Deregulation is the reduction of state regulation in a certain industry. Ukraine is currently undergoing an unprecedented deregulation of the economy: the government is reducing its control over business activities.
Why does Ukraine need deregulation of the economy?
At the beginning of 2023, more than 1,000 instruments were operating in the sphere of state regulation of economic activities. Ukrainian entrepreneurs are obliged to constantly obtain or submit a bunch of licenses, permits, reports, declarations, and approvals.
Not all of these regulatory instruments still make any sense. Many of them duplicate each other, do not perform the functions they should have, and become a source of corruption. Businesses are forced to spend time and money to comply with these regulations purely for the sake of compliance.
In the conditions of war, it is more important than ever to give business the opportunity to “breathe freely” and develop. By deregulating the economy, the government aims to create a new business climate in Ukraine. After the completion of deregulation, the costs of permit documentation will be significantly reduced, which will contribute to the development of business and replenishment of the state budget.
Who implements deregulation?
In January 2023, an Interdepartmental Working Group on Issues of Accelerated Review of State Regulation of Economic Activity – Working Group on Deregulation was established.
The IWG is headed by First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko and Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov. The meetings are also attended by representatives of the ministries of economy, digital transformation, protection of the environment and natural resources, justice, finance, regulatory service, analytical centers (BRDO, Center for Economic Recovery, Center for Economic Strategy).
How does deregulation happen?
The IWG holds meetings at least twice a month. In the course of them, regulatory instruments are analysed and a decision is made: which of them should be abolished, which should be modernised or digitised, and which should be left unchanged.
After each meeting, relevant projects of acts are developed, which undergo a general approval procedure. After that, the Cabinet of Ministers approves these decisions.
What is BRDO for?
BRDO prepares analytics on the expediency of maintaining or canceling regulations, the priority of digitisation of state regulatory tools, participates in meetings and helps to implement the decisions of the IWG, in particular, to develop normative legal acts.
Read more about the results of the first 4 months of work of the IWG in the column of Oleksiy Sobolev, Deputy Minister of Economy.