Stefanchuk: Rada to be convened when Bill 8371 is finalized

Ruslan Stefanchuk. Photo: the Verkhovna Rada

The next session of the Verkhovna Rada will take place as soon as the deputies finalise the draft law on terminating the activities of the UOC in Ukraine, said the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda.

"As soon as the working group completes the drafting of the bill to ban religious organisations affiliated with Russia and presents it to the coordinating council, we will immediately set the date for the next session," said Stefanchuk.

He noted that at one of the coordinating council meetings, it was unanimously decided that the relevant bill would be put to a vote in the parliament once 240 votes in its support are gathered.

According to him, when they started gathering votes, it turned out that approximately 225-226 deputies were ready to vote in favour, but the final lists are not yet complete.

"Therefore, today (July 23 – Ed.), we met and decided to give the internal working group time to finalize this bill. The fact is that it has significantly changed for the second reading compared to the first. And some colleagues do not agree with all the changes.

Moreover, this draft law must be such that it cannot be challenged in the Constitutional Court of Ukraine after its adoption. As soon as the working group completes work on the document, we will immediately bring it to the floor," he said.

As reported by the UOJ, after the Rada rostrum was blocked by MPs because of the failure to pass the bill on banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the next sessions were postponed until August.

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