The current Parliament had 1.7 times more working days than the Parliament of VII convocation. President and Government demonstrate much higher efficiency coefficient in law-making activities compared to MPs who have developed only 13% initiatives that received Parliament’s approval (368 of 2.777). Thus, 74% of introduced presidential legislative initiatives (26 of 35) and 35% of Cabinet of Ministers' initiatives (56 of 159) were approved by the Parliament. You can know more about law-making activities, discipline in the Parliament, joint voting, problems and recommendations to enhance effective performance of MPs from this report.

SUMMARY

On 7 March, it was six month since MPs of Ukraine of VIII convocation have taken the authority. From 27 November 2014 to 27 May 2015, Ukrainian Parliament has had 48 plenary days and held 61 plenary sessions, while the previous convocation of the Parliament had only 28 plenary days. MPs were highly active in preparation of legislative initiatives, and registered 2,965 legislative initiatives in the Verkhovna Rada (94% of the total number of registered initiatives).

Only 25% (742) of all registered initiatives were considered by the Parliament, and 60% of these 742 were approved (451). Representatives of the AUU Batkivshchyna are the most active law-makers in the current Parliament; each of them have registered 49 bills in average. Members of the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko and non-faction MPs have the second and third highest average number of registered bills per person – 33 and 26 bills respectively. However, such high number of registered bills shows not only that MPs are striving to implement their ideas, but also that there is a problem resulting from a vast number of alternative initiatives and no planning system for drafting them.

Another problem that is usually topical for Ukrainian parliamentarism is its institutional independence and pressure of other state and political institutions. The Parliament has adopted 451 draft laws and resolutions, 81% of which were initiated by MPs of Ukraine. Such a high percentage shows that Ukrainian Parliament can play a leading and independent role in the change of legislative regulation. At the same time, the President and Government demonstrate much higher efficiency coefficient in law-making activities compared to MPs who have developed only 13% initiatives which were adopted. Thus, 74% of introduced presidential legislative initiatives (26 of 35) and 35% of Cabinet of Ministers' initiatives (56 of 159) were approved by the Parliament. Having summarized the bills adopted by the Parliament, we can state that the current convocation is focused on activities of law-enforcement bodies, tax and customs policy, and national security and defense.

According to OPORA's calculations, the People's Front faction has supported draft decisions initiated by the Parliament the most often (in 69.94% of cases). As for the ruling coalition, the Samopomich Union supported the draft laws and resolutions in the agenda the least (53.24%). The Opposition Block has ignored the voting for most of the issues on the agenda, and supported only some draft laws and resolutions (only 8.16% of votes "for"). These calculations demonstrate political strategies of parliamentary factions. On one side, the Opposition Block is trying to show by such ignorance of the voting that it is the only party in opposition. On the other side, some members of the ruling coalition are not going to take political responsibility for all decisions of the Parliament (particularly the Samopomich).

Another problem that is still topical for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is attendance on plenary meetings. Only 22 MPs of Ukraine have visited all plenary meetings in the Parliament. Members of the People's Front turned out to be the most disciplined. They have visited 88% of plenary meetings in average. Members of the Revival deputy group showed the worst attendance of plenary meetings (69%). The attendance of parliamentary committees is the same: MPs of the People's Front show the best attendance (87.67%), the Revival group – the worst (48.84%). The Committee for Informatization and Communications has had the best attendance for the first half-year (86.18%), and members of the Committee on National Security and Defense were the least disciplined (average attendance – 60.75%).

To summarize, the following issues have been topical during the first half-year of parliamentary activities: low attendance in both Parliament and VRU Committees; MPs fail to fulfill their duty and vote "for", "against" or "abstained" on agenda items while being present in the session hall; there is a need to develop and introduce a standardized system to assess legislative initiatives and plan law-making activities.

LAW-MAKING ACTIVITIES IN THE VERKHOVNA RADA OF UKRAINE

According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada is the only law-making body. Although only the Parliament can adopt laws, legislative initiatives can be submitted by the President of Ukraine, MPs of Ukraine, and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

President, Government, and MPs of Ukraine of VIII convocation have prepared during the first half-year of parliamentary activities 2,965 legislative initiatives. This number includes 1,797 draft laws, 1,164 draft resolutions and 1 draft statement (recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court with respect to crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by senior officials of the Russian Federation, which led to grave consequences and mass murders of Ukrainian citizens).

