Draft law on dual citizenship doesn't foresee persecution of Russian passport holders – MP Mykysha
KYIV. Feb 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The draft law on dual citizenship in Ukraine does not provide for any persecution of Ukrainian citizens who also have a Russian passport, said a co-author of the bill, Dmytro Mykysha, a deputy from the Servant of the People faction.
There is a myth that supposedly we will persecute all citizens with Russian passports. No, for citizens who have one more foreign passport, or maybe several, we will provide the opportunity to come and voluntarily declare them," the MP said during a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday.
At the same time, he suggested that it is possible that between the first and second readings the draft law will be amended on the lines for submitting the declaration of receipt (availability) and termination of foreign citizenship (allegiance).
"We will expand some terms, in particular period for which it is necessary to declare them," he said.
As reported, on January 25, three MPs from the Servant of the People faction, Oleh Dunda, Oleksandr Aleksiychuk and Dmytro Mykysha, registered three bills that would permit to have dual citizenship.
In bill No. 4640, the authors propose to amend law on citizenship, which provides citizens of Ukraine with the right to obtain citizenship (allegiance) of a foreign state without losing the citizenship of Ukraine.
The proposed changes also allow foreigners to obtain Ukrainian citizenship without renouncing the citizenship of their country.
In addition, it is proposed to introduce a declaration of the presence (absence) of foreign citizenship (allegiance) and keeping records of Ukrainian citizens who have citizenship of other states.
Bill No. 4641 provides for the establishment of criminal liability for failure to inform a citizen of Ukraine of the citizenship (allegiance) of the aggressor state. For this it is proposed to punish with imprisonment from two to five years.
At the same time, bill No. 4642 proposes to amend the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and provide for the imposition of a fine from 20,000 to 20,000 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens (from UAH 340,000 to UAH 510,000) for violating the deadlines for submitting a declaration of receipt (availability), termination of foreign citizenship (allegiance) or the submission of deliberately false information in the declaration.
