The blocking of parliament by the opposition does not help resolve urgent social issues that require the revision of the budget and tax legislation, in particular, allocate additional funds from the budget for the sowing campaign, Verkhovna Rada Deputy Speaker Ihor Kaletnik has said.
In an interview with ZN.UA, he recalled that almost every year, before the beginning of the sowing campaign, the parliament introduces budget amendments, allocating additional funds to farmers for losses incurred in connection with the killing of winter crops.
"This year's winter was severe. There was snow and rain, which formed an ice crust on the fields. This means that there was no access of the air to crops. That's why I don't rule out that it will be necessary to reseed a large percentage of winter crops," he said.
"Every year, following such an inventory, the Cabinet of Ministers makes the decision to revise the budget and allocate additional funds for reseeding, about UAH 200-300 million. This should also be done this year," Kaletnik said.
He also noted that his colleagues in parliament, not belonging to the opposition, are waiting for a government report and want to see its economic development stimulation program.
"The government submitted 24 bills for consideration as a priority. Of these, 17 concern economic issues. How can the executive branch of government achieve results if the parliament demonstrates its inactivity?" he said.
As reported, opposition deputies blocked the rostrum and presidium of parliament for nearly three weeks - from February 5 to February 22, demanding the introduction of personal voting. After it was unblocked, the parliament held one plenary meeting on February 22 and announced a break until March 5.
On March 5 and 6, members of opposition factions again blocked the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada in protest against a lawsuit in court to strip MP Serhiy Vlasenko, a defense lawyer for former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, of his parliamentary powers. On March 7, they continued blocking the parliament in protest against the court's decision to deprive Vlasenko of his mandate.
Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Rybak said that the parliament could start working on Tuesday, March 19. However, he did not rule out that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych could use his right to dissolve parliament.