Almost 94% of all legislative initiatives were introduced by MPs of Ukraine. 2,777 introduced bills were drafted by MPs individually or conjointly, 159 initiatives were drafted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and 35 draft documents were introduced by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

The Parliament of VIII convocation has registered more bills than the previous convocation of the Parliament for the first 100 days. MPs of VII convocation had registered 1,008 bills for the first six months, what is 13 % less than MPs of the current convocation have registered.

However, the fact that MPs of Ukraine are so active law-making and even more active than the Government and the President can be interpreted in some ways. From one side, they are motivated to implement their election promises on the legislative level, follow their political programs, and demonstrate their personal productivity. On the other side, such vast amount of bills drafted by MPs can be a sign of inefficient coordination of political and professional positions between them, as well as the absence of law-making planning in the Parliament. Besides that, the quality of these bills is not verified systematically.

The law-making process in Ukraine includes some stages starting with the preparation of a bill, its registration in the Parliament and consideration by VRU Committees, and ending with consideration of the bill on a plenary meeting, signing by the President of Ukraine and publishing.

As for subjects of registered legislative initiatives (356), most of them belong to the competence of the Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government. However, most of them (308) are draft resolutions, and there are only 48 draft laws. Talking about draft laws registered in the Parliament, most of them concern tax and customs policy (297) and legislative support of law-enforcement (191). The rarest subjects in law-making activities were informatization and communications (7 drafts) and European Integration (12).

Thus, there are four the most loaded committees: Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government, Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy, Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement, and Committee on Judicial Policy and Justice. At the same time, Committee for Informatization and Communications, Committee on European Integration, Committee on Transport and Committee on Preventing and Combating Corruption are the least loaded with work.

CONSIDERATION OF LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES IN THE VERKHOVNA RADA OF VIII CONVOCATION

Verkhovna Rada of VIII convocation was working with higher intensity that the Parliament of the previous convocation. Current Parliament has had 48 plenary days for the first six months of activities, while the previous convocation of the parliament had only 28 plenary days.

After six months of its activities, the Parliament of VIII convocation has managed to consider 25% of all registered draft laws and draft resolutions of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (742 of 2,965 bills).

471 of 742 draft initiatives considered by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, what is a little more than a half (60%), were successfully adopted. 81% of adopted laws and resolutions were initiated by MPs (368 of 451), 13% by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (57 of 451) and 6% by the President (26 of 451).

However, taking into consideration the ratio of legislative initiatives registered by each legal subject of legislative initiative and those successfully adopted, the President and Government have much higher efficiency coefficient in law-making than MPs. Thus, 74% of legislative initiatives introduced by the President (26 of 35) were supported and became laws. Law-making efficiency of the Government is smaller – 35% (56 of 159). As for MPs, only 13% of introduced legislative initiatives were supported and became laws.  

Most of the decisions taken by the Parliament were under authority of the Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement (41 approved initiatives), Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy (40 approved initiatives), and the Committee on National Security and Defense (32 approved initiatives). The smallest number of approved initiatives belonged to the authority of the Committee on Transport and Committee for Informatization and Communications – 1 initiative each.

ACTIVITIES OF MPs AND DEPUTY FACTIONS

Civil Network OPORA has analyzed activities of MPs and deputy factions on the basis of the following indicators: 1) law-making activities; 2) making inquiries; 3) speeches on plenary sittings of the Parliament.

Members of the Petro Poroshenko Block the most often were authors or co-authors of bills registered in the Parliament – they took part in preparation of 2,392 bills. Members of the People's Front have prepared as authors or participated in the preparation as co-authors 1,725 bills. However, such high numbers are quite expected if we talk about the Petro Poroshenko Block and People's Front, taking into consideration their large membership. Non-faction MPs have drafted 1,080 bills and took the third place in law-making activeness rating, 926 bills were drafted or co-drafted by members of the AUU Batkivshchyna, 693 – Radical Party of Oleh Liashko, 517 – Samopomich faction, 468 – Opposition Block faction. Members of the Economic Development and the Revival groups of MPs have participated in the preparation of 274 and 211 bills respectively.

