Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has signed into effect the law on local elections. This law introduces a mixed system, which combines both the proportional and the first-past-the-post systems, for elections to the Supreme Council of Crimea and regional and local councils.

The Communist Party of Ukraine, a member of the ruling coalition, has condemned the latest increase in household gas rates.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has congratulated the Ukrainian Parliament and the nation on the 20th anniversary of the declaration of Ukrainian sovereignty. His pre-recorded speech was shown at a special session of the Ukrainian Parliament on July 16, which was broadcast live by the parliamentary TV channel Rada.

Attempts by the ruling parliamentary coalition to revoke the constitutional amendments adopted in 2004 curtailing presidential powers show that President Viktor Yanukovych is seeking absolute power, shadow prime minister Serhiy Sobolev, of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, said today.

Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymr Lytvyn and U.S. Ambassador John Tefft today awarded certificates to 74 graduates of USAID’s 2009-2010 Parliamentary Internship Program. This is the fifteenth year of the Parliamentary Internship Program’s operation in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Lytvyn, the speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, closed the current sixth session of the sixth convocation of the Ukrainian Parliament at around 21:00 tonight. He closed the session at today’s plenary sitting just minutes after the law on local elections (No 6601) was adopted in its final reading.

The Ukrainian Parliament today adopted the law on the electoral system to be used at local elections (No 6601) in its final reading at its evening plenary sitting. A total of 259 MPs voted in favor of the law "On the election of deputies to the Supreme Council of Crimea, local councils as well as village, town and city heads".