The Kyiv City Council has appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to cancel Resolution No. 953 "Some issues of passing and accounting of humanitarian aid under martial law" and to conduct a public dialogue.
This appeal was supported today, November 23, at the plenary session of the Kyiv City Council by 69 deputies, the press service of the City Council reported, cited by Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Volodymyr Bondarenko, Deputy Mayor and Secretary of the Kyiv City Council, the Cabinet of Ministers' resolution, which will come into force on December 1, 2023, will significantly tighten the requirements for documenting humanitarian aid received from charitable organizations and donor organizations from abroad.
"Implementation of this Resolution may completely paralyze the work of volunteer organizations in receiving and distributing humanitarian aid. "20 circles of hell" is how volunteers have dubbed the 20-point procedure that the Government proposes to implement to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those who need it," said Bondarenko.
Thus, he explained, according to the new requirements, permission to allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory of Ukraine will be granted only after its preliminary registration in the automated system.
"Often, the cargo of foreign donors is formed from thousands of private donations from citizens of other countries, so no one will make a detailed list of donor assistance. It will be: "take it or leave it". Ukrainian volunteer organizations will have to refuse humanitarian aid simply because of a formal bureaucratic requirement," emphasized Bondarenko.
In addition, the order sets tight deadlines for the delivery and distribution of humanitarian aid. The unpredictable conditions of war do not allow them to be always met.
The procedure also provides for a mandatory electronic report from the final recipient of humanitarian aid.
"I wonder how the government officials imagine the possibility of receiving a report from the military from the trenches or from residents of frontline cities who are under enemy fire every day," emphasized Bondarenko.
He noted that, in addition to these three, there are 17 other points, non-compliance with which poses a threat to the volunteer organization to be excluded from the recipients of international humanitarian aid.
"In fact, starting from December 1, 2023, the activities of volunteer organizations in providing humanitarian aid will be outlawed and law enforcement agencies will have grounds to initiate criminal proceedings against volunteers. The government must understand that the new procedure stops helping our military and millions of ordinary Ukrainians who critically need it. We do not deny that it is necessary to improve the accounting of humanitarian cargo, but the authorities should first ask the volunteers for their opinion, and not impose another decision from above. We call on the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to cancel or postpone the entry into force of Resolution No. 953 and to start a systematic dialogue with volunteers to ensure that they actually have favorable conditions for their activities. Bureaucracy is not the way to win! We must work together for the sake of Victory," added Bondarenko.
Background. As reported, the Ministry of Defense will be able to buy "civilian" drones for the frontline – a corresponding resolution has been submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers. So far, the Ukrainian military has been receiving FPV drones exclusively from volunteers.