However, if we take into consideration the number of members in factions or groups of MPs and calculate the average number of bills per member, the activeness indicators will be different. For example, the AUU Batkivshchyna has the highest number of bills per member (49). The corresponding average number of bills per member in the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko – 33 bills, People's Front – 21, Petro Poroshenko Block – 17, Samopomich – 17, Opposition Block – 12, Volia Narody group – 14, and Economic Development group – 10. The average number of bills per non-faction MP is 26. Thus, despite the Petro Poroshenko Block has participated in development of the largest number of bills, the AUU Batkivshchyna had the heaviest load in this aspect of parliamentary activities.

However, the number of bills drafted by the certain MPs cannot be a single criterion of their efficiency. The assessment of law-making activities should be definitely based on the quality of approved initiatives and propositions, but not the quantity. Nonetheless, bills introduced by MPs can be used to track their political and professional direction, as well as consistency of their positions. Since the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of VIII convocation has entered into operation, the following MPs participated in development of the largest number of draft laws and resolutions: Serhii Vlasenko (307), Olena Ledovskykh (307), Olena Boiko (261), Oleksii Honcharenko (229). However, it should be mentioned that these MPs participated in the drafting of so many draft laws and resolutions only because they are members of the Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government which is responsible for the preparation of Parliament's resolutions on announcement of early local elections. Talking about meaningful draft laws, the most active were: Yurii Levchenko (111), Mykhailo Holovko (104), Oleh Sukhovskyi (96), Ole Marchenko (95), Andrii Illienko (94) and Oleh Liashko (93).

According to OPORA's calculations, MP Oleh Liashko was the most active in consideration of agenda items on plenary meetings of the Parliament during the first six months of its activities who took the floor 205 times. The other most active speakers of the current convocation: Oleh Bereziuk (Samopomich, 117 speeches), Yurii Lutsenko (Petro Poroshenko Block, 115 speeches), Viktor Halasiuk (Radical Party of Oleh Liashko, 90 speeches), and Serhii Soboliev (AUU Batkivshchyna, 84 speeches). Viktoriia Siumar became the most active member of the People's Front faction (73 speeches), Opposition Block – Oleksandr Dolzhenov (49 speeches), Economic Development group – Vitalii Khomutynnik (17 speeches), Volia Narodu – Ihor Yeremeiev (13 speeches). As for non-faction MPs, Yurii Levchenko  was the most active on plenary sittings (96 speeches).

As for the average number of speeches per member, the most active faction was the AUU Batkivshchyna and Radical Party of Oleh Liashko (25 speeches per member in average), and Samopomich (15 speeches per member in average). The averages for the other parties are the following: People's Front – 10 speeches per member; Opposition Block – 8 speeches; Petro Poroshenko Block – 7 speeches; Revival group – 5 speeches; the Volia Narodu – 3 speech, non-faction MPs – 9 speeches.

One of the most important instruments an MP has is a parliamentary inquiry. MP of Ukraine has the right to make an inquiry to the President of Ukraine, bodies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, officials of other state authorities and local self-government bodies, directors of enterprises, institutions and organizations and receive an official answer concerning issues in their authority.

MPs of Ukraine have sent nearly 2,420 inquiries to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. 801 of them were prepared by members of Petro Poroshenko Block, 533 by non-faction MPs, 387 by People's Front, and 248 by Samopomich. At the same time, Revival group, AUU Batkivshchyna faction, Radical Party of Oleh Liashko, Opposition Block, and Volia Narodu have prepared 104, 93, 92, and 71 inquiries respectively. As for inquiries sent by MPs, this instrument was the most often used by Ruslan Solvar (PPB) who has sent 89 inquiries, Yakiv Bezbakh (non-faction) – 79 inquiries; and Andrii Illienko (AUU Svoboda) – 68 inquiries.

The percentage of individual inquiries is much higher (62.35 %) than of collective inquiries (37.65 %). As for collective inquiries, the largest number of MPs had signed inquiries concerning: withdrawal of diplomatic passports from MPs of VII convocation who voted for “dictatorship laws” (40 signatures); “green” tariffs on electricity (40 signatures); and the situation on air travel market (31). The largest number of inquiries were sent to the Prosecutor's General Office of Ukraine (405); the Ministry of Internal Affairs is on the second place – 162 inquiries; the Ministry of Infrastructure – 103. Inquiries the most often concerned adherence to the law (736), economics (261), statements and complaints filed by the voters (135); the least often – environmental issues (38), humanitarian issues (27) and law-making (6).

However, there are 10 MPs in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine who didn't prepare any inquiries for these six months, didn't take the floor on plenary sittings, and didn't participate in preparation of bills[1]. Nadiia Savcehnko is one of such MPs. She's illegally detained in pretrial detention center in the Russian Federation and, therefore, can not implement her duties as an MPs.

DEPUTY FACTIONS AND GROUPS AND THEIR POLITICAL POSITION/VOTING

Deputy factions and groups and their voting

For the first half-year of its activities, from 27 November 2014 to 27 May 2015, Ukrainian Parliament has held 61 plenary sessions. Thus, the Parliament voted on around 1,374 agenda items.

Taking into consideration the average number of votes "for", "against", and "abstained" by different factions (see Table 1), we can state that representatives of People's Front the most often supported draft laws under consideration of the Parliament (in 69.94 %), the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko and Petro Poroshenko Block share the second and the third place with 67.42 % and 61.87 % respectively. As for the ruling coalition, the Samopomich Union supported the draft laws and resolutions in the agenda the least (53.24 %).

The Opposition Block had radically different indicators than the other parties in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Thus, members of this party usually ignored the obligation to vote, and even when they were present in the Parliament, they voted on 12.82 % agenda items. In general, the Opposition Block supported draft laws and resolutions the least (only 8.16 % of votes "for"). Besides that, its members the most often ignored the voting (in 42.20 % of votings) while being present in the session hall, if compared to the other factions.

Having analyzed the voting results for this the reporting period, we can state that Ukrainian parliamentarians usually don't choose to vote "against" the draft laws and resolutions on the agenda. Non-faction MPs vote against the most often (4.13 %), and the Opposition Block goes after them (3.83 %). The other groups and factions push the button "against" in general from 0.9 % (the People's Front faction and Volia Narodu group) to 3 % (the Samopomich Union faction) of times. MPs also almost never choose to push the button "abstain". It's used in general from 0.47 % (the People's Front faction) to 1.98 % (non-faction MPs).

We've also noticed than many MPs don't vote despite they are registered on a sitting and, therefore, are present in the Parliament. Such position can be considered as evasion of their duties as MPs, particularly an obligation to participate in consideration of items on the agenda. The Opposition Block faction didn't vote in 42.2 % of votings, and only Revival group had ignored even more votings – 43.19 %. At the same time, Radical Party of Oleh Liashko has the smallest percentage of ignored votings (17.03 %).

As for attendance during the consideration and voting, the certain members of the Volia Narodu were absent on 49.22 % of considerations, Revival group – 37.66 %, non-faction MPs – 43.96 %, and the Opposition Block – 44.99 %. Thus, it's impossible to determine their political position concerning agenda items. Representatives of the People's Front are the most disciplined in this context – they were absent only on 10.73 % of votings on agenda items.

If we take both indicators – the absence and refusal to vote, we can see that many MPs fail to fulfill their duties in the Parliament on a satisfactory level. Thus, almost one third of MPs (138 persons, 31.58 %) were either absent during the voting or were present but didn't vote on 50% of votings.

