Parliament passes bill on financing political parties in first reading

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's Parliament, passed in the first reading on Aug. 9. a bill restoring the obligation of political parties to report on their funding.

"(The bill) is aimed at minimizing the potential oligarchic influence on political parties, improving the mechanisms of public funding and state control over the activities of political parties," First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Korniienko wrote on his Telegram channel.

"Its main goal is to restore reporting by political parties and verification of their reports," he added.

If the bill is adopted as law, it will return the mandate to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption to ensure legal restrictions on the financing of political parties.

The obligation for political parties to submit their quarterly reports on property, income, and expenses was adopted in 2015 as part of reforms on political financing. However, the measure was suspended on April 2, 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the suspension, only 7.4% of registered parties submitted their financial reports by Oct. 2021, the Ukrainian news outlet LB.UA reported. The situation was further complicated by the start of the full-scale invasion, as martial law provided the parties with an additional reason not to publish their financing.

As stipulated by Ukraine's anti-oligarch law, oligarchs are banned from financing political parties or other political activities.

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