Lawmakers in Odessa were unable to convene for their second session of the day

Ihor Koval, acting mayor of Odesa, attempted to convene the members of the Odesa City Council for a second meeting that day, which was intended to be a continuation of the two meetings that did not take place on July 8 and 10.

The initiative for such a session came from members of the “Trust the Deeds” faction, specifically Oleg Etnarovich. 

The council member even proposed that, following the conclusion of the city council’s special session—which also took place today, July 14—the matter be put to a vote among fellow council members to immediately determine who would remain for the second session. However, Ihor Koval did not support this proposal; he adjourned the special session and went to consult with the faction leaders regarding the second meeting. 

After 1:00 p.m., he returned to the meeting hall and asked the council members to log into the electronic voting system. It turned out that 18 council members remained in the chamber—the entire “Trust the Deeds” faction and two representatives from each of the other factions. Thus, in the absence of a quorum, this spontaneous attempt to hold a regular session also failed.

Ihor Koval, acting mayor of Odesa, announced a recess until July 14 for the city council session that was scheduled to take place on July 8. The fact is that during registration at the entrance to the meeting hall, 34 council members were counted, and after determining that a quorum was present, the session began; however, they were only able to conduct the part of the session that did not directly involve voting—in other words, the ceremonial part. They also inducted a new council member—Maria Popravka, who represents the “Trust the Deeds” party. However, when electronic registration was conducted to begin the session and elect its working bodies, it turned out that there were only 32 deputies in the chamber. This was fewer than the number required to establish a quorum.  

On July 9, an announcement was made convening the same session for July 10, but the attempt to gather council members to continue the Odesa City Council session on July 10 failed due to the absence of elected officials—only nine council members were present in the chamber. 

Кирило Бойко