Joint voting of factions

OPORA has also analyzed how factions voted jointly and which influence the certain political parties have on voting results. Having studied the official voting results, we determined which factions have successfully the biggest number of political compromises during the voting for legislative initiatives. Joint vote is considered successful, if more than a half of MPs affiliated to a certain faction participated in the voting for draft law or resolution. Thus, size of the faction itself doesn't influence the calculation. The People's Front and Petro Poroshenko Block have strongest political partnership in the Parliament – they have voted for 94% initiatives together; the People's Front and Radical Party of Oleh Liashko are on the second places – 92%; Petro Poroshenko Block and Radical Party of Oleh Liashko – 90%; People's Front and AUU Batkivshchyna – 77%; and Radical Party of Oleh Liashko and AUU Batkivshchyna supported 75% of considered bills and resolutions together. Opposition Block has rarely jointly voted with other factions – in 1% to 3% of cases.

OPORA has investigated which laws arose much controversy, causing prolonged negotiations and even blockings or fight. The most significant was the Law of Ukraine on Special Self-Government Procedures in Certain Districts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. It received almost all votes of People's Front (94%), Petro Poroshenko Block (85%) and Volia Narodu group (84%); Samopomich gave a half of its votes (61%) as well as non-faction MPs (43%); Opposition Block, Radical Party, AUU Batkivshchyna and Economic Development group didn't vote. For example, the Law of Ukraine on the State budget of Ukraine for 2015 was supported by almost all members of People's Front (96 %), Radical Party (90 %), Economic Development group (89 %, and Samopomich (84 %); AUU Batkivshchyna and Petro Poroshenko Block gave a little less votes – 74 % and 73 % respectively; non-faction MPs gave only 14% of votes, and representatives of Opposition Block didn't vote. Another controversial Law on Joint Stock Companies, which concerns the quorum for general assembly of joint-stock companies with majority state corporate rights, received only 6% and 16% of votes from People's Front and Economic Development group respectively; AUU Batkivshchyna, Samopomich and Radical Party gave 84%, 81% and 77% of votes respectively.

Personal voting of MPs of Ukraine

During six months of its activities, the Parliament voted on 1,374 initiatives. Having analyzed this data, we've discovered that I.D. Sporysh from the Petro Poroshenko Block has the most often supported them (90,9% of votes "for"), as well as members of People's Front A. Parubii (89%) and O. Boiko (87.1%).

Non-faction MPs voted "against" the most often: Ia. Bezbakh (19.95 % votes "against"), Yu.V. Levchenko (17.48 %), A.Yu. Illienko (17.18 %). A lot of current MPs ignore the voting process and doesn't express any definite positions during consideration of draft laws. Most of such MPs belong to the Opposition Block, the Economic Development and Volia Narodu groups, and non-faction MPs. They took the first 34 places on this indicator. The following MPs choose not to vote the most ofthen: S.M. Larin from Opposition Block (didn't vote on 83 % considerations), V.V. Zubyk (79.6 %) and L.M. Klimov (74 %) from Revival group.

Besides illegally imprisoned N. Savchenko, the following MPs have missed the largest number of considerations in the Parliament: non-faction MPs D. Yarosh (95.6%) and K.V. Zhevaho (93.87%), and an «old timer» in the Parliament Yu.L. Zviahilskyi (93.72%) – member of the Opposition Block faction.

Four MPs – non-faction MPs D.O. Shentsev and Ye.V. Muraiev, and members of Opposition Block faction Yu.L. Zviahilskyi and S.V. Liovochkin voted "for", "against" or "abstained" not more than 30 times each on consideration of 1,374 draft laws and resolutions. In all the other cases they either were absent or didn't vote.

DISCIPLINE OF MPs OF UKRAINE

Before opening of every plenary session, Members of Parliament shall be registered in person by demonstration of a personal parliamentary ID card and personally confirm their presence with their signatures (Law of Ukraine on the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine). Electronic registration happens in the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada through an electronic system and parliamentary ID card. Payroll is carried out on the basis of written registration data.

According to the written registration data, the Parliament has held 61 plenary sittings, and only 22 MPs attended all plenary sitting without an exception. The smallest number of plenary sessions visited: Andrii Biletskyi (10%), Dmytro Yarosh (13%), Vitalii Chepynoha (23%), Kostiantyn Zhevaho (26%), Serhii Pashynskyi (28%) and Dmytro Sviatash (28%). Member of the AUU Batkivshchyna faction Nadiia Savchenko didn't attend any plenary sittings, as long as she is illegally detained in pretrial detention center in the Russian Federation now. As for non-faction MP Dmytro Yarosh, he takes active part in the anti-terrorist operation in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. MP Andrii Biletskyi has low attendance because he leads patrolling regiment of the Azov special police, Main Department of MIA in Kyiv oblast.

