The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Andriy Parubiy, expressed confidence that the draft bill on decentralization will be approved, but without the clause regarding the "special status" of the Donbas region.

As 112 Ukraine reports, the parliament speaker says that decentralization is one of the key reforms in Ukraine, receiving support both from the Parliament and the public, but it should not be approved together with the paragraph about the specifics of local self-government in the breakaway republics of the Donbas.

"Unfortunately, this clause has caused many conflicts and nation-wide debates. And in fact this point, which depends on the fulfillment of Minsk agreements by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, prevents the implementation of this important and key reform," Parubiy said.

According to him, this clause cannot be approved now, as the separatists continue to increase military activity in the conflict zone. But between the first and the second readings of the bill "no clause may be removed, no point or comma may be changed.” Therefore Parubiy believes that it is necessary to remove this clause from the text of the draft bill and to separate it into an independent draft amendment to the Constitution, "and then again it will require the decision of the Constitutional Court and consideration during the first and second readings.”

Earlier, the president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, noted that the changes to the Constitution of Ukraine, in terms of decentralization and the so-called "special status" of the Donbas, may be approved only "after the withdrawal of Russian troops.”

Armed confrontation between Ukrainian security forces and pro-Russian separatists has persisted since April 2014. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the conflict and does not keep regular troops in eastern Ukraine. According to the latest UN data, since the beginning of the fighting in the Donbas region, 9,371 people have been killed and 21,523 people have been injured.

  Ukraine, Donbas

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