Who Did You Choose, Rivne Region? Seven-Year Summary of Deputies' Work

Seven years ago, residents of Rivne region elected five majoritarian MPs to the Verkhovna Rada. Almost all of them represented the Servant of the People party — Oleksandr Aliksiychuk, Oleksandr Kovalchuk, Serhiy Lytvynenko, and Roman Ivanisov. The latter was immediately expelled from the party faction after the election, once it became known that he had been convicted of raping a minor in 1990 years.

The only self-nominated candidate elected from this region was Viktor Mylyk. After the elections, he joined the parliamentary group “For the Future,” which is associated with oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi.

“Golka,” together with other civic organizations, compiled a list of notable legislative initiatives for the country that carried corruption risks, unconstitutional norms, or, on the contrary, were useful for protecting statehood, in the new tool “Recharge the country — you can do it.”

The media partner of the project “Halkom” publishes a cycle of analytical materials about the work of MPs elected from all regions of Ukraine, based on these votes. A queue of analysis of Rivne region MPs.

National security: who voted against banning the ROC (Russian Orthodox Church)

After the start of the full-scale invasion, Parliament supported banning the symbols of the aggressor country. All Rivne MPs voted in favor, except Roman Ivanisov — he chose to miss the vote on this issue, though he voted on other issues that day. It is important to note that Ivanisov is currently a member of the parliamentary group “Rebuilding Ukraine,” which includes MPs from the pro-Russian and now banned party OPZZh.

Screenshot of Ivani­sov’s votes for 22 in May 2022 showing that the politician did not vote on a matter important for national security.

In 2023 year, the Verkhovna Rada voted for decolonization of geographic names. This bill was actively promoted by the head of the relevant working group Roman Lozynskyi (faction “Voice”). Two Rivne MPs — Viktor Mylyk and Serhiy Lytvynenko — did not participate in the vote. All other majoritarian MPs supported decolonization.

In the same year, Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk assured that there were no votes in Parliament to support banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. After this statement, Oleksandr Aliksiychuk together with MP from “Voice” Yulia Sirko (formerly Klimenko) initiated a signature drive, and their demand was supported by more than 226 colleagues, i.e., more than the minimum number of votes required for the Rada’s decision to be considered adopted.

For the law banning activity of the Moscow Patriarchate, almost all Rivne majoritarian MPs voted in favor. But there was one who voted against. That was Serhiy Lytvynenko.

Former MP and current serviceman Ihor Lutsenko said that Lytvynenko is involved in the case of the murder of Maidan participant Yuri Verbitsky. According to Lutsenko, Lytvynenko spoke by phone with the otovtsy 24 several times. After Lytvynenko entered the Verkhovna Rada, he demanded to grant a special status to ORDLO.

MP Roman Ivanisov was absent during the vote on banning the ROC.

Who supported the elimination of independence of NABU and SAP and the draft Civil Code

Over seven years of this Parliament, there were two decisions that stirred Ukrainians and sparked mass protests with cardboard signs during the war. One of them was the vote to cancel the independence of the anti-corruption bodies NABU and SAP. All majoritarian MPs supported this bill, despite it being rushed through Parliament in violation of the Constitution.

Protests in Rivne against the bill to cancel the independence of anti-corruption bodies

photo: rivne.rayon.in.ua

Another bill that provoked mass protests in different regions of Ukraine was the Civil Code project by Ruslan Stefanchuk, which Parliament supported in the first reading in the spring.

This document was criticized not only by civil society and the media community, but also by judges of the Supreme Court. The adoption of a new Civil Code, said one judge, poses serious challenges to the stability of justice.

Moreover, the Civil Code project contains a number of risks, including legalizing green zones or cultural heritage seized from communities or the state. If Parliament supports such a legislative initiative, returning stolen lands or monuments to the people of Ukraine will be impossible. Similar risks are seen by the Ministry of Justice in the legislative initiative.

The bill whose key author is Stefanchuk was supported by Roman Ivanisov, Oleksandr Kovalchuk, and Serhiy Lytvynenko. Two MPs — Aliksiychuk and Mylyk — did not vote on this issue.

How Rivne MPs voted on the Civil Code draft in the first reading — graph from the “Recharge the country — you can do it” tool

The Stefanchuk Civil Code project is not the first attempt in Parliament to change the rules of the game in favor of developers by changing the Civil Code. In the spring of 2025-th year, MPs supported the “Igor Mazepa Law” (No. 4292). The law was named after one of its lobbyists — businessman Ihor Mazepa, who was suspected of forming a criminal organization and seizing Kyiv’s hydroelectric facility lands.

Under the adopted law, if 10 years have passed since privatization, neither the community nor the state can reclaim green zones, coastlines, or cultural heritage objects if they fall into the so-called “bona fide purchaser,” i.e., the purchaser of this property (or directly from the privatizer or other purchasers). And if 10 years have not yet passed, a deposit must be paid from the budget into the court account — the market value of the object — which, if the court rules in favor of the state or community, will be paid to the “bona fide purchaser” as compensation.

This law was criticized by international partners, including the European Parliament, and the Supreme Court appealed to the Constitutional Court to explain how judges should act in cases that were under consideration at the time the law was adopted.

During the vote on the “Igor Mazepa Law,” Mylyk and Ivanisov voted “for,” Kovalchuk pulled out his card, and Aliksiychuk did not vote. Lytvynenko was absent all day during votes.

How MPs care about protecting the environment

Ukraine began negotiations on EU membership and has already opened the first negotiation cluster — “Foundations of the EU accession process.” One of the next clusters will be the “Green European Semester,” since environmental legislation is an important part of EU law.

Marcela McAndrews, head of the European Commission’s General Directorate for the Environment, stressed that high-quality environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment are necessary conditions for Ukraine’s reconstruction in line with EU standards.

In the 2023–2024 years, the Verkhovna Rada considered a bill that aimed to abolish environmental impact assessment during sanitary felling. Environmental impact assessment, like strategic environmental assessment, is one of the safeguards that minimize corruption risks. If the bill 9516 had been supported, unscrupulous loggers could have sold industrial timber as firewood, padding their margins by 2400%.

However, the initiative in Parliament failed. And here, it must be noted that Rivne majoritarian MPs did not vote for it. Oleksandr Aliksiychuk voted against, Mylyk abstained, Ivanisov and Lytvynenko did not vote. Kovalchuk was absent.

Before the full-scale invasion, Parliament considered important environmental and Euro-integration initiatives, but they did not receive proper support from lawmakers. For example, the Emerald Network bill, which would help implement EU directives on protecting wild birds and natural habitats of wildlife and fauna, could not be passed by the MPs since 2020. And it is needed to fulfill Ukraine’s obligations to the European Union.

Creation of the Emerald Network in 2021 year was supported by Oleksandr Kovalchuk, while Roman Ivanisov voted against.

Three other MPs — Oleksandr Aliksiychuk, Serhiy Lytvynenko, and Viktor Mylyk — at the moment of voting pulled out their cards.

Screenshot of Serhiy Lytvynenko’s vote

Website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

The same day as the vote on the Emerald Network, Parliament also considered another Euro-integrative bill — “On Control of Industrial Pollution.” It is notable that during the consideration of these two environmental bills, some Rivne MPs also pulled out their personal cards before the vote. Viktor Mylyk and Roman Ivanisov did so. Aliksiychuk and Kovalchuk supported the bill, but overall it did not receive enough votes.

In other words, on one day MPs blocked votes on two significant environmental protection initiatives that were important on the path to European integration.

Anna Levencova

Journalist with the civic initiative “Golka”