If we take averages of attendance at plenary sittings, the People's Front turned out to be the most disciplined (88 % attendance). Members of the Revival group showed the worst attendance at plenary meetings (69 %).

ATTENDENCE AT MEETINGS OF VRU COMMITTEES

Each MPs is obliged to attend meetings of committees, according to Article 24(4) of the Law of Ukraine on the Status of National Deputies, "each MP shall personally attend and participate in meetings of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and its bodies which membership he holds". Besides that, Article 24(9) of this Law specifies that each MP shall attend meetings of committee and sub-committee which membership he holds, and participate in their work.

On 4 December 2014, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has created 27 committees and a Special Control Commission on Privatization. For the first six months of the Parliament of VIII convocation, MPs of the People's Front show the best attendance at meetings of VRU committees – 87.67 %. The Samopomich faction has 86.34 % attendance; Petro Poroshenko Block – 80.45 %; AUU Batkivshchyna faction – 76.78 %; Radical Party – 73.7%; Opposition Block – 50.13 %; Volia Narodu group – 49.13 %; Revival group – 48.84 %; and non-faction MPs – 57.84 %;

The largest factions Petro Poroshenko Block and People's Front have delegated their representatives to all 27 committees; Opposition Block – to 26 committees; Samopomich – 25; Radical Party – 20; AUU Batkivshchyna – 15. Volia Narodu and Revival groups of MPs have representatives in 13 different committees. Non-faction MPs are represented in 15 VRU Committees.

Table 2 Attendance at meetings of VRU committees divided into factions and groups (December 2014 - May 2015). Data displayed in percentage.

According to the minutes, the Committee for Informatization and Communications has the best attendance percentage for the period from December 2014 to May 2015 – 86.18 %. The Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure is on the second place – 85.83 % attendance. The Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information Policy – on the third with 85.71 %. The least disciplined in the period from December 2014 to May 2015 were the following committees: Committee on National Security and Defense (60.75 % attendance); Committee on Construction, Urban Development, Housing and Communal Services and Regional Policy (66.03 %); and Committee on Affairs of Veterans, Combatants, ATO Participants and Disabled People (66.96 %).

Table 3 Attendance of MPs on meetings of VRU Committees of VIII convocation (from December 2014 to May 2015)

As for the Committee on National Security and Defense, taking into consideration military operations continuing in eastern Ukraine, it has to be focused on development of laws aimed to increase defensive capacity of Ukraine, development of a strategy to return occupied territories under the control of Ukrainian government, and creation of a new concept for foreign and defense policy. Thus, low attendance in this committee was not expected.

However, having analyzed the membership and individual attendance, we've managed to find an explanation for it. The committee consists of 19 MPs. The Committee has held 25 meetings from December 2014 to May 2015. MP from the AUU Batkivshchyna Nadiia Savchenko, Ukrainian pilot illegally detained in Russian prison since July 2014, was absent at all meetings of the Committee. Member of the Volia Narodu group Viacheslav Bohuslaiev has also misses all meetings of the Committee (according to minutes of meetings #1-24, not including minutes #21, which is not available in open access). Two MPs, so-called “battalion commanders” also have low attendance, as long as they more often stay on the frontline than in session hall. Thus, non-faction MP Andrii Biletskyi, commander of the Azov regiment defending Mariupol, was present on 1 of 24 meetings of the Committee. Another non-faction MP Dmytro Yarosh, leader of the Right Sector, who was wounded in the ATO area in January 2015 and stayed for treatment in Dnipropetrovsk for a long time, was present on two meetings.

However, there are 6 more MPs besides Viacheslav Bohuslaiev and Nadiia Savchenko who missed all meetings of their committees: These MPs are:

• Oleksandr Presman from the Revival deputy group, who missed all 17 meetings of the Committee on Budget (according to Minutes #1-17 of Committee meetings);
• Mykhailo Dobkin from the Opposition Block faction, who missed 16 meetings of the Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government (according to Minutes #1-16 of Committee meetings).
• Non-faction MP Pavlo Baloha missed 15 meetings of the Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy (according to Minutes #1-15 of Committee meetings).
• Non-faction MP Kostiantyn Zhevaho missed 20 meetings of the Committee on Judicial Policy and Justice (according to Minutes #1-20 of Committee meetings).
• Yurii Boiko from the Opposition Block missed 14 meetings of the Committee on Affairs of Veterans, Combatants, ATO Participants and Disabled People (according to Minutes #1-14 of Committee meetings).
• Ihor Yeremeiev (Volia Narodu) missed 14 meetings of the Committee on Affairs of Veterans, Combatants, ATO Participants and Disabled People (according to Minutes #1-14 of Committee meetings).
• First Deputy Head of People's Front faction Andrii Teteruk was present on 21 of 24 meetings of the Committee on National Security and Defense (according to minutes of meetings #1-24, not including minutes #21, which is not available in open access). The MP has 87.5% attendance.
• Leader of the Samopomich faction Oleh Bereziuk was present on 13 of 16 meetings of the Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government (according to Minutes #1-16 of Committee meetings). The MP has 81.25 % attendance.
• Leader of the Petro Poroshenko Block Yurii Lutsenko was present on 8 of 20 meetings of the Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement (according to Minutes #1-12 of Committee meetings). The MP has 40 % attendance.
• Co-head of the Revival group Vitalii Khomutynnik was present on 6 of 15 meetings of the Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy (according to Minutes #1-15 of Committee meetings). The MP has 40 % attendance.
• Leader of the AUU Batkivshchyna faction Yuliia Tymoshenko was member of the Committee on European Integration, but later changed it to the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and International Relations. From 5 December 2014 to 15 January 2015, Yuliia Tymoshenko was present on 2 of 7 meetings of the Committee on European Integration. From 15 January 2015 to May 2015, Yuliia Tymoshenko was present on 1 of 4 meetings of the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and International Relations. As for committees, her total attendance percentage is 27.27 %.
• Leader of the Radical Party Oleh Liashko became member of the Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy on 11 December 2014. The Committee has already held two meetings before this date. Thus, from 11 December 2014 to May 2015, Oleh Liashko was present on 4 of 15 meetings of the Committee (according to Minutes #1-15 of Committee meetings). The MP has 26.67 % attendance.
• Co-head of the Revival group Viktor Bondar was present on 3 of 12 meetings of the Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure and Support to Work of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (according to Minutes #1-12 of Committee meetings). The MP has 25 % attendance.
• Co-head of the Revival group Valerii Pysarenko was present on 2 of 20 meetings of the Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy (according to Minutes #1-20 of Committee meetings). The MP has 10 % attendance.
• Leader of the Opposition Block Yurii Boiko and leader of the Volia Narodu group Ihor Yeremeiev missed 14 meetings of the Committee on Affairs of Veterans, Combatants, ATO Participants and Disabled People (according to Minutes #1-14 of Committee meetings). The MP has 0 % attendance.
• To develop and introduce a standardized assessment system to verify the quality of legislative initiatives and plan law-making activities;
• To secure that MPs of Ukraine fully adhere to the the Law of Ukraine on the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine concerning written registration at plenary sittings;
• To secure implementation of the Article 33 (5) of the Law of Ukraine on the Status of MP of Ukraine saying "MPs who fail to fulfill their duties without valid reasons shall be deprived of remuneration for such days by the corresponding committee responsible for ethics of MPs";
• To minimize incidents when MPs don't vote despite they are present in session hall during a voting, to secure that MPs fulfill their duty as an MP to participate in the voting on agenda items considered by the Parliament;
• To secure implementation of the Law of Ukraine on the Status of National Deputies requiring saying that each MP shall attend meetings of committee and sub-committee which membership he holds, and participate in their work;
• To finish the process of securing the impossibility to violate constitutional requirements concerning personal voting by legislative and technical means;

OPORA has also analyzed how leaders of deputy factions attend meetings of committees, who, according to the Article 6 of the Law of Ukraine on Committees of the Verkhovna, cannot hold positions of committee heads, first deputy and deputy heads, as well as secretaries of committees:

According to the results of 2014 Parliamentary elections, 422 MPs were elected, including 371 men and 51 women. Petro Poroshenko Block has the largest number of women MPs – 16; People's Front – 12; Samopomich Union – 10; AUU Batkivshchyna – 5; Radical Party and Opposition Block have three women MPs each. Vidrodzhennia and Volia Narodu groups don't have any women MPs in their membership. Two women MPs are not affiliated in any faction or group. These women are: Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oksana Syroid, elected by the party list of the Samopomich Union (according to the Article 59(2) of the Law of Ukraine on the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, First Deputy and Deputy Chairmen of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine shall not be affiliated in any faction or group of MPs); and Iryna Suslova, also elected by the party list of the Samopomich Union, who was excluded from the faction for voting contrary to the position of the faction (she voted "for" the appointment of Viktor Shokin as the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, while the Samopomich voted "against").

The Samopomich faction has the largest percentage of women MPs from the total membership – 33 %. AUU Batkivshchyna has 26 % of women, Radical Party – 14 %, People's Front – 12 %, Petro Poroshenko Block – 11 %, Opposition Block – 7 %, non-faction – 5 %.

According to the gender analysis of VRU committees, women received 24 of 139 managerial positions. In particular, women MPs in the Samopomich faction and Petro Poroshenko Block received 8 managerial positions per party, women in People's Front received 6 managerial positions in committees; women in AUU Batkivshchyna and Radical Party of Oleh Liashko received one managerial position per party. Besides that, 6 of 27 committees are chaired by women MPs. Committee on European Integration – Iryna Herashchenko (PPB); Committee on Foreign Affairs – Hanna Hopko (Samopomich); Committee on Science and Education – Liliia Hrynevych (PF); Committee on Health Care – Olha Bohomolets (PPB); Committee on Social Policy, Employment and Pension Provision – Liudmyla Denysova (PF); and Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information Policy – Viktoriia Siumar (PF).

Table 4. Gender analysis of attendance in VRU Committees of VIII convocation (for December 2014 – May 2015).

It should be mentioned that women MPs have proven to be better disciplined than men MPS when it comes to attendance on meetings of committees. The average attendance of women MPs is 81.84%; men – 73.77%. In 13 of 19 committees, which have women in their membership, women MPs demonstrate better attendance, in 5 committees – men; and in the Committee on Health Care the attendance percentage is equal. As of May 2015, 10 women MPs (20%) were present on all meetings of committees to which membership they belong, while only 49 (13%) men MPs didn't miss any meeting.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, MPs of Ukraine

• To develop and introduce a standardized assessment system to verify the quality of legislative initiatives and plan law-making activities;
• To secure that MPs of Ukraine fully adhere to the the Law of Ukraine on the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine concerning written registration at plenary sittings;
• To secure implementation of the Article 33 (5) of the Law of Ukraine on the Status of MP of Ukraine saying "MPs who fail to fulfill their duties without valid reasons shall be deprived of remuneration for such days by the corresponding committee responsible for ethics of MPs";
• To minimize incidents when MPs don't vote despite they are present in session hall during a voting, to secure that MPs fulfill their duty as an MP to participate in the voting on agenda items considered by the Parliament;
• To secure implementation of the Law of Ukraine on the Status of National Deputies requiring saying that each MP shall attend meetings of committee and sub-committee which membership he holds, and participate in their work;
• To finish the process of securing the impossibility to violate constitutional requirements concerning personal voting by legislative and technical means;

[1]S. Kliuiev (non-faction), D. Omelianovych (Opposition Block), Ye. Balytskyi (Opposition Block), K. Zhevaho (non-faction), D. Dobkin (Opposition Block), V. Zubyk (Revival group), I. Myrnyi (Opposition Block), N. Savchenko (AUU Batkivshchyna, is being illegally detained on the territory of the Russian Federation), O. Savchenko (PPB), Yu. Babii (People's Front, giving the floor to another MP on 24 April 2015 wasn't counted as a speech).