People's Deputy of Ukraine

The People's Deputy of Ukraine may be elected a citizen of Ukraine who at the day of elections turned 21, has the right to vote, and resides within Ukraine for the last five (5) years.[3][4] There were number of deputies who before being elected to parliament held the citizenship of Ukraine no more than two years. Among them were Dmytro Salamatin, Vadim Novinsky, and others.

A citizen of Ukraine cannot be elected to the Verkhovna Rada if he has a conviction for committing a crime and that conviction is neither extinguished nor taken out of records by the law established order.

Each deputy carries out his/hers duties on a continuous base.

A deputy may not possess any other representative mandates, be appointed to the state service, be placed in other salaried positions, participate in other paid or entrepreneurial activity (except for teaching, scientific or artistic), be a member of a governing body or a supervisory council of a company or organization that are for profit. A candidates that was elected into parliament has to submit to the Central Election Commission of Ukraine documents confirming their dismissal from their previous work place within 20 days after the election.[5]

The requirements for the incompatibility of a deputy's mandate with other types of activities are established by the Law.

In case of appearance of circumstances that breach the requirements for the incompatibility of a deputy's mandate with other types of activities, the People's Deputy of Ukraine in a 20-day term from the day of appearance of such circumstances stops that activity or submits a personal statement of resignation as the People's Deputy of Ukraine.

On 13 March 2012 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared unconstitutional a ban on the participation of public officials and people's deputies in general meetings of companies or organizations that work for profit.[6]

In October 2016 a requirement was placed upon deputies to declare their wealth. In the first register the 413 deputies cumulatively declared wealth of about $460 million. Reacting to public criticism, deputies cancelled a salary rise that would have doubled their salary.[7] This measure was part of an Anti-Corruption Package passed into law in October 2014, which was a requirement of international financial support for Ukraine.[8][9]

The term tushky is a popular political term which refers to a member of Verkhovna Rada who participates in party switching.

Knopkodavy (lit. "button-pushers") refers to members of Verkhovna Rada who cast a vote for other members of parliament in their absence. Deputies voting for non-present colleagues is notorious in Ukraine and is also referred to as "piano voting".[18] Before the start of every session of the parliament, deputies will register personally with their people's deputy cards and personal signatures.[19] The deputies should also register via the parliamentary electronic system at the session hall, and thus other people will be unable to register in place of deputies.[19] On 22 February, 2013, procedural measures were implemented to prevent multiple voting.[20] Voting for other deputies is now prohibited by law.[21] Despite this, deputies have stated they could not take part in votes, although their votes were registered in parliament.[21][22][23] In April 2011 a vote of a deputy was registered although the man had died four days before the voting.[24][25] A bill on introducing voting of lawmakers with help of a touch-sensitive key was not passed in mid-March 2011.[26]

Since December 2019 "button pushing" is punishable by a fine of 3,000 to 5,000 Ukrainian hryvnia.[27]