KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian lawmakers on Wednesday approved a measure that would allow for the setting up of new courts to settle high-level political disputes, as part of a reform effort being closely watched by Kyiv’s Western partners.
The courts’ creation is a condition set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for it to continue its $15.6 billion financing programme for Ukraine.
The Kyiv-based courts, which would hear cases involving state institutions, such as ministries or other central agencies, would replace a body that was dissolved in 2022 after years of corruption allegations.
Lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on social media the measure to create them was passed with 234 votes and that the judges of the proposed courts would be appointed with the help of foreign advisers.
An IMF delegation is in Kyiv for talks on continuing the fund’s loan programme.
Ukraine has accelerated its reform drive during the war with Russia, launching corruption cases against sitting lawmakers and senior ministers and refreshing its judiciary.
The campaign is central to Kyiv’s bid to join the European Union, which has prioritised eradicating the high-level graft that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other senior officials have said Ukraine is able to continue its reforms while fending off Russia’s full-scale invasion.
(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk; editing by Barbara Lewis)
