«You have a minute to study it»: MP Kovalenko is dissatisfied that MPs receive draft decisions the day before the session

MP Maksym Kovalenko with fellow party members and the mayor before the first online session in July 2022. Photo from the deputy's Facebook page

Mykolaiv City Council deputy from the party «Propozytsiya» Maksym Kovalenko has once again stated that the city council apparatus sends draft decisions on budget and land issues the day before the session, when there is not enough time to study them.

He voiced the problem during the budget commission of the Mykolaiv City Council, according to NikVesti.

At the meeting, he asked the chairman of the commission, deputy Fedir Panchenko, whether he knew when the deputies received the agenda items submitted for their consideration.

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«In a day or so,» Fedir Panchenko replied to his colleague.

«I don't think it was a day, it was last night. I had only 3-4 hours to study it today. At the moment, I believe that this is not enough for the deputies, personally for me,» said Maksym Kovalenko.

In a commentary to NikVesti, he said that the main problem still concerns land issues, as the deputies have more time to study current and budgetary issues.

«The land issues were sent in the evening before the session. In fact, as a deputy, I had two hours in the morning before the session to study all these issues. There were, if I'm not mistaken, 57 questions. And if you divide it up, it's two minutes per question. But we also had a faction that lasted almost an hour. This means that one minute per question. I raised this issue at the last session and said that this was not enough time for me. These issues were not considered then. But they were included in today's session. And we could consider them because the time has come. I studied it, I had the opportunity. And today, about 50 issues, also land issues, were supposed to be introduced. But it was wrong to send them the day before the session. And they will most likely be postponed to the next 48th session,» said Maksym Kovalenko.

The deputy clarified that the folder on the Google drive, where the council apparatus uploads documents for the deputies to read, was created on 1 September and filled only on 2 September, the day before the session that was to take place on 3 September.

«Unfortunately, this has been happening recently. About six months ago, I said that the agenda should be sent 7 days before the session. After that, everything was fine, but now we have a situation where it is sent the day before the session. They ignore it, so to speak. The land commission has made its decisions, then it goes to the council office, and the office simply downloads it all to the disc where we are sitting with the deputies. And, well, I don't have time, as I personally do. And I said it then, and at the last session, and today. Today, before the session, I also said that I would not miss these issues that would be raised from the floor, because they were not on the agenda for 7 days. But it was only for one day,» the deputy adds.

The deputy says he has to rely on the approval of the land commission's decisions in batches. At the same time, he recalled the example of the green zone near the bus station, where «the commission confirmed documents that turned out to be forged».

- I see how these land commissions sometimes meet, read out the list and vote in batches. When I fought for the green zone near the bus station, the commission, if I'm not mistaken, confirmed it, and then it turned out that all the documents were forged. So the fight lasted almost a year, and we managed to preserve this green zone. And there are many questions about the kiosks. We have cases when they build a kiosk first, and then make some documents for it. This is wrong, we create such a corruption component, first building and then looking for ways to legalise it. I did not vote for any kiosks. This is a principled position,» said Maksym Kovalenko.

It should be noted that Maksym Kovalenko is not the only deputy who complained about this practice of the city council's staff. Before that, during a regular meeting of the session, deputy Olena Kiseliova (faction «European Solidarity») pointed out to the city council secretary that the draft decisions of the session were sent out late, which meant that the deputies did not have time to study them. She was supported by deputy Yurii Stepanets.

As a reminder, on 3 September, the second plenary meeting of the Mykolaiv City Council session was supposed to take place, where deputies were asked to approve 57 land issues and budget redistribution. However, the meeting failed to take place due to the lack of deputies following a dispute between Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych and deputy Tetiana Dombrovska over the vote to reform the structure of the city hall.