Draft bill #9559-д of August 30, 2023 

Cosponsors: MPs from the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development with Roman Lozynskyi as the first signatory 

Status: the committee issued the report on reviewing the draft bill 

Who is affected: residents of Ukraine, local councils, executive committees and permanent advisory committees of community councils, community heads, and the security and defense sector 

Summary of the bill: 

  • it will be allowed to appoint village, township, and city mayors as heads of the respective military administration of a settlement (settlements) without their dismissal from current positions 
  • village, township, and city councils will be allowed to consider at their plenary sessions the provision of financial and material assistance to the security and defense sector bodies while martial law is in effect 
  • executive bodies of village, township, and city councils will be allowed to prepare, submit for approval, and organize the implementation of local support programs for the security and defense sector 
  • oblast councils will be allowed to elect additional deputy heads of oblast councils while martial law is in effect 
  • the following regulations will apply during the period while martial law is in effect and for 30 days after its termination or revocation: 
    • it will be allowed to hold plenary meetings of local councils, their executive committees, and permanent advisory committees via audio or video conferences, except for meetings requiring secret voting  
    • community heads will have the authority to decide whether meetings are to be held online if the issue is not regulated by charters of the local council, executive committee, or permanent advisory committee 
    • the format of online meetings should ensure the identification of participants, respect for all rights of councilors and members of the executive committee, and the ability to establish and record voting results 
    • at online meetings, it will be allowed to discuss issues concerning urgent budget amendments, remedial measures for emergencies, execution of powers regarding the defense work, and removing symbols of Russian imperial policy from public spaces 
    • at online meetings, it will be prohibited to consider issues of distributing land and natural resources 
    • local councilors will be allowed to participate in online plenary sessions of local councils and online committee meetings only if they are in Ukraine (except for the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation) and publicly confirm this fact during registration 
    • if it is established that a local councilor who participated in an online plenary meeting of the local council or permanent council committee was outside Ukraine or in the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, their votes during that meeting will be discarded. A revised protocol of the online meeting will have to be issued within five working days from the date this fact was established. 

What is right: 

  • communities will be able to fund the security and defense sector under martial law independently and without setting a mandatory share of the local budget for defense needs. Thus, communities will be able to support state defense without spending too much funding from local budgets 
  • permission to hold meetings of local councils, executive committees, and permanent advisory committees on the most important issues online will help to keep local governments operational despite the war 
  • the bill solves staffing issues that many self-government bodies face due to the war.