Recently, it was proposed to include roaming in the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.

Thus, the European Commission took another step towards allowing Ukraine to join the “roaming European Union”. This will allow Ukrainians to travel within the EU without additional fees for using mobile communications, and EU citizens will have the same rights when in Ukraine.

To remind, BRDO experts called for Ukraine to be urgently joined to the roaming space of the EU as early as March 2022.

Why is this important?

This event marks the first extension of the EU internal market regime to Ukraine. The implementation of the free roaming zone in the EU for Ukraine is a key measure outlined in the updated Priority Action Plan. The document is designed to integrate Ukraine into the EU Single Market and fully implement a deep and comprehensive free trade zone between Ukraine and the EU.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen first announced the initiative in her 2022 address. This proposal will now be considered by the Council of the European Union, and the Ukraine-EU Trade Committee must make a joint decision on the mutual provision of the internal market regime for roaming. The speed of Ukraine’s integration into the EU’s internal roaming market will depend on the pace of approximation of Ukrainian legislation to EU legislation.

Background

Since 2017, Ukraine has repeatedly raised the issue of canceling roaming charges in the EU for our citizens. But as a first step, the EU proposed to create a common roaming space between the countries of the Eastern Partnership, and only after that to join them to the roaming space of the EU.

The war significantly changed the situation.

Currently, EU and Ukrainian telecommunications operators offer affordable or free calls between the EU and Ukraine on a voluntary basis, and this arrangement has recently been extended to include calls to landline numbers and new types of operators.

The story of Mavic so-called “wedding drones” has a happy ending, and not only for drones. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine simplified the import of a number of military goods and components to Ukraine.

This applies to drones, engines, military generators, electronic countermeasures equipment, etc. From now on, these goods necessary for our defense will be imported without delay. Accordingly, the military receives them faster at the frontline.

The full text of the CMU Rsolution is available here.

To remind the timeline:

1. Maria Berlinska drew public attention to the problems with importing drones and other goods
2. In early January, the CMU canceled letters of guarantee for the import of drones by volunteers
3. At the beginning of February, the Parliament of Ukraine exempted drones, thermal imagers, collimators, as well as a number of other military goods from VAT and customs duties. These are draft laws No. 8360 and No. 8361-d. They are waiting for the President’s signature.

Deregulation of this area is in line with the best international practices. The international system of customs control is built on the control of exports, not imports.

The BRDO team was involved in the development of the above-described changes. We continue to work and prepare further steps, in particular regarding:

• deregulation of exports from EU countries (in particular, Poland);
• import deregulation at the level of laws;
• deregulation of drone production (profitability norms and others).

Electronic auctions for the sale of fishing rights are an important component of the fishing industry reform in Ukraine.

How do electronic auctions work?

Electronic auctions for the sale of the right to special use of aquatic bioresources in fishing industry water objects were approved by Government Resolution No. 1479 of December 30, 2022. This innovation was necessary in order to introduce a transparent mechanism for the implementation of the right to special use of aquatic biological resources, to create equal conditions of economic competition for subjects of the fishing industry, and to ensure equal access to fishing for new economic subjects in Ukraine.

Electronic auctions (today – almost 200) are available on the official website of Prozorro. Sales are carried out according to the following algorithm:

1. In the system, the right to industrial fishing is issued.
2. Such rights determine the permitted amount of catch of various types of fish specified in the description of the lot.
3. To participate in online auctions, participants must choose a site accredited in the Prozorro.Sales system and submit their price offer.
4. After the end of the auction and the publication of the bidding protocol, the winning bidder will have 20 working days to sign the contract.
5. After that, the winner must pay the value of the rights to use aquatic biological resources, determined by the results of the online auction.

Bill No. 7616, which is currently being prepared for the second reading in the Parliament, is aimed at improving the mechanism by which these auctions take place.

We explain why it is important to pass the law.

Since 2016, BRDO has been engaged in fisheries reforms. We are convinced that transparent access to a common biological resource is the key to minimising corruption risks and the key to the development of small and medium-sized fishing businesses.

