The Verkhovna Rada transferred the powers of the regional council to the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration. What does it mean

The Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parlaiment) adopted a resolution on transferring the powers of the regional council to the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration (ZRMA). 236 MPs voted for project 9118, the MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak reports.

ZRMA itself addressed the president with a corresponding request.

The request was motivated by the fact that the sessions of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council have not been held for a year, and this is four times more than the maximum permissible terms established by law. From February 24, 2022, the session of the regional council was held once — in March 2022 remotely.

Therefore, during the period of martial law in Ukraine and for 30 days after its termination or cancellation, the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration the head of the Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration will exercise the powers provided for in Part 3 of Art. 10 and part 3 of Art. 15 of the specified law.

Commenting on the decision of the Verkhovna Rada, the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration Ivan Fedorov emphasized that the powers of the Zaporizhia Regional Council are transferred to the regional military administration for the period of martial law, after which they will be renewed, so statements about the dissolution of this body are manipulations.

"Loud statements about the dissolution of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council are outright manipulation. The powers of the regional council will be automatically renewed after the end of martial law. The apparatus of the regional council continues to work, but in a new, more intensive format," Fedorov wrote.

He recalled that at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the regional councilʼs powers regarding the budget were transferred to the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration. At the same time, the regional council had limited self-governing powers: the adoption of management decisions regarding about 150 regional enterprises, institutions and establishments, issues of communal property and construction. But during the two years of the war, the regional council did not resolve a single issue regarding the life of the region.

"The head of the regional council convened sessions five times, but some deputies did not want to work. The consequences of this are extremely negative. Several hundred unresolved issues. Frozen investments from international partners. Labor teams without leaders. Problems with evacuated regional institutions," said Fedorov.

He added that from today until the end of the martial law, these issues will be handled by the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration.