The 7th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada ( uk, Верховна Рада України VII скликання) was a session of the legislative branch of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

's parliament. Its composition was based on the results of the 2012 parliamentary election. Half of the seats in the parliament were apportioned between the five winning parties based on the popular vote, while the other half was apportioned between 4 parties and 44 independents between 225 constituencies throughout the country. It first met in the capital

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

on December 12, 2012 and ended its session on November 27, 2014 after the 8th Verkhovna Rada began its first session. Parliamentary work was virtually paralyzed the first months of 2013 because the opposition (UDAR, Fatherland, Freedom, others) blocked the podium and presidium seats on various days. According to a study conducted by Opora, deputies did not work for 53 days during the first hundred days in the 7th convocation.

Major events

December 2012-February 2013

* December 12, 2012. Election of presidium, establishing parliamentary factions, establishing and assigning of committee, PACE Ukraine delegation, other. * December 13, 2012. Confirming on the Presidential appointment of

Mykola Azarov Mykola Yanovych Azarov ( uk, Мико́ла Я́нович Аза́ров, ; né Pakhlo; Cyrillic: Пахло; born 17 December 1947) is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 11 March 2010 to 27 January 2014. He was t ...

as the

Prime Minister of Ukraine The prime minister of Ukraine ( uk, Прем'єр-міністр України, ) is the head of government of Ukraine. The prime minister presides over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of th ...

* February 5, 2013. Parliamentary 2nd session did not start as the "opposition" (UDAR, Fatherland, Freedom, others) blocked the podium (tribune) and presidium seats in the protest of Rybak's actions and it demanded an end to the practice of deputies voting for non-present colleagues. Parliament was unblocked on 22 February 2013 after procedural measures had been implemented to prevent multiple voting. * February 8, 2013. The

Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine The judicial system of Ukraine is outlined in the 1996 Constitution of Ukraine.United Centre Andriy Baloha's Team ( uk, Команда Андрія Балоги, Komanda Andriya Balohy; formerly United Centre) is a Ukrainian political party. It is an offspring of Our Ukraine. Legally, Andriy Baloha's Team is the successor of the Party o ...

member

Pavlo Baloha Viktor Ivanovych Baloha ( uk, Віктор Іванович Балога, born 15 June 1963, Zavydovo) is a Ukrainian politician and the former emergency situations minister. Early life and education Viktor Baloha was born on 15 June 1963 ...

(at the time a member of the

Party of Regions The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of Uk ...

parliamentary faction) and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Oleksandr Dombrovsky Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

of their deputy seats.Higher Administrative Court deprives two MPs of deputy seats

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

(9 February 2013)
ВИЩИЙ СУД ПОЗБАВИВ МАНДАТІВ ДВОХ ДЕПУТАТІВ ''Superior Court denied MANDATES two deputies''

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...

(8 February 2013) The Court had established that the results in single-member districts number 11 (

Vinnytsia Oblast Vinnytsia Oblast ( uk, Ві́нницька о́бласть, translit=Vinnytska oblast; ; also referred to as Vinnychchyna — uk, Ві́нниччина) is an oblast of western and southwestern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Vinnytsia. ...

; Dombrovsky) and number 71 (

Zakarpattia Oblast The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...

; Baloha) during the October

2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012.

March 2013-April 2013

* March 5, 2013. The Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine stripped Andrey Verevskiy (Party of Regions) of his seat in parliament because he simultaneously was parliamentary deputy and headed a commercial entity. * March 5, 2013. Members of Fatherland blocked the podium (tribune) and presidium seats in the protest of Chairman Rybak's inquiry to the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine on depriving

Serhiy Vlasenko Serhiy Vlasenko ( uk, Сергій Володимирович Власенко; born on 7 March 1967 in LvivBiog ...

(Fatherland) of his seat in parliament. Parliament was unblocked on 19 March 2013. * March 6, 2013. The Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine stripped Serhiy Vlasenko (Fatherland) of his seat in parliament because he practiced advocacy and was a people's deputy at the same time. * March 19, 2013. Party of Regions parliamentary leader

Oleksandr Yefremov Oleksandr Yefremov or Aleksandr Efremov ( uk, Олександр Сергійович Єфремов, russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Ефре́мов) is a Ukrainian former parliamentarian and politician. A former governor o ...

accused deputies from Svoboda of being

neo-fascists Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, Nativism (politics), nativism, xenophobia, and an ...

after they booed a speech he made in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, which provoked a physical altercation to erupt between the two sides. * March 29, 2013. Party of Regions members started to gather signatures for dismissal of Ruslan Koshulynsky from the position of parliamentary vice-speaker. According to one of the

members,

Inna Bohoslovska Inna Hermanivna Bohoslovska ( uk, І́нна Ге́рманівна Богосло́вська, russian: И́нна Ге́рмановна Богосло́вская, alternative spellings: ''Bogoslovska'', ''Bogoslovskaya'') is a former Ukrainian ...

it is done due to the fact that Svoboda is a neo-fascist party. * April 3, 2013. Parliamentary session did not start as the "opposition" (UDAR, Fatherland, Freedom, others) blocked the podium (tribune) and presidium seats; they had three demands: #Calling mayoral elections in Kyiv #Repealing pension reform #Considering the resignation of the

Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine ( uk, Кабінет Міністрів України, translit=Kabinet Ministriv Ukrainy; shortened to CabMin), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine ( uk, Уряд України, ''Uriad Ukrai ...

. * April 4, 2013. With the blocking the podium (tribune) and presidium seats continuing pro-government legislators left the official parliament hall and voted to approve to routine pieces of legislation in a nearby building (6-8 vulytsia Bankova); according to them (chairman of parliamentary regulations committee and participants of the Bankova meeting) "the sitting of the parliament could be held in another place if legislators want".Ukraine parliament session seized by ruling party

Arizona Daily Sun The ''Arizona Daily Sun'' is a six-day newspaper in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. It publishes an entertainment supplement on Thursdays called "Flagstaff Live!". It also publishes a monthly magazine, Northern Arizona's Mountain Living Magaz ...

(4 April 2013) Party of Regions stated 244 deputies (in the 450-seat parliament) supported the move, but the opposition insists that number was 182. The last time the parliament split into two and held two sessions on two different premises was in 2000.Ukraine parliament moves building amid opposition blockade
,

GlobalPost ''GlobalPost'' is an online US digital journalism company that focuses on international news founded on January 12, 2009, by Philip S. Balboni and Charles M. Sennott. Its stated mission is "to redefine international news for the digital age." ...

(4 April 2013) One of the opposition leaders

Oleh Tyahnybok Oleh Yaroslavovych Tyahnybok ( uk, Оле́г Яросла́вович Тягнибо́к, born 7 November 1968) is a Ukrainian politician and Far-right politics in Ukraine, far-right activist who is a former member of the Verkhovna Rada and the ...

pointed out to the fact that the decision to conduct a session beyond the premises of

Verkhovna Rada building The Verkhovna Rada building ( uk, Будинок Верховної Ради, romanized: ''Budynok Verkhovnoi Rady'') is located in the center of Kyiv, the Pecherskyi District. The building is located at the Constitution Square. It is the plac ...

should be first adopted in the parliament building, citing the parliamentary regulations. Opposition also claimed that none of its representatives were allowed to attend the session at Bankova.Tyahnybok: Insurgents will be punished
YouTube Svoboda channelChuhunnikov: At the meeting Regionals and Communists there are only 169 deputies
UDAR YouTube channer. * April 4, 2013. Batkivschyna legislators Oleh Kanivets, Vitaliy Nemylostyvy, Roman Stadniychuk and Ihor Skosar wrote statements to Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Rybak with an applications to withdraw from the Batkivschyna faction. Later that day (only) Nemylostyvy and Stadniychuk confirm this while Kanivets and Skosar insisted that they are still the members of the Batkivschyna faction the press service of Batkivschyna party reported.MPs Nemylostyvy, Stadniychuk confirm their withdrawal from Batkivschyna faction

Interfax-Ukraine The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company pub ...

(4 April 2013) Again later that day Kanivets and Skosar released a manifesto statement they did made "the only possible decision – to leave the ranks of the faction" because (Batkivschyna faction leaderUkraine's united opposition discussing formation of single party

(7 December 2012)Five factions, including Communist Party, registered in parliament

(12 December 2012))

Arseniy Yatsenyuk Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk ( uk, Арсеній Петрович Яценюк ; born 22 May 1974) is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine twice – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and f ...

"is leading to an intraparty split and is a politically corrupt man, who dreams of becoming a national leader". * April 5, 2013. Parliament did not start its session, as it was still blocked; the next plenary session of the parliament is scheduled for April 16. * April 11, 2013. Leaders of opposition factions, Yatsenyuk (Fatherland),

Vitali Klitschko Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (; uk, Віта́лій Володи́мирович Кличко́ ; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who serves as mayor of Kyiv Oleh Tyahnybok Oleh Yaroslavovych Tyahnybok ( uk, Оле́г Яросла́вович Тягнибо́к, born 7 November 1968) is a Ukrainian politician and Far-right politics in Ukraine, far-right activist who is a former member of the Verkhovna Rada and the ...

(Freedom) are due to appear in the Holosiyivsky District Court of Kyiv under a lawsuit filed by citizen Vira Ivanova due to the blocking of the Verkhovna Rada.

June 2013-September 2013

* June 6, 2013. The opposition blocked the parliaments presidium seats until

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of Di ...

reports his annual address to parliament personally in parliament (he had sent a written report). * July 7, 2013. Pavlo Baloha and Oleksandr Dombrovsky mandates were officially cancelled.Baloha, Dombrovsky no longer MPs

Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of ...

(3 July 2013) * September 3, 2013 (opening session of the Verkhovna Rada after the summer recess). President Yanukovych urged parliament to adopt laws so that Ukraine will meet the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(EU) criteria so Ukraine and the EU can formally sign an

Association Agreement A European Union Association Agreement or simply Association Agreement (AA) is a treaty between the European Union (EU), its Member States and a non-EU country that creates a framework for co-operation between them. Areas frequently covered by su ...

in November 2013.Ukrainian president asks for laws to be passed to facilitate EU association agreement
,

Euronews Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective. The majority of Eurone ...

(3 September 2013)
Ukraine leader urges pro-Europe drive despite Kremlin pressure

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

(3 September 2013) * September 5, 2013. The Verkhovna Rada itself set the date of the 7 re-elections to 15 December 2013.Rada schedules reelection in troubled districts for December 15

The Ukrainian Week ''The Ukrainian Week'' ( uk, Український Тиждень, translit=Ukrainskyi Tyzhden) is an illustrated weekly magazine covering politics, economics and the arts and aimed at the socially engaged Ukrainian-language reader. It provides ...

(5 September 2013) * September 12, 2013. The Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine deprived Rodina Party member

Ihor Markov Ihor Markov ( uk, Ігор Олегович Марков; russian: Игорь Олегович Марков; born on 18 January 1973 in Odesa) is a Ukrainian entrepreneur, founder and chairman of the Rodina Party and is a former deputy of Ukrainian ...

(at the time a member of the

parliamentary faction) of his deputy seats.Court strips MP Ihor Markov of his mandate

(12 September 2013) The Court had established that the results in single-member districts number 133 (

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

) had been "unreliable".

Leadership

The parliament's chairman, first deputy, and deputy are all unaffiliated people's deputies according to parliamentary procedure.

Members

Single-mandate constituencies

Autonomous Republic of Crimea

Those representing

Autonomous Republic of Crimea The Autonomous Republic of Crimea, commonly known as Crimea, is a de jure autonomous republic of Ukraine encompassing most of Crimea that was annexed by Russia in 2014. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the peninsula,

consisted of nine deputies from the Party of Regions and one from

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

. # Vitalina Dzoz (R) # Lev Myrymsky (Union, not member of a faction) # Olena Netetska (R) # Oleh Paraskiv (R) # Valentina Lyutikova (R) # Yulia Lyovochkina (R) # Serhiy Braiko (R) # Borys Deich (R) # Oleksandr Nechayev (R) # Hryhoriy Hruba (R)

Cherkasy Oblast

Those representing

Cherkasy Oblast Cherkasy Oblast ( uk, Черка́ська о́бласть, Cherkaska oblast, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna ( uk, Черка́щина, ) is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine located along the Dnieper River. The administrative center ...

consisted of four deputies from the Party of Regions, one Independent, and two disputed constituencies. # ''Disputed'' # Volodymyr Zubyk (R, elected as an independent) # Hennadiy Bobov (R) # ''Disputed'' # Viktor Tymoshenko (I, not member of a faction) # Valentyn Nychyporenko (R, elected as an independent) # Anton Yatsenko (R)

Chernihiv Oblast

Those representing

Chernihiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast ( uk, Черні́гівська о́бласть, translit=Chernihivska oblast; also referred to as Chernihivshchyna, uk, Черні́гівщина, translit=Chernihivshchyna) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. T ...

consisted of three deputies form the Party of Regions, one Independent, one from Fatherland, and one from the Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko. # Valeriy Dubil (Fa) #

Vladyslav Atroshenko Vladyslav Atroshenko ( uk, Владислав Анатолійович Атрошенко; b. 5 December 1968, Chernihiv) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and mayor of Chernihiv. In the 2015 Ukrainian local elections he was elected for the Petro ...

(R, elected as an independent) #

Ihor Rybakov Igor ( be, Ігар, Ihar ; russian: Игорь, Igor' ; sr-Cyrl, Игор ; uk, Ігор, Ihor ; ) is a common East Slavic given name derived from the Norse name Ingvar, that was brought to ancient Rus' by the Norse Varangians, in the form ...

(I, not member of a faction) #

Oleh Lyashko Oleh Valeriiovych Liashko ( uk, Олег Валерійович Ляшко; born. 3 December 1972) is a Ukrainian politician, journalist and soldier who was a long time member of the Verkhovna Rada and leader of the Radical Party. Liashko was ...

(Rad, not member of a faction) # Ivan Kurovsky (R, elected as an independent) #

Mykola Rudkovsky Mykola ( uk, Мико́ла, Mykóla, ) is a Slavic variant, more specifically a Ukrainian variant, of the masculine name "Nicholas", meaning "victory of the people". It may refer to: People * Mykola Arkas (1853–1909), Ukrainian composer, wri ...

(R, elected as an independent)

Changes in membership

On 18 March 2013, the

Central Election Commission of Ukraine The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ( uk, Центральна виборча комісія України, commonly abbreviated in Ukrainian as ЦВК (''Tse-Ve-Ka''); sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukrai ...

registered Roman Stadniychuk of Batkivschyna and Oleksandr Kozub of

as people's deputies in place of Andrey Verevskiy and

Serhiy Vlasenko Serhiy Vlasenko ( uk, Сергій Володимирович Власенко; born on 7 March 1967 in LvivBiog ...

. In June 2013 people's deputies of Batkivschyna claimed they had been offered bribes of $2 million to $6 million for leaving the parties parliamentary faction, becoming member of the Party of Regions faction or for voting for legislation proposed by it.

Parliamentary factions and deputy groups summary

The ruling majority (225+ votes) is "situational" and officially consists of

and most unaffiliated members. Communists are officially in opposition to everyone but its parliamentary faction usually votes exactly the same as the Party of Regions parliamentary faction. The parliamentary opposition includes

UDAR The Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform ( uk, Український демократичний альянс за реформи Віталія Кличка; the acronym UDAR ( uk, УДАР) translates to "strike" or "punch", en, Ukrainian ...

, Fatherland and Freedom and other unaffiliated members.Ukraine's Opposition Again Blocks Parliament Podium

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

(4 April 2013)
Ukraine Opposition Obstructs Parliament

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asse ...

(5 March 2013)
Ukraine parliament reopens after four weeks, but fists fly again

per

(19 March 2013)
Tiahnybok also goes to Brussels to attend meeting of European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs

(27 August 2013)

References

External links

* {{Verkhovna Rada Ukrainian parliaments

Major events

December 2012-February 2013

March 2013-April 2013

June 2013-September 2013

Leadership

Members

Single-mandate constituencies

Autonomous Republic of Crimea

Cherkasy Oblast

Chernihiv Oblast

Changes in membership

Parliamentary factions and deputy groups summary

See also

References

External links