Draft bill #9403 of June 19, 2023, and #9405 of Jun 20, 2023 

Sponsor: the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine 

Status: submitted to the Verkhovna Rada 

Who is affected: all residents of Ukraine, government bodies, local councils, and businesses. 

Summary of the bills: 

  • not to wear personal protective equipment while in public buildings, structures, and public transport during quarantine will no longer be considered an offense after the amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences. The same will apply to non-disclosure or violation of the procurement procedure in the course of COVID-related procurements  
  • after the amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, there will be more severe penalties for violation of sanitary norms and regulations if committed during the quarantine introduced by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine 
  • provisions of the Code of Administrative Legal Proceedings of Ukraine, Code of Civil Procedure of Ukraine, and Code of Economic Procedure of Ukraine that in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) allow parties of the case to participate in court hearings remotely using their own technical means will be annulled 
  • there will be no more financial sanctions for non-compliance with the quarantine restrictions specified in the decision on establishing the quarantine 
  • there will be no more temporary disability benefits related to COVID-19 
  • provisions requiring testing for the coronavirus infection will be annulled 
  • there will be no more insurance payments for medical workers in case of disability or death caused by the coronavirus 
  • while martial law is in effect, public hearings required by the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment will not be held or appointed. 

What is right: outdated legal provisions that were introduced during the lockdown will be annulled. 

What is wrong:  the provision of the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment that requires mandatory public hearings while martial law is in effect will also be annulled. This provision has no material connection to other legal changes related to the lockdown and removes the public from the process of assessing the impact on the environment. 

Background information:  On April 25, 2023, the Government adopted resolution #383 extending the lockdown until June 30 of this year.  At the same time, the World Health Organization decided on May 5, 2023, that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency.