New bill would oblige deputes to come clean on income and spending

Opposition Deputy, Ruslan Knyazevych (Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defence) has proposed that the Verkhovna Rada clarify the list of officials whose income declarations are not treated as information on limited access. National Deputies would also have to publish their income declaration in official media outlets. The Party of the Regions made positive comments about the bill, however asserted that it was dictated by the coming parliamentary elections.

On 12 September two bills submitted by Knyazevych were posted on the Verkhovna Rada site (№9141 and №9142).

Most of the amendments are technical, but there are more crucial provisions. №9142 proposes specification of the list of people whose declarations may not be treated as information on limited access. These, it says, should include members of the Cabinet of Ministers, their first deputies and deputies. 

If the draft law were accepted, then parliamentarians would have to publish their declarations on the Verkhovna Rada  site and in the newspaper “Holos Ukrainy” At present the law only states that National Deputies must publish their declarations on a yearly basis.

From a report at Kommersant - Ukraine