Speaker moves to remove two prominent MPs

Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Rybak submitted a complaint to a Kyiv court on Feb. 28 to remove parliamentary mandates from Andriy Verevskiy, the board chairman and owner of a 38% stake in Kernel Group (KER PW), and Serhiy Vlasenko, the defense attorney for imprisoned opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. The legal pretext is their professional activity conflicts with their responsibilities as MPs, which violates the law. Vlasenko is actively defending Tymoshenko in court while Verevskiy is active in Kernel’s business operations.

Zenon Zawada: Verevskiy and Vlasenko have been singled out for different reasons. The Party of Regions wants Verevskiy’s mandate because he rarely shows up for sessions and the majority needs his vote to approve legislation. Other powerful businessmen from the ruling faction can also lose their mandates in favor of more punctual politicians. We expect no effect on Kernel should Verevskiy lose his mandate.

On the other hand, Vlasenko is a critical target in the government’s political persecution of the leading opposition party, Fatherland. Tossing him out of parliament would not only reduce his visibility and influence, but also strip him of prosecutorial immunity, which would enable the state to pursue criminal charges against him. Vlasenko’s eviction from parliament would be yet the latest shot fired in Ukraine’s own foot in its Euro-integration hopes that will be harshly criticized by EU authorities.