“Holka” Discussed the Development of REchargeUA — Is in Your Power! with Partners

The civic initiative “Holka” held a discussion with its partners on the further development of the REchargeUA — Is in Your Power! project for current and potential partners from civil society organizations and the media. The unified digital advocacy window already includes information on 34 landmark parliamentary votes.

Petro Tiestov, analyst at the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, explained how last year an advocacy campaign succeeded in blocking a harmful amendment that would have allowed the construction of wind turbines in mountainous areas without an environmental impact assessment:

“In the autumn, MPs who entered parliament from the pro-Russian OPZZh party attempted to insert an amendment into a bill that was originally aimed at protecting the rights of owners of destroyed property (Bill No. 13174). This amendment was intended to simplify development in natural areas.

Had it been adopted, it would have effectively given a ‘green light’—first and foremost—to the destruction of the Carpathians. At present, illegal construction of wind turbines is ongoing on the Runa mountain meadow, where mountains and primeval forests are being destroyed.

‘Holka’ translated complex legal provisions into language that was understandable to the public—and as a result, the amendment was not adopted. Now the mountains have a chance to be preserved.

Today, the Verkhovna Rada operates at a very accelerated pace, and civil society often does not have enough time to conduct advocacy campaigns to stop harmful initiatives. This is why a unified digital advocacy window such as REchargeUA — Is in Your Power! is extremely valuable for the civic sector.”

The “Holka” team and representatives of partner organizations

Oleh Lystopad, Environmental Policy Expert at the ANTS Network for the Protection of National Interests, noted:

“A country has the right to know its heroes—and its ‘heroes’ as well. But how can one quickly understand who is who? Our parliament sometimes resembles an oven from which laws fly out like hot pastries. We don’t always have time to see who kneaded the dough, who added the filling, who put the trays in, and who took the finished product out.

This tool helps to quickly navigate the legislative kitchen.”

Iryna Fedoriv, Head of the civic initiative “Holka”, emphasized that the tool is useful not only for advocacy but also for informing citizens about the work of Members of Parliament:

“We pay special attention to regional media, which can strengthen advocacy campaigns and influence single-mandate MPs. Together with our media partner Pohliad, we prepared an explainer on how to use the tool in order to engage as many colleagues as possible.

We already cooperate with media outlets in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Khmelnytskyi, and Lviv regions and have prepared analytical overviews of the work of MPs from these regions.

This year, our developer Vasyl Zhuk is working on several additional features that will, in particular, improve the work of investigative journalists. We also plan to create a similar unified digital advocacy window for the Kyiv City Council.

Our content managers, Nataliia Kokina and Artem Lymanskyi, are doing critically important work—they have already prepared more than 160 profiles of Members of Parliament. When election time comes, political memory must become the foundation of the institution of reputation.”

Presentation of the explainer on how the tool works

Background

The REchargeUA — Is in Your Power! project was launched by the civic initiative “Holka” in partnership with the Center for Innovation Development to mark the sixth anniversary of the Verkhovna Rada’s work. More than 20 civil society organizations and media outlets have already joined the initiative.

The event was held at Vcentri HUB, a network of municipal hubs that bring together people and organizations with diverse views and areas of activity, united by a shared goal. Civil society organizations can use the hub network free of charge to host events, trainings, workshops, roundtables, and charitable initiatives.

The test version of the tool was created with funds contributed by the people of Ukraine. Since November 2025, the project has been implemented with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy NED).