LB.ua chronicles the latest events in Ukraine in English for foreign readers.
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9:22. Former Ukrainian Interior Minister and head of the public organization 'Ukrainian Third Republic' Yuriy Lutsenko's level of intoxication on the day he took a hit on his head by 'Berkut' riot police was equal to drinking a glass of brandy - the presence of alcohol in the blood was fixed at 0.57
10:24. The opposition deputies are blocking the Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Rybak in his office.
11:09. First Vice-Speaker Igor Kalyetnik opened the session of the Verkhovna Rada. At least 261 lawmakers have registered in the parliament.
11:14. The Verkhovna Rada adopted the state budget for 2014. 249 deputies voted for its approval.
11:20. Once a bill concerning the status of judges has not received the necessary 226 votes, First Vice-Speaker Igor Kalyetnik said that lawmakers' voting cards had been taken away and thus they they have to vote by raising hands.
11:25. Ukrainian nuclear power, which provides half of the electricity production in the country is almost completely under control of the Russian government, wrote the opposition party 'UDAR' lawmaker Sergey Kaplin in his blog on LB.ua.
11:34. First Vice-Speaker Igor Kalyetnik suspended the session of the Verkhovna Rada for 30 minutes.
11:46. The Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv region began criminal proceedings against the Chief of the State Treasury in the Kyiv region Eugene Semenza on suspicion of taking a bribe of 24 thousand UAH (~$2.9 thousand).
12:15. The Verkhovna Rada voted for the bill number 3879, made by deputies from the ruling Party of Regions Vadym Kolesnichenko and Vladimir Oliynyk, which, inter alia, prohibits the columns of more than five vehicles without prior notice to the traffic police, as well as the collection of personal data on judges.
12:19. Parliament session was interrupted again after 15 minutes of work.
12:21. The Verkhovna Rada voted for the bill number 3587, made by individual deputy Lev Mirimsky, which introduces the possibility of criminal proceedings in absentia.
12:30. The ruling Party of Regions lawmakers and the Communist Party during a random voting adopted amendments to the Regulations of the Verkhovna Rada, which simplify the procedure of depriving deputies of power and judging them.
12:38. The Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Rybak announced the completion of the parliamentary session. Rada will continue its work in February.
12:43. The ruling Party of Regions lawmaker Vladimir Malyshev accidentally took a hit on his head from his fellow party members while voting for the state budget for 2014.
12:47. Lawmaker Roman Zabzalyuk was expelled from the opposition faction 'Batkivshchyna'. He repeatedly criticized the head of the faction Arseniy Yatsenyuk.