The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine at its meeting on Thursday withdrew the bill on anti-corruption courts (No. 6011) drafted by parliamentarians.

Some 235 MPs voted for the corresponding decision with the required minimum being 226, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

Bill No. 6011 on anti-corruption courts, registered by a group of people's deputies in February 2017, was introduced by the parliament to the session's agenda. Its removal from the agenda requires the relevant vote by MPs.

The parliament has repeatedly tried to remove this bill from consideration, in order to clear the way for the registration of a new initiative on this matter, however each time the required number of votes was lacking.

On December 7, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged lawmakers to remove the bill on the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Court in the country from the parliament's agenda and warned that otherwise he will have to submit his own version of the legislative initiative to the Verkhovna Rada.

"I am asking people's deputies to remove the old bill on anti-corruption courts from the agenda, as recommended by the Venice Commission and clear the way for a new bill," the head of state wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday morning.

The president recalled that it will be a month from the day when he appealed to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with a proposal to speed up the process of creating the High Anti-Corruption Court.