Odesa mayor to lose position once city council receives presidential decree

The Central Election Commission of Ukraine believes that Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov's powers will be terminated once the Odesa City Council receives the presidential decree on his loss of citizenship, and the duties of mayor will be performed by the council's secretary.

Source: Serhii Dubovyk, Deputy Head of Ukraine's Central Election Commission, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "In my opinion, from the moment the Odesa City Council receives the text of the decree of the president of Ukraine on the city mayor's loss of citizenship, in accordance with the legislation, the powers of the Odesa mayor are considered terminated, unless the decree is appealed and the court suspends its effect."

Details: Dubovyk explained that in peacetime, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) would appoint elections, and after the start of the electoral process, the relevant system of election commissions would begin to operate, but this is impossible during martial law.

Therefore, according to Dubovyk, the mayor's post will remain vacant, and the duties of the mayor will be performed by the secretary of the city council.

Dubovyk added that the Central Election Commission is not expected to react to the early termination of the mayor's powers.

Trukhanov himself stated on 14 October that, under the law on local self-government, the mayor's powers are terminated from the moment the city council adopts a decision acknowledging the fact of his loss of citizenship.

Meanwhile, the next session of the Odesa City Council is scheduled for 12 or 19 November, and there is currently no information about a possible extraordinary session.

Background:

• On 14 October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had signed a decree concerning "individuals [who] hold Russian citizenship", without disclosing any names.
• However, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne confirmed via government sources that Trukhanov was among those concerned.
• Hennadii Trukhanov had served as Odesa mayor since 2014, when the first reports emerged alleging that he held Russian citizenship. Under Ukraine's law on local self-government, loss of citizenship is grounds for the early termination of a mayor's powers.
• Trukhanov denied holding Russian citizenship and called the decision to strip him of Ukrainian citizenship a "falsification". He said he would take legal action against this.
• Later, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that Trukhanov had been stripped of Ukrainian citizenship because he is a citizen of Russia and holds a valid passport of the Russian Federation.
• Zelenskyy is set to appoint Serhii Lysak, the current head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, as the first head of the Odesa city military administration.

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