On July 31, 2014, an extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine took place; 340 people’s deputies were in attendance.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko also took part in the closed extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada. In his address to people’s deputies, he called for cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, underlining the importance of approval of the governmental package of draft laws that are extremely important for funding of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and for the functioning of the national economy.

President Poroshenko also stressed the importance of early parliamentary elections that meet the demands of the overwhelming majority of the Ukrainian society.

In the course of the extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the people’s deputies passed the vote of confidence to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. 16 votes for the resignation of Prime Minister Yatsenyuk demonstrated dominating support of the incumbent Government of Ukraine and the Parliament’s readiness to provide comprehensive support to the course of reforms initiated by the Government.

The adoption of draft laws on amendment to the State Budget for 2014 (305 votes) and to the Tax Code of Ukraine (306 votes) created the foundation of Ukraine’s financial stability.

The newly adopted laws increase revenues and expenditures of the State Budget of Ukraine for 2014, at the same time increasing the maximum ceiling of the state debt. In accordance with the relevant draft law, it is proposed to obtain additional budget revenues by means of personal income tax, land royalties, EU assistance programs, exise tax, non-tax income etc. It is also proposed to decrease the government financing and funding of several budget programs.

The draft law on the reform of the system of management of unified gas transportation system of Ukraine was submitted for a modification.

The ratification of international agreements between Ukraine, Australia and the Netherlands created legal grounds to ensure unbiased and comprehensive investigation of the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Under the agreement, Australia will send police, military and civilian personnel to Ukraine to search and collect the wreckage, and to conduct investigation of the catastrophe and criminal investigation. In turn, Ukraine will provide any information needed to realize the mandate of the Australian personnel.

In turn, the agreement between Ukraine and the Kingdom of the Netherlands provides for creation of a multinational International mission to protect the investigation under UN Security Council Resolution 2166 of July 21, 2014.

The results of extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada of July 31, 2014, showed that even in the conditions of dissolution of the parliamentary coalition, the Parliament of Ukraine is capable of decision-making to protect the national interest of the state and of acting for the good of the Ukrainian people.

The work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has demonstrated constructive readiness of the people’s deputies of Ukraine to continue legislative activity in close cooperation with the current Government of Ukraine, to make efforts to implement the comprehensive program of reforms in extremely difficult times of domestic economic development, as well as to create necessary mechanisms to increase defensive capabilities of Ukraine during the ongoing external aggression from the Russian Federation.

Despite the absence of a new format of the parliamentary coalition, legislative and executive branches of power are ready for productive and constructive cooperation.

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