense-industrial complex (hereinafter – the defense-industrial complex), including cases of ensuring the activities of business enterprises of the defense-industrial complex and meeting the needs of the security forces and defense forces in armaments and military equipment under the martial law;
  • for the period of martial law, the simplification of the procedure for transferring the property of state-owned enterprises of the defense industry of the property for lease in order to locate the production necessary to meet the needs of the security and defense forces;
  • transfer of the specified property for lease without applying competitive procedures and without entering information about the potential leased object into the electronic trading system (hereinafter referred to as ETS), publishing information about the potential leased object in ETS, placing an announcement about the transfer of the property for lease in ETS and holding a bid for the right to lease the property.

Regarding the crediting of certain administrative fees for state registration in the field of urban development (No.5656) – 282 votes "in favour"

The bill proposes to regulate the issue of admission to the state and local budgets of the administrative fee for state registration in the field of urban development and the possibility of financial support of the Unified State Electronic System in the field of construction.

The Law provides that:

  • 70% of the administrative fee for state registration in the field of urban planning activities, carried out by the executive bodies of village, town, city councils, district state administrations in the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol, shall be credited to the budgets of local self-governments at the place of provision of services;
  • 30% of the administrative fee for state registration in the field of urban planning activities carried out by the executive bodies of village, town, city councils, district state administrations in the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol, DSAs, as well as 30% of the fee equivalent to the administrative fee in the field of urban planning activities charged by notaries, shall be the source of building a special fund of the state budget in part of income, and shall be intended for ensuring the functioning of the Unified State Electronic System in the field of construction.

On approval of the proposals for the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) against representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church (No.7332) – 292 votes "in favour"

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appealed to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) with a proposal to impose sanctions against eight representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church who have systematically and actively supported the war against Ukraine, and legitimized the military invasion and genocide of Ukrainians by the Armed Forces of the russian federation. Such persons, in particular, are:

  • The 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kyrylo (Gundyaev Volodymyr Mykhailovych)
  • a head of the Department of External Church Affairs of the ROC, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk (Hryhorii Valeriiovych Alfeev, by his father's surname – Dashevskyi)
  • deputy Head of the External Church Relations Department of the ROC, Archpriest Mykola Balashov (Mykola Volodymyrovych Balashov)
  • metropolitan of Pskov and Porkhov of the ROCh Tikhon (Georgiy Oleksandrovych Shevkunov), known as the confessor of the rf president, vladimir putin, and a person close to the special services of russia.

Sanctions provide, inter alia, for the blocking of assets, restriction of trade operations, partial or complete cessation of the transit of resources, flights and transportation on the territory of Ukraine, prevention of the disinvestment of capital outside Ukraine, suspension of the fulfillment of economic and financial liabilities, etc.

Regarding the provision of audit activity for the period of martial law and post-war economic recovery (No.7347) – 316 votes "in favour"

The draft law regulates certain issues of audit activities for the period of martial law and post-martial law economic recovery, as well as the cessation of activities in Ukraine of those auditors and audit entities associated with the country that carries out armed aggression against Ukraine.

In particular, the draft law provides for the following:

  • exclusion from the Register of Auditors and audit entities of auditors associated with the aggressor country;
  • suspension of the requirement to pass the internship of candidate auditors, simplification of the procedure for certification of persons who have experience in the relevant areas over three years, certifying them on the basis of the outcome of the qualification examination only;
  • suspension of the requirement for auditors to undergo continuous professional training;
  • reducing the financial burden on auditors in terms of payment of fees and contributions for the Public Audit Surveillance Body and the Audit Chamber of Ukraine; 
  • temporary waiver of liability for violation of the requirements of the Law regarding the completeness and timeliness of submission of information about the auditor and the audit operators for publication in the Register;
  • simplification of requirements for the internal organization of audit operators that have the right to conduct mandatory audits of financial statements of companies of public interest, etc.

