On March 6, 2019, the Government approved a series of business decisions developed by the BRDO Office with the support of the MEDT and business associations as part of the eight Deregulation Cabinet of Ministers.
In such a way, 149 obsolete and irrelevant acts on price regulation in the USSR’s planned economy were abolished. The Government made a decision on market competitive pricing in terms of purchasing medical equipment, which is fully or partly purchased for budget funds. The cancellation of 10% limitation on medical equipment allowances will remove non-transparent schemes in this sector, reduce corruption risks and diversify products and suppliers in the medical equipment market.
The procedure for licensing business activities was also improved, because this sector was overloaded with excessive requirements and internal conflicts. For example, a ‘softer’ regulatory tool implying the suspension of a license was introduced as an alternative to the only existing license revocation tool. The license renewal procedure, which was stopped by the licensing body, and the procedure for appealing such a decision were also defined. In addition, entrepreneurs will no longer be required to provide documents to confirm their license issuance payments, which previously also served as grounds for license revocation. These changes will allow business owners to save about 960 million UAH per year.
Another significant decision is that it is possible for citizens of visa-free countries to obtain a working visa D in Ukraine. Its adoption was the result of a recent meeting of the President and the Prime Minister with representatives of the Ukrainian IT industry held on February 26. The Ukrainian IT industry, the growth dynamics of which exceeds personnel training progress rates within the country, as well as other sectors requiring the attraction of foreign specialists have been waiting for this step for a long time. The decision will have a positive impact on the country’s investment attractiveness as a whole, revive the exchange of best practices and create additional incentives for the information technology development in the country.
An important batch of Government’s decisions was the approval of risk criteria for another range of areas as part of the inspection system reform. In particular, in such areas as railway and city electric transport, tobacco products, metrology, out-of-school education, use of umbilical cord blood and genetically modified plants. In practice, this means that inspection bodies will focus primarily on inspections of enterprises with the highest risk level. As a result, businesses will more clearly understand the requirements imposed, and this will reduce the risks for consumers.
In addition, another ineffective Soviet relic such as a customer feedback book became a thing of the past. The obligation to keep it cost economic entities in trade and, consequently, consumers up to 125 million UAH per year.