Today, we are witnessing political pressure put on those who, in fulfilling their professional duty, did not give Petro Poroshenko’s technologists the opportunity to make an outright provocation.

The police refused to play dirty political games and did not indulge the passions of aggressive “activists” from among the nationalist groups patronized by the authorities. Hooliganism must be suppressed, banditry must be eradicated and political terrorism must be barred.

Criminal cases were initiated against some police officers, while the rest were forced, in the worst traditions of Stalin's times, to dissociate themselves from their teammates and their views. Those in power do not notice how they themselves promote permissiveness for extreme radicals and demotivate law-enforcement officers.

In this situation, I decided to offer assistance to those against whom the authorities applied their repressions. I am ready to provide the police officers under investigation with the best legal counsels and to pay for their services.

This year, the International Charitable Foundation in Honour of Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God (ICF) will provide almost UAH 15 million to create and equip a unique operating room at the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

Within the framework of the project, special surgical and angiographic equipment will be purchased for one of the operating rooms of the medical institution. This will make it possible to do cardiac surgery using advanced minimally invasive and endovascular technologies. The project is unique for Ukraine.

In such an operating room, a patient will be able to receive all the necessary diagnostic and treatment procedures in one place. This will significantly reduce the number of surgical intervention stages, as well as the time of patients’ general hospital admission and recovery. Here, various specialists will be able to simultaneously carry out several diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for one patient.

Today, my colleague Aleksandr Dolzhenkov from the Opposition Blocfaction, and myself submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court on behalf of 47 MPs requesting to recognize unconstitutional the adopted law on freedom of conscience and religion.

Referring to Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine, we advocate that everyone's right for freedom of religion should be exercised and adhered to. The unconstitutional Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations", adopted on 17 January 2019, contains a number of provisions that testify to government’s interference with and deliberate over-regulation of religious organizations' activities. This is an outrageous breach of our citizens' rights. We, the MPs from the Opposition Bloc faction, believe that the law passed with gross violations of the rules of procedure is contrary to the Constitution of Ukraine! In addition, it grossly infringes the rights of one of the denominations, the canonical Orthodox Church, and is aimed at its discrimination. The essence of this law is to do so that to facilitate the transition of parishes from the canonical Orthodox Church to the newly created, the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is essentially a political organization.

An anti-Ukrainian decision to amend the Constitution adopted today is completely politically illiterate and serves the purpose of Poroshenko’s election campaign! In fact, the President and his entourage are not interested in the EU and NATO. They are interested in staying in power for another five years. Yet, we have already seen five years of continuous lies, unfulfilled promises and disastrous impoverishment of Ukrainians. Ukraine will succumb to five more such years!

The only faction that voted against this anti-Ukrainian decision was our faction of the Opposition Bloc party. All of us voted against it because we are confident that this decision was made unlawfully, without taking into account the opinion of Ukrainian citizens. According to the Constitution, only the Ukrainian people have the right to change the state’s foreign policy course enshrined in the Basic Law. There is only one way to find out the opinion of Ukrainians that is to hold a national referendum.

Yesterday, at the conciliatory council meeting between the heads of parliamentary factions, I reminded my colleagues that once again during four years we, the Opposition Bloc party, insist that the Verkhovna Rada adopt the package of laws necessary to implement the Minsk Agreements and fulfil the commitments undertaken by Ukraine on 12 February 2015. Over this time, while the Minsk Agreements are not implemented, thousands of people, both civilians and military, have died in our country, but despite this, not a single step has been taken to establish peace in Donbas. 

The second most important issue for consideration in the Verkhovna Rada, admitting of no delay, is to address urgent economic problems of the population, I believe. We must pass laws that will be improving lives of Ukrainians, will be improving their well-being.

The International Charitable Foundation in Honour of Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God (ICF) of Vadym Novynskyi provided more than UAH 195.5 million for humanitarian and charity projects in 2018.

Last year, with the financial support from the Foundation, charitable projects in the field of historical and cultural heritage, health care, and protection of motherhood, childhood and family were implemented. The Foundation also became a co-organizer of festivals, conferences, competitions and other events.

One of the Foundation’s activity areas is support to an orphanage at Buncheny Ascension Monastery. More than 400 orphans live and are brought up there, including children with disabilities and serious illnesses, HIV-infected among them. This project is more than three years old, and the Foundation provides monthly assistance for the maintenance of the shelter. In 2018, it amounted to more than UAH 16 million.

This week I took part in the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland).

The main topic of discussion on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum was globalization in the era of the fourth industrial revolution. Its idea was described by the founder of the World Economic Forum, the German economist Klaus Schwab.

Unfortunately, Ukraine came to a halt at the stage of the third industrial revolution, which approximately corresponds to the 70s of the last century in global industry. We are not moving anywhere and we are not developing. Our economy is stagnating and unfortunately, the government’s reports about its growth are nothing more than manipulation of statistics. However, no one in the world will be waiting for us. Investment will come to Ukraine only after we put an end to the war and begin to build a rule-of-law state.

During the Forum, I also attended the Ukrainian Breakfast organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. The topic of discussion about Ukraine was focused on the challenges facing Ukraine and the choices lying ahead with the upcoming presidential elections.

Yesterday, speaking at the debates of the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, I drew the attention of parliamentarians of European states to violations of the basic document of the Council of Europe – the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Ukraine.

The opposition bloc challenged in courts the closure of polling stations in the Russian Federation as a gross infringement of the electoral rights of Ukrainian citizens living in the Russian Federation, but the Supreme Court decided on the legality of such actions, arguing that three million Ukrainians will be able to vote in neighbouring states: Finland, Kazakhstan and Georgia. I consider this decision politically motivated: the authorities did not allow citizens, who left for work and who were fleeing the war, to go to the polls, because they do not intend to vote for the current president. 

Yesterday, resorting to the most flagrant violations of the Law of Ukraine "On the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine" and to the mass “button punching”, the Verkhovna Rada voted on the so-called “anti-church” law no. 4128-d, discriminating and infringing the rights of the majority of confessions and religious organizations of Ukraine and, above all, of the only canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church headed by His Beatitude Onufriy, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine.

This bill was written at the dictation of the Presidential Administration and the only reason for its appearance is to please the presidential election campaign, under pressure from law enforcement authorities and local authorities to ensure a massive transition of parishes from the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church to an artificially created Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

We continue our fight for the rights of voters. Our team of the Opposition Bloc has filed a lawsuit with the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal in Kyiv about illegality of the Central Election Commission's decision to close polling stations in the Russian Federation. In violation of the Constitution of Ukraine and electoral legislation, on 31 December, the Central Election Commission (CEC) closed down five polling stations in the Russian Federation, depriving at least three million Ukrainian citizens of their voting rights. Let me remind you that these polling stations are located in the diplomatic missions of Ukraine, that is, on the Ukrainian, and not the Russian, territory. Ukrainian diplomats and not the Russian authorities were dealing with organization and holding of the elections there.

As it has become known from reliable sources, representatives of the Presidential Administration gave some unofficial instructions to the management of the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve and Kremenets-Pochayevsky State Historical and Architectural Reserve to terminate the lease agreements with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. By the hands of these museums' officials, the authorities commit an illegal takeover of the two Orthodox shrines – Kyivo-Pecherska and Pochayiv Lavras. In addition, regional and district administrations received instructions from the Ministry of Culture about organization of mass “voluntary” communities’ transitions to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the regions. If the Ukrainian courts legalize this illegal takeover by their decisions, this will be a signal that the possibilities of the Ukrainian justice for the protection of religious rights have become exhausted. We will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

We consider this decision to be unconstitutional and anti-Ukrainian one. By this decision, about three million Ukrainian citizens living in the Russian Federation are practically deprived of their right to vote. It is symbolic that the Central Election Commission made this decision on the day when the presidential election campaign started – almost on New Year's Eve.

It was the deadly economic policy of Petro Poroshenko that forced millions of Ukrainians to leave the country in search of earnings. Now he makes it clear for them that their Ukrainian passports no longer mean anything, since their votes in the upcoming elections may prevent him from prolonging his term in office.

Dear friends!

Happy New Year!

We are entering the new 2019th year with faith and hope.

With faith that in 2019 we will be able to change our lives for the better.

And with hope that peace and accord will return to our land, while hatred and split will no longer be in our everyday life.

That common sense will triumph, and new authorities will be in power in Ukraine, which, at last, will be thinking about the Ukrainian people and about the interests of the state.

I wish that in the New Year joy and prosperity be settled in every Ukrainian family.

Together we will overcome all difficulties and challenges, and Ukraine will be a prosperous, strong and successful country!

Happiness and love to all of us!

Happy New Year!

Today, the martial law introduced at the behest of Petro Poroshenko a month ago in ten regions of Ukraine has ceased to have effect.

From the very beginning, my fellow members of the party and the Opposition Bloc faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and I myself sharply criticized the martial law regime. We consider it as a PR-action of the President and as an attempt to cancel or postpone the 2019 presidential election in Ukraine.

Thanks to the perseverance and civic stance of MPs, including those from the Opposition Bloc, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine did not support Petro Poroshenko’s initial idea to impose martial law throughout the country for a period of 60 days, which in itself deprived the political technology of any meaning.

However, today, after 30 days and after the formal repeal of the martial law in certain regions of Ukraine, we demand from the President and the National Security and Defence Council a response to a number of questions that have arisen.

A prayer service of parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church against the infringement of believers' rights is taking place near the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Thousands of people have gathered.

People addressed the parliament: “We pray that the Lord will give you reason,” “People's deputies! Are you servants of the people or their executioners? Believers of the UOC are your people.”

Unfortunately, the Verkhovna Rada has already voted on one of the anti-church bills – No. 5309 on the forcible renaming of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, despite the constitutional prohibition of discrimination of any confession.

I believe that with this anti-Orthodox vote, the authorities completely set themselves against the people.

In the morning, in violation of the procedural regulations, the coalition put on the agenda the bills intended to destroy the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

We expect that pressure on the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church will only be increasing, since the President needs to show how the parishes of the UOC en masse move to the pro-presidential church created by him. Such steps will lead to incitement of inter-church strives and to consequences tragic for the state.

This is evidenced by a statement made by representative of Petro Poroshenko Bloc’s faction during the today's conciliation council in the parliament saying that during the week it is necessary to adopt two bills aimed at changing the name of the only legal and canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and at legalizing transitions of UOC parishes to the church "of Poroshenko’s patriarchy" under pressure from the Security Service of Ukraine.

Our party will defend the unity and interests of believers of the only canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church by all legal means. 

The election of Metropolitan Epiphanius as the “primate” of the so-called Local Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a personal defeat of President Petro Poroshenko, who insisted on electing one of the apostates from canonical Orthodoxy, Metropolitan Simeon.

By the way, in 2014, Petro Poroshenko already attempted to “push through” Simeon’s candidacy when the new head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was elected — then Poroshenko personally asked me to support this choice. In addition, Poroshenko carefully conceals his agreements with Phanar: after all, this is not about true autocephaly, but rather about an attempt to put the Ukrainian Orthodoxy under the command of Constantinople and in parallel to create a “puppet” Church managed from the Presidential Administration.

Nevertheless, we are experiencing dramatic times that will definitely be gone and left in the past, and Poroshenko’s shady undertaking called the “local church” is set up for following the fate of the renovationist Church in the Soviet Union. They say that history repeats itself as a tragedy and as farce. We have endured the tragedy. It seems that this time meddling of the authorities in church affairs has turned into a farce.

Today, the Opposition Bloc has held its VIII Congress, by which decision the Charter of the party has been changed. The Political Council has become a new governing body, and my friend and colleague Boris Kolesnikov has been elected as its head. 

The Opposition Bloc represents the interests of voters all over Ukraine, and not just voters from the southeast of the country. We were, are and will be the only ideological opposition to the incumbent authorities. We consistently and fundamentally uphold our traditional values: we declaim against Ukraine’s accession to NATO, against re-writing the history and glorifying soldiers of OUN and UPA, against the discrimination of citizens based on language. We were the first ones to support the Minsk agreements. We did and keep doing everything to restore peace in our country. 

A statement of support to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry was included in the final resolution of the Congress, which also condemned the authorities’ attempts to interfere in internal church affairs.