On Monday, April 6, deputies from the Servant of the People faction held a meeting with representatives of the government, the leadership of the parliament, and the head of the President's Office, Kyrylo Budanov.
Representatives of the faction informed Suspilny about this.
First, the head of the OP, Kyrylo Budanov, met with the deputies. He held a meeting with the heads of parliamentary committees, most of whom were representatives of the Servant of the People. According to the interlocutors of Suspilny, the meeting discussed the parliamentary agenda, in particular the need to vote on the IMF marker bills and those necessary for the implementation of the Ukraine Facility international financial support program.
All of these bills, according to information released by People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak, are on the agenda for Tuesday (April 7 — ed.).
“They said that we need to improve our cooperation, particularly regarding the Ukraine Facility, because funding is tied to it,” said one of the deputies present at the meeting.
The need to vote on bills that are supposed to unblock part of international aid was the main focus of the meeting, the interlocutors of Suspilny reported. Such a need was previously stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“There was an open discussion. Kyrylo skillfully led it,” another MP who was present at the meeting told Suspilny.
The People's Deputies do not rule out that such meetings with Budanov may become regular.
Next, the deputies had a meeting of the Servant of the People faction, which was attended by government officials. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka, Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture Oleksiy Sobolev, and Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko were present.
The meeting also focused on the need for future voting on bills related to the requirements of the IMF and the Ukraine Facility. According to the deputies present there, on April 7, the faction will vote for bills on the extension of military levy and taxation of digital platforms. However, the issue of canceling the current benefits for duty-free and tax-free import of international parcels into Ukraine did not garner sufficient support from the deputies — in particular, due to the amendment that could cancel the lifelong status of PEP PEP (politically exposed person) – “politically significant person” . This amendment was also discussed by the deputies at a meeting with the government.
“We really have a very big problem with how banks administer PEP. This really puts a heavy cross on the high-level civil service. People simply don't want to go there, because then the whole family falls under PEP,” says a representative of the faction. The Public heard similar complaints from two more “servant” people's deputies.
Deputies also discussed the issue of VAT Value-added tax for individual entrepreneurs. However, there are no plans to vote on it in the Rada yet.
In general, according to the MPs, the situation within the faction has improved. Its head, David Arakhamia, met and talked with most of the small groups within the faction — this helped to resolve some of the issues. The government's interaction with the parliament has also improved. In particular, the surveyed MPs positively assessed the government's representation in the faction.
“Taras Kachka explained a lot, because he participated in negotiations with the IMF. And then we moved on to the usual issues — IDPs, schools, and so on,” says one of Suspilny’s interlocutors.
In general, deputies are not sure that the situation with the lack of votes on April 7 and 8 will cease to be tense – but they hope that most of the bills on the agenda will still be voted on.