MPs propose, without waiting for the de-occupation of the Crimean Peninsula, to settle the issues of the administrative-territorial structure of the Autonomous Republic.

Corresponding bill No. 9548 was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on Tuesday, the parliament's website reports.

"Bringing the administrative-territorial structure in line with the key developments of Ukraine in this area over the past almost ten years is the most important activity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, since administrative-territorial units are the territorial basis for the activities of state authorities on the ground. This, in turn, will form the legal prerequisites for the unity and consistency of the processes of restoration of public authorities of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and the return of the temporarily occupied territory under the general jurisdiction of Ukraine," the explanatory note to the bill says.

According to the explanatory note, the purpose of the adoption of the draft law is to create legal prerequisites for the restoration and stable functioning of the state authorities of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol after almost a decade of temporary occupation of the region by the Russian Federation and the full integration of the Crimean Peninsula into the public administration system of the aggressor state.

The bill provides for the creation of a modern system of administrative and territorial structure of Crimea at the sub-regional level.

The authors of the bill propose to the Cabinet of Ministers within a month to determine the administrative centers of territorial communities and their territories in the ARC, as a geospatial basis for the formation of an updated and modern administrative-territorial structure of the basic level.

According to the bill, the renaming of individual settlements and districts of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, approved by the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada "On renaming individual settlements and districts of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol" dated May 12, 2016, is carried out immediately, without waiting for "the moment of the return of the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol under the general jurisdiction of Ukraine,"which is provided for by the current legislation.

The bill proposes that the resolution of the Parliament "On the formation and liquidation of districts" in the part of the ARC should also enter into force immediately, and not from the moment of the return of the temporarily occupied Crimea to Ukraine, as follows from the legislation.

The bill proposes to oblige the Cabinet of Ministers to carry out the procedure of liquidation or reorganization of district state administrations within three months in accordance with the new zoning of the ARC.

In addition, the Cabinet of Ministers is invited to develop and submit to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law on the specifics of restoring public power in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.

Vitaliy Bezhin (Servant of the People faction), Roman Lozynsky (Holos), Anton Yatsenko (Batkivschyna) are among the authors of the bill.

Crimea and Sevastopol have been temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation since February 20, 2014.