That is why BRDO experts, together with the State Agency of Melioration and Fisheries of Ukraine, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, and business representatives developed draft law No. 7616 aimed at:

• simplification of access procedures to the fishing market;
• minimisation of the number of “contacts” during the processing of permit documentation by establishing a transparent auction mechanism for the sale of rights to conclude contracts for the right to special use of aquatic biological resources at the legislative level;
• reducing the administrative burden on the fishing business, etc.

We hope for the fast adoption of the document as a whole.

To abolish 45% of regulatory instruments from the sphere of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine is the recommendation of the Interdepartmental Working Group (IWG) on deregulation. When making the decision, the criteria of compliance of regulatory instruments with European and international obligations were taken into account.

Another 45% of tools – licenses, permits, approvals – are proposed to be modernised or digitised.

The IWG on deregulation is headed by First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko and Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov. The meetings are also attended by representatives of leading analytical centers, in particular, the BRDO.

According to the results of the IWG decisions, projects of legal acts will be developed, which will undergo a general procedure of agreement between the Central Committees, including public discussions on the proposed changes.

It is recommended, in particular, to cancel the following burdensome and outdated instruments of state regulation:

• approval of the land lease agreement in the complex with the water facility located on it;
• approval of the technological project for the return of associated stratum waters of oil and gas deposits to underground horizons;
• approval of the boundaries of sanitary protection zones of water bodies;
• permission to carry out activities aimed at artificially changing the state of the atmosphere and atmospheric phenomena for economic purposes;
• consent to emissions of pollutants for which the relevant environmental safety standards have not been established;
• approval of standards of the maximum permissible level of influence of physical and biological factors of stationary sources of pollution on the state of atmospheric air;
• permission to carry out agricultural, forestry and other industrial activities aimed at obtaining marketable products within sanitary protection zones, as well as construction of social and public facilities, conducting scientific research within sanitary protection zones, etc.

​25% of instruments subject to cancellation are duplicative with an environmental impact assessment.

It is proposed to digitise, for example, such documents as a permit for waste treatment operations, state registration (re-registration) of pesticides and agrochemicals, approval of water supply standards.

Also it is planned to improve the permit for special water use, in particular, to develop a service for online calculation of limit-permissible discharges of substances and the Single register for environmental impact assessment (the data of which must be converted into the forms of open fields to ensure the possibility of integration with other information and communication systems).

To remind, at the first meeting the IWG recommended the Cabinet of Ministers to cancel 47% of the current instruments of state regulation in the sphere of the Ministry of Economy.

For six years in a row, the European Business Association has been studying the sentiments of small businesses in Ukraine. And this is the first time present a study conducted during a full-scale war. So join our presentation of the SME Index results to find out how the work of small businesses has changed during the last year and what they plan and expect from 2023. We will also talk about support measures to help SMEs deal with the challenges of wartime.

The presentation will take place on February 16 at 11:00 via Zoom. The link to the stream will be sent after registration.

Speakers:

• Anna Derevyanko, Executive Director, European Business Association
• Valeria Ionan, Deputy Minister for Eurointegration at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine
• Iryna Hubarets, Sector Manager in charge of competition and economic cooperation issues at the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine
• Oleksii Dorogan, Executive Director of Better Regulation Delivery Office
• Svitlana Sholomitska, Coowner and Cofounder, Art Studio “8 Komora”

Registration is required and only registered participants will be notified of any possible changes to the event.

Register here

The Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Public Organizations (hereinafter referred to as the USR) is the main business register of the country, which contains current and historical information on all legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. The register includes the names of legal entities, their identification codes, locations, types of activities, and information on the founders, members, directors, etc.

The USR has been published in the form of open data since 2015. Since then, it has been used by civil society and business for many purposes, including:

• inspections of counterparties;
• journalistic and anti-corruption investigations;
• search for assets of russian oligarchs.

In addition to using its own data, the USR ensures interoperability with many other registers since it is the only register with a complete list of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs with unique identifiers.

According to Article 6 of the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information”, restriction of access to the USR (access with user identification has been implemented) should be carried out only when the following conditions for restricting access are provided:

1. exclusively in the interests of national security, territorial integrity, or public order to prevent riots or criminal offenses, to protect public health, to protect the reputation or rights of other people, to prevent the disclosure of information obtained in confidence, or to maintain the authority and impartiality of justice;
2. disclosure of information may cause significant damage to these interests;
3. the harm of disclosing such information outweighs the public interest in obtaining it.

Without passing the specified “three-fold test”, restricting access to information is unjustified and harmful. The real risks posed by opening the USR in wartime have not been publicly discussed, nor have the harms of restricting access to the USR. Instead, a total and inconsistent restriction is applied, which leads to blocking the work of civil society activists, complicating anti-corruption investigations, and extracting funds from market participants.

After all, while access to the USR remains limited, it is possible to get full access to the registry through the paid API of SE “NAIS”, which is used by dozens of companies, individual entrepreneurs, and hundreds of their employees. At the same time, among the companies that have full (albeit paid) access to the USR are several banks with russian capital.

From 12.26.2022, limited access to the USR was provided through identification with a qualified electronic signature (QES) with an additional download of closed-source software, which violates the principles of openness and transparency and contradicts the Law “On Access to Public Information”. The meaning of the restriction on the identification of the QES is unclear since any Ukrainian collaborator or pro-russian user with an account at CB “PrivatBank” can make a QES for free in a minute, not to mention remote commercial services.

Based on the announcement of the open access to the USR for searching and generating extracts from it in electronic form on the “Diia” portal, it can be concluded that instead of free access to the register, exclusive access to the “Extract from the USR online” service is created exclusively through the “Diia” portal.

Closing the USR, as well as giving exclusive access to it, makes it impossible to carry out anti-corruption activities, in particular, public control/monitoring of the reconstruction process to minimize violations in the process of payment of compensation and implementation of reconstruction projects, namely, to avoid:

• double financing of objects;
• unjustified prioritization of financing objects due to political or corrupt influence;
• involvement of unscrupulous contractors/builders or contractors/builders connected to the aggressor state;
• fraudulent schemes for the sale of damaged objects, etc.

Considering the above, we call on the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to:

• conduct urgent public consultations on the issues of disclosure of USR information and carry out an examination of risks to the interests of national security in case of publication of individual USR data and ways to prevent them;
• revise Resolution No. 263 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated March 12, 2022, which authorizes information managers, owners, and/or administrators of information resources to take during the period of martial law such additional measures as pausing, limiting the function of informational, informational-communicational and electronic communication systems, as well as public electronic registers;
• revise other acts of subjects of power, which restrict access to information of the USR against the law;
• restore access to the USR, taking into account the requirements of the law, on the principles of legality, reasonableness, proportionality, bona fide, and prudence, taking into account the rights of business and the public to participate in the process of making such decisions.

Representatives of the Coalition are ready to join public consultations on the opening of the USR and provide legal support in developing solutions for opening the registry as soon as possible.

Draft Law No. 7198 creates a compensation mechanism for Ukrainians whose real estate was damaged or destroyed as a result of the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine. It will allow those whose homes were destroyed to receive assistance from the state budget. Specialists of the Office of Effective Regulation of BRDO participated in the development of the document.

It is important that this draft law is an intermediate link between providing the affected Ukrainians with housing and full compensation, which the Russian Federation must pay for all the damage caused to Ukraine and its citizens. After all, currently the Russian Federation does not pay reparations, and the budget of Ukraine cannot cover all the needs for compensation for all the damage caused by Russia. The same Ukrainians who decide to wait and not take advantage of the compensation for destroyed housing, which will be introduced by draft law 7198, will be able to receive funds after the victory of Ukraine from reparations, which will be paid by the Russian Federation.

How will it be possible to receive compensation for destroyed housing?

The issue of granting or not granting compensation will be decided by the Commission for consideration of issues regarding the provision of compensation, which is created by the executive body of the village, township, city, district in the city (if it is created) council, military or military-civilian administration of the settlement.

An application for compensation for destroyed housing can be submitted to the Commission in two ways:

1. in electronic form – by means of the Unified state web portal of electronic services;
2. in paper form – through the center for the provision of administrative services, social protection bodies or a notary public.

There will be drop-off points to ensure that all owners of damaged or destