The purpose of the handbooks was to address areas of concern identified by Ukrainian legislators, and provide a broader understanding of these issues for them and those who support their work. Program arrangements were coordinated by the Meridian International Center. The delegation was headed by National Deputy Vladyslav Nosov who is a member of the Budget Committee and the Oversight Committee for Administrative and Analytical Matters of the Verkhovna Rada. This committee is responsible for establishing parliamentary rules and procedures, managing the operation of the parliament and charged with improving the process of researching and drafting legislation. PDP has been providing comparative materials that allow National Deputies to gain a broader perspective on problems and solutions in five key areas, namely, budget processes, committee procedures and operations, legislative-executive relations, legislative processes and citizen relations.
Recent events point to a number of significant achievements.
Foremost among these is the impact of PDP on tax legislation. On April 3, the Verkhovna Rada passed the Law on Real Estate Property Tax. PDP received a letter written on April 8 from Yevhen Zhovtiak, Chairman of the Subcommittee for Taxation, thanking PDP and especially Dr. Lawrence Schroeder, Lead Advisor for PDP's Working Group on Budget Processes, for their assistance on the draft law. Several comments by Dr. Lawrence led to revisions and a better draft law which was then submitted to the Verkhovna Rada. In August an agreement was signed by Indiana University, the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development extending the Parliamentary Development Project through December 31, 1999.