Verkhovna Rada greenlights financing of defense forces by local councils
The Verkhovna Rada allowed local councils to finance the defense forces during martial law, Ukrainian Member of Parliament Yaroslav Zhelezniak (Holos faction) has said.
"Finally, [bill] No. 9559-d has been adopted, which allows local councils to finance units of the defense forces during the period of martial law," he said on the Telegram channel.
According to the MP, the draft law was backed by 303 MP at a plenary session on Tuesday.
As reported, the bill amends the laws On Local Self-Government in Ukraine and On the Prevention of Corruption to expand the powers of local governments to provide financial and material support to the security and defense sector during martial law or states of emergency.
It provides for the granting of powers to the executive bodies of village, town and city councils for the construction, arrangement and maintenance of engineering and fortification structures.
According to the document, local authorities can approve local budgets and make changes to them, approve programs for socio-economic and cultural development, target programs on other issues of local self-government, transfer of funds in the form of interbudgetary transfers to the relevant local budgets in the event of temporary occupation of a territorial community and not creating a military administration.
It also provides for the possibility of appointing a village, town, or city mayor to the position of head of the corresponding military administration of a locality (settlements) without dismissal from his position. In addition, the bill gives the opportunity to civil servants and local government officials who are on leave without pay or in case of downtime or suspension of an employment contract, to be appointed to positions in other government bodies and local government bodies, military administrations, legal entities under public law.
The bill expands the organizational capabilities of the leadership of regional and district councils in conditions of martial law when the post of chairman of this council is vacant.
The bill also regulates the procedure for holding remote meetings of local governments.
