President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has returned with his proposals the law amending the regulation of financing the activities of political parties for revision to the Verkhovna Rada, adopted by deputies on November 2, 2021.

According to the data published on the website of the Ukrainian parliament, the document was returned with the president's proposals on November 18, and on the same day it was sent for consideration by the specialized Committee on Legal Policy.

As reported, on November 9, Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), Oleksandr Novikov, has called on President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to veto and return the law, which amends the regulation of financing the activities of political parties, for revision to the Verkhovna Rada.

The Agency emphasized that during the voting, the deputies made changes to corresponding bill No. 5253-1, which may allow parties to hide their real expenses.

In particular, the law contains separate rules that continue to create preconditions for the opaque activities of political parties, since it does not resume the parties' report, which was suspended in early 2020 due to quarantine restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On November 2, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on changing the procedure for terminating the financing of political parties.

The document provides for the improvement of the procedures for stopping and terminating state funding of the statutory activities of political parties.

The bill leaves to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) the authority to control party finances and at the same time proposes to clarify certain grounds for stopping and terminating state funding of the statutory activities of the political forces.

It is about the failure of the parties to submit a report on property, income, expenses and liabilities of a financial nature, the submission of a report in which false information is indicated that differ from reliable information in the amount of more than one hundred times the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons established on January 1 of the reporting year, and also if such a report was drawn up in gross violation of the statutory requirements.

The bill also proposes to provide parties with the opportunity, if circumstances are identified that serve as grounds for stopping or terminating state funding, to eliminate them or provide written explanations with the necessary documents and evidence.

According to the bill, additional requirements are also established on the validity and promulgation of the decisions of the NACP on the suspension or termination of state financing of parties.

In addition, the bill increases to 100 living wages for able-bodied persons the size of the discrepancy between the information specified in the party's report and reliable information for stopping or terminating state funding, and also proposes to provide for the possibility of placing political force funds (including state funding) on deposit accounts with the purpose of obtaining passive income in the form of interest (such passive income is not considered a contribution to the benefit of a political party).