Yulia Luchyk

MPs held a successful vote on June 19. After President Poroshenko presented to the chamber his nominees for heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), and the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO), a majority of MPs voted to appoint them. The newly...

June 22 marked the second day after the start of implementation of Ukraine’s Peace Plan for the Donbas, which provides for a ceasefire. The first conclusions can be made, and they are not flattering. Ukrainian troops continue to suffer attacks by terrorist militants, and Russia does not want...

The Communist Party may disappear from the political map of Ukraine. “There are many materials regarding KPU’s implication in organization of terroristic and separatist activity,” Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov said at yesterday’s parliamentary session. “I will appeal to...

Verkhovna Rada is in recess, so these dedicated servants of the people can celebrate the International Workers’ Day (May 1) and V-E Day (May 9), even though the situation in the east of Ukraine appears to be going from bad to worse. Before the MPs could enjoy their holidays, however, Prime...

Although presidential candidates’ election programs were published last week, the pattern of electoral preferences had been shaped much earlier. The only correction was made when the popular candidate Vitali Klitschko withdrew his candidacy. The new Maidan-brought values have caused a wide...

MPs have had no time to relax. Several hundred people gathered near the Verkhovna Rada building on March 27 to urge the parliament to pass a series of laws. In the afternoon, the protesters even blocked traffic on Hrushevsky Street, as well as all exits from the building except one via its...

The Rada is working again. Yesterday a number of important bills were on the agenda in VRU. The shortlist of urgent bills included dismissal of the Acting Defense Minister Teniukh and appointing new acting defense minister. The parliamentary majority refused to accept Teniukh’s resignation....

As Crimea is de facto under Russia’s control and the situation in southern and eastern Ukraine looks like implementation of the Kremlin’s scenario, the government is taking a well-balanced stand but shows, according to experts, an extremely slow reaction. For example, the Prime Minister...

An extraordinary session of parliament held on March 20 was focused on Crimea. MPs voted by a strong majority to support a draft Law “On the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens Resident in the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine,” the Verkhovna Rada Declaration on the Guarantees of...

Oligarchs are in regional administrations, “revolutionaries” in the Cabinet and the National Security and Defense Council, and Yanukovych’s former officials in… the new government. The portfolio allocation policy of the former opposition is raising a lot of questions and...