Regarding the stimulation of the production of methylated spirit (No.7401) – 315 votes “in favour”

The purpose of the law is to provide favorable conditions for the production of denatured ethyl alcohol, bioethanol, chemical and technical products, including disinfectants, perfume and cosmetic products, which production uses denatured ethyl alcohol, as well as vinegar from food ingredients produced from non-denatured ethyl alcohol, which will contribute to the development of the alcohol industry and related industries.

The Law provides, inter alia:

  • authorisation for the use of denatured ethyl alcohol and bioethanol to account for mass flowmeters instead of ethyl alcohol flowmeters that account for alcohol by volume;
  • the obligation for ethyl alcohol producers to send to regulatory authorities a flow chart for the installation of ethyl alcohol flow meters and/or mass flow meters;
  • the obligation of ethyl alcohol producers to send to the regulatory authorities a flow chart for the installation of round-the-clock video surveillance systems for the production and supply of ethyl alcohol in excise warehouses;
  • approval by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of production loss allowances and standard outputs of ethyl alcohol and other alcohol distillates, as well as loss allowances and standard outputs for finished products during the production of alcoholic beverages;
  • permission for denaturation of bioethanol with gasoline and ethyl tert-butyl ether (currently it is allowed to store denatured bioethanol with gasoline only (1–10%);

Resolution on the Appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) concerning the deprivation of the russian federation of the status of a UNESCO member state (No.7394) – 311 votes "in favour"

Ukraine has appealed to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization regarding the withdrawal of russia's status as a UNESCO member state.

The document emphasizes that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the russian federation has fired more than 2,100 rockets at Ukraine, and the number continues to increase every day. More than 250 cultural landmarks have already been damaged or destroyed, including churches, museums, monuments, nature reserves, houses of culture, theaters, libraries, and historic buildings. 

Such actions of the aggressor country are an absolute nihilism for the international humanitarian law and common sense. The russian federation has been methodically destroying the material and intangible cultural heritage and resisting the development of Ukrainian culture as such.

In this regard, Ukraine considers it unacceptable to see the continued presence of the russian federation at UNESCO.

On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2022" (No.7413) – 299 votes "in favour"

The law increases the expenditures of the general fund of the state budget by UAH 287.7 billion, due to an increase of state external borrowings of this amount, namely in the following areas:

  • ensuring national security and defense – UAH 247.77 billion; of which: 
    • Ministry of Defense – UAH 166.1 billion
    • Ministry of Internal Affairs – UAH 76.4 billion 
    • Security Service of Ukraine – UAH 2.78 billion
    • Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense – UAH 921.4 million;
    • State Security Administration – UAH 321.5 million
    • Foreign Intelligence Services – UAH 648.8 million
    • Administration of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection – UAH 548.0 million
  • social protection and social security – UAH 38.4 billion, including: 
    • transfers to the Pension Fund – UAH 20.06 billion, 
    • assistance to internally displaced persons to cover living expenses – UAH 12.53 billion;
    • assistance under the e-Support Program – UAH 5.82 billion;
  • replenishment of the reserve fund – by UAH 1.5 billion.

The law will allow to take further measures to increase the defense capability and security of the state in order to counter the large-scale armed aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine and to address other urgent issues caused by this aggression, in particular to ensure the payment of pensions in time and in full, to provide housing assistance for 1.8 million internally displaced persons and assistance to 904,800 persons insured in connection with the loss of part of their salaries, whose work was temporarily suspended as a result of hostilities during the martial law.

The Parliament has also adopted the following draft laws:

  • on creating conditions for the introduction of comprehensive thermal modernization of buildings (# 6485) – 313 votes "in favour";
  • on the provision of additional guarantees of protection to journalists working in the areas of war (combat) hostilities) (#7367) – 322 votes "in favour";
  • on the regulation of certain issues of educational activities in the martial law (#7325) – 322 votes "in favour";
  • to promote the development of volunteer activities and the activities of non-profit institutions and organizations in the context of armed aggression of Russia against Ukraine (No.7364) – 308 votes in favor;
  • on support of volunteer activities (# 7363) – 312 votes in favor.

As you can see, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a number of important legislative initiatives in the context of the war.