Ukrainian lawmakers have submitted 10,902 amendments to the so-called “Anti-Akhmetov bill” in a last-minute attempt to stall it from passing.
The bill would increase iron producers’ rents, which are currently based on costs of production.
If signed into law, rent will become based on iron ore market price instead. This could bring over Hr 3 billion ($110 million) to the state budget.
The law would mainly affect oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, owner of Metinvest, a company that mines over half of all iron ore in the country.
“Seven thousand of those amendments look like spam,” Yaroslav Zhelezniak, deputy head of the parliament’s budget committee, wrote on July 20.
According to Zhelezniak, leader of the 20-member Voice faction in parliament, lawmakers submitted an additional 1,230 amendments to a separate bill seeking to limit the power of Ukrainian oligarchs.
Under this legislation, the term ‘oligarch’ would have a legal definition. People who qualify as oligarchs would be banned from donating directly or indirectly to political parties and participating in the privatization of state assets.
To be recognized as an oligarch, a person must meet at least three out of four criteria: be involved in political activities, have considerable influence on mass media, be a beneficiary of monopolies recognized by antitrust authorities and own assets exceeding Hr 2.2 billion ($81 million), excluding media assets.
Additionally, all government officials would be obliged to submit a declaration listing all their contacts with the oligarchs or their representatives.
Flooding legislation with thousands of amendments is a common tactic used to stall parliament from passing important bills.
However, parliament now has a work-around. In April 2020, a new procedure was approved, allowing lawmakers to vote on amendments in batches if their number exceeds 500.
This procedure was first used in May 2020 to pass a critical bank law outlawing the return of nationalized banks to their former owners.
