Ukrainian President's Office blocks lawmakers and officials from travelling abroad
The Ukrainian authorities have blocked lawmakers and officials from travelling abroad after a series of scandals involving MPs' "business trips" to luxury resorts and plan to revise the legislation covering such trips.
Source: a source of Ukrainska Pravda in the Ukrainian President’s Office
Quote: "All lawmakers and officials have indeed been banned from leaving Ukraine. People have lost touch with reality. The relevant authorities will now thoroughly check travel documents, invitations, travel arrangements and so on.
So that it doesn't happen that a business trip was to Vilnius and people come back through Croatia, staying there for another week.
The resolution regulating these business trips and holidays abroad will now be amended, including those for the military.
There is some talk that particularly scandalous people might receive military draft notices and head off to war once they lose their parliamentary mandate."
Details: Earlier, unconfirmed information emerged that "an order was sent to the border posts to ban all officials and lawmakers from travelling abroad".
Ukrainska Pravda asked the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service (SBGS) to comment on the matter, but they merely said they would comply with the current legislation, as they always do.
Quote from SBGS Spokesperson Andrii Demchenko: "Border control measures will continue to be carried out under current legislation, taking into account the rules established for the period of martial law and set out in Government Resolution No. 57."
Background:
- On 15 July, reports emerged that Yurii Aristov, 48, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence, a member of the pro-government Servant of the People political party faction, was seen in mid-July at the 5-star Waldorf Astoria Maldives hotel on the private island of Ithaafushi, Maldives.
- Davyd Arakhamiia, Head of the Servant of the People party faction, said that the party was studying the information on Aristov's trip to the Maldives, and if confirmed, he would face losing his mandate.
- On the same day, Aristov submitted a resignation letter from his parliamentary seat.
- On 26 July, reports indicated that the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation, together with the Security Service of Ukraine, was investigating the legality of MP Yurii Aristov's holiday trip in the midst of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine.
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