Updated 5:16 p.m. Moscow Time
KIEV, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the bill on vetting of officials, empowered to perform state or local self-government functions, into law Thursday, his press service announced.
"Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the bill "On Vetting," passed by the Verkhovna Rada on September 16," the press service said in a statement.
According to the press service, the new law determines the legal and organizational basis for conducting the screening of the state- and local-level officials "in order to restore the confidence in the authorities and create conditions for designing a new system of government in accordance with the European standards."
The Ukrainian parliament adopted the law on lustration or anti-corruption screenings in mid-September. On September 25, the bill was signed by Verkhovna Rada chairman Oleksandr Turchynov and sent to Poroshenko for approval.
According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the screening would affect about 1 million public officials at all levels, employees of law enforcement agencies and "the entire cabinet of ministers."
The bill reads that officials who fail to pass the screening or did not agree to the screening, apart from those applying for or occupying elected positions, shall be dismissed by the inspection body from office with prohibition to hold public posts for 10 years.
The screening of government officials was one of Maidan's principal demands.
