Ukraine’s Parliament Extends Law on Special Status of Donbas

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine during its meeting on Tuesday, 15 December, extended the law on special procedure for local self-government in certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions for one year.

Lawmakers extended the validity of the document until 31 December 2021.

The Law of Ukraine “On Special Procedure for Local Self-Government in Certain Districts of Donetsk and Luhansk Regions” was adopted in 2014 and since then its validity has been extended several times.

The document defines the temporary procedure for organising local self-government, activities of local self-government bodies in certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in order to create conditions for normalisation of the situation, restoration of law and order, constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, rights and legitimate interests of legal entities, creation of conditions for the return of internally displaced persons to the abandoned places of permanent residence, their reintegration, and restoration of normal living conditions in populated localities of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and development of territories.

Earlier, the Office of the President reported it had prepared the new bill on the special status of Donbas in which the so-called “Steinmeier formula” was taken into account. The bill is to be agreed upon at a Normandy format meeting.

Bohdan Marusyak