Oligarch Law: One Article Must Be Re-Voted, Razumkov Amendment and NACP Statements

The adopted law contains a legal conflict.

On September 23, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law on oligarchs. However, the law contains a legal conflict, so one article must be re-voted. We tell you everything known at this point. 

Razumkov's Amendment

Verkhovna Rada Speaker Dmytro Razumkov stated that lawmakers supported his amendment to the law on oligarchs and that the decision to recognize a person as an oligarch will be made by the NACP, not the NSDC. 

Dmytro Razumkov
Head of the Verkhovna Rada

Thank you to both the committee and the Verkhovna Rada for supporting my and my colleagues' amendment number 398! Now the NACP, upon the appeal of the special commission, will enter a person into the register of oligarchs. 

However, lawmakers supported an amendment that contradicts Razumkov's statement. It concerns amendments 398 and 406. 

In Razumkov's amendment (398), the decisive role in recognizing a person as an oligarch is played by the head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, who, upon the appeal of the commission on countering excessive influence of oligarchs, the Verkhovna Rada, the SBU and so on, enters the person into the list of oligarchs. 

The corresponding decision to recognize a person as an oligarch is issued in the form of an order and published on the NACP website. However, lawmakers also took into account amendment 406, which states that the decision to recognize a person as an oligarch is made by the NSDC, which will also maintain the Register of Oligarchs.

Razumkov himself was not at the session, as he had fallen ill with coronavirus again and is in self-isolation. 

Arakhamia's Statements

Servant of the People faction leader Davyd Arakhamia stated that if Speaker Razumkov had been at the parliament session and had spoken against the expedited consideration of the bill on oligarchs, it would have been a point of no return for the relations between the faction and Razumkov. 

David Arakhamia 
Head of the Servant of the People faction

I communicated with him and continue to communicate. I did not ask his position (regarding the law on oligarchs — ed.). He watched on television. He did not approve. He has his own position, it seems he said he would not have voted. We did not support his amendment, so he would not have voted. Nothing, you see, we work normally without him. I think Razumkov would not have supported such a procedure (expedited consideration of the bill — ed.). If he had been at work, we would have insisted and it would have been a bifurcation point (point of no return — ed.) for our problems. 

According to him, as of today everything is fine between the faction and Razumkov, since he was not at the session and did not speak out against the bill on oligarchs. 

Arakhamia noted that the “conflict is no longer public,” and that Servant of the People is waiting for the speaker's recovery, after which they will talk to him. He noted that he called Razumkov during the consideration of the bill. 

The press secretary of the Speaker told UP in a comment that “the speaker will answer all questions only after leaving self-isolation.” 

Legal Conflict

The adopted law on oligarchs contains a legal conflict, so one article must be re-voted. 

Yaroslav Zheleznyak
Head of the Holos faction

They rushed so much and pushed it through lawlessly yesterday that today they are already frantically trying to fix it! We said 100,500 times that there were legal errors. Now another vote in the Rada (under Article 131) is needed to fix the legal conflict. Otherwise they will not sign it. Three amendments (396, 398, 406) that contradict each other were taken into account at the same time. 

Zheleznyak stated that they will re-vote Article 5 of the law on how an oligarch is recognized as an oligarch. The lawmaker uses the phrase “re-vote the law.” 

NACP Statements

NACP Head Oleksandr Novikov told UP in a comment that the agency is not ready to enter oligarchs into the register, but if President Volodymyr Zelensky signs the law, it will have to. 

Oleksandr Novikov
Head of the NACP

The NACP does not yet have the final text of the law that the Verkhovna Rada voted on. However, judging by public information, the law currently contains two opposing norms: one says the NSDC must enter people into the Register of Oligarchs, the other says the NACP must. Since the rule of law is one of the basic values of the NACP team, we always follow the letter of the law. Therefore, if the president signs this law, of course we will implement it. However, in our opinion, such opposing norms must be eliminated. 

According to him, when the bill on oligarchs was drafted, no one consulted them. Regarding further actions to implement the law, the NACP will make a decision after the law enters into force. 

It is noted that the NACP's register of declarations is ready to include oligarchs' declarations. Units responsible for verifying declarations are ready to check them.