Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, approved in the first reading on Jan. 10 a bill on lobbying, one of the remaining requirements presented to Kyiv by the European Commission in its latest assessment, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said. In its November report, the EU’s executive body recommended the launch of accession talks with Kyiv but noted that several reforms are still needed, namely adopting a law on lobbying. According to Zhelezniak, the bill effectively functions as an alternative to the anti-oligarch law. The anti-oligarch legislation, passed in 2021 to curtail the political in…