What did Ukraine's parliament decide before 3 April 2020?
A look back at two decisions by the Verkhovna Rada in the final days of March 2020, taken as the coronavirus epidemic spread and a financial crisis loomed.
What had Ukraine's parliament settled by 3 April 2020, as the country faced an epidemic and a financial crisis? Two decisions, taken within two days of each other, framed the picture.
On 30 March 2020, the Verkhovna Rada elected Serhiy Marchenko as finance minister and Maksym Stepanov as health minister. The votes came against the backdrop of the spreading coronavirus epidemic and a financial crisis, and they put new people in charge of the two portfolios most exposed to those pressures.
On 31 March 2020, the Rada adopted a law on the circulation of agricultural land. It introduces a land market in Ukraine from 1 July 2021, leaving more than a year before the market is due to open.
The two decisions differ in kind. The appointments were an immediate response to the crisis, filling the finance and health posts while the epidemic was spreading. The land law set a longer timetable, with a fixed start date well beyond the emergency. Taken together, they show the Rada handling both urgent staffing and a structural measure in the same week.
