For the first time since its establishment, a delegation of 4 members and 4 staff of the Verkhovna Rada of Autonomous Republic of Crimea participated in a study tour sponsored by the US Agency for International Development and organized by the Parliamentary Development Project of Ukraine (PDP II). The delegation was headed by Grigory Ioffe, Chairman of the Permanent Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea on Deputy Mandates, Ethics, and Organizational Management of Verkhovna Rada and Mass Media Relations. The delegation also included the Crimea liaison staff member of the Committee on State Building and Local Self-government of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and USAID Senior Governance Specialist.

The delegation visited the UK House of Commons and House of Lords, the National Assembly of Wales and the Scottish Parliament at the invitation of each house from June 20 to 27. The main aim of the study tour was to look at the research and analysis services in these houses of parliament and, especially, to learn more about the analytical support services in the recently established sub-national legislatures in Scotland and Wales.

The program was designed by PDP II Legislative Consultant, Janet Seaton, the now retired founding Director of the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. In the course of the visit, the delegates learned also about the challenges faced in the UK devolution process, including cooperation between the autonomous regions and the national government/parliament. They were especially impressed with the citizen petition system in the Scottish Parliament. The Crimean parliamentary delegation set out its priorities for implementing some of the best practices observed from the shared experience. PDP II Crimea Activity Manager Yaropolk Tymkiv also participated in the study tour to ensure that PDP II can appropriately follow up on those priorities in the coming months.