Pavlo Bakunets

Biography

Pavlo Bakunets is a Member of Parliament of the 9th convocation. He entered parliament in 2019 representing the “Samopomich” Union (district #122, Lviv region) and joined the Committee on Legal Policy. He subsequently joined the “Dovira” (Trust) parliamentary group, which consisted of majoritarian MPs and became an ally of the presidential faction.

In 2020, he moved to the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, and in 2022, he transferred to the Budget Committee. He has advocated for allowing organ transplantation in Ukraine and for retaining military personal income tax (PIT) in local budgets.

Before becoming an MP, he served as the Mayor of Yavoriv, representing the “Samopomich” party. As mayor, he brought a decision to a session while in a conflict of interest—specifically, a proposal to exempt his brother from paying fees to the city budget for advertising placement.

From 2014 to 2015, he was the Secretary of the Yavoriv City Council and Acting Mayor, at that time representing the “Reforms and Order” party.

Timeline of Key Events

2026

Voted in the first reading for the controversial draft Civil Code (15150) submitted by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk. The 803-page draft, which the Ministry of Justice had not managed to review within three weeks of registration, was fast-tracked through parliament. The legislative initiative contained provisions allowing for the carve-up of state and municipal property—forests, coastlines, and subsoil resources. Additionally, the project contained risks to freedom of speech. Following the parliamentary vote, street protests broke out in several regions. A petition demanding a veto garnered over 25,000 signatures on the first day of registration. Judges of the Supreme Court also expressed substantial objections. The draft Civil Code, which had not undergone proper discussion, effectively destroyed judicial practice developed over 20 years.

2025

Supported the liquidation of the independence of anti-corruption bodies, namely the NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Draft Law #12414). Following the vote, protests erupted near Bankova Street, and the President signed the law the same day. Parliament later passed a different law to reverse the effect of the previous one. A few days later, Bakunets stated that society was against the adopted law and that it should be reviewed.

Voted for Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk’s controversial bill to abolish the Commercial Code of Ukraine (#6013), which removed general principles governing the interaction between business and the state, posing risks to national security.

Voted for the so-called “Ihor Mazepa Law” (Draft Law 12089), which provided for the “resetting” of claims regarding illegally acquired forests and coastal lands if ten years had passed since they entered private ownership. Despite a petition demanding a veto, the President signed the document. The first victim of the law was the case concerning Protasiiv Yar.

Voted for bill #11321 on “Restoring the openness of committee work” to increase the transparency of Verkhovna Rada committee operations.

2024

Supported the bill on prohibiting religious organisations whose governing centres are located in a state carrying out aggression against Ukraine (#8371).

Advocated for retaining the military personal income tax (PIT) in local communities. Along with other MPs, he advocated for redistributing state funds currently used for funding parliamentary parties to the military.

2023

Voted for the law on the decolonisation of geographical names, which provided for changing toponyms associated with the aggressor state and its imperial policy (Draft Law #7253).

2022

Voted for bill #5655, which was criticised by a number of NGOs, including the CHESNO movement and the DEJURE Foundation, as well as the Association of Ukrainian Cities, the Architectural Chamber of the NSAU, the National Union of Architects of Ukraine, and the “Dzerkalo Tyzhnia” publication. The European Parliament and the European Commission expressed reservations, and Chatham House noted that the law created risks for the emergence of construction cartels.

Supported the liquidation of the “Wolf Court” – the District Administrative Court of Kyiv.

Transferred to the Budget Committee.

2021

Emphasised the need to allow organ transplantation, noting that Ukrainians would soon be unable to undergo such procedures in Belarus.

2020

Co-authored a bill that proposed to abolish control over the financing of local elections by territorial election commissions (#4117). The proposal was criticised for significantly reducing transparency in the pre-election process and was later withdrawn.

Moved to the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management.

2019

Elected to parliament representing the “Samopomich” Union (district #122). Joined the Committee on Legal Policy and the “Dovira” parliamentary group.

Was among the politicians prepared to stand surety for Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, who had been accused of abuse of power by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

Voted to allow the prosecution of majoritarian MP Yaroslav Dubnevych from the Lviv region, but did not vote to authorise his arrest or detention.

2015

Became the Mayor of Yavoriv and the youngest mayor in Ukraine, nominated by the “Samopomich” party.

In the same year, the Yavoriv District Court found Bakunets guilty of an administrative offence under Part 1 of Article 172-7 of the Code of Administrative Offences (failure to report a real conflict of interest) and fined him 1,700 UAH. He had brought a decision to the executive committee regarding the exemption of his brother from paying for advertising space and voted for it without disclosing a conflict of interest. The Appellate Court upheld the decision.

2014-2015

Served as Secretary of the Yavoriv City Council and Acting Mayor.

2010

Elected to the Yavoriv City Council representing the “Reforms and Order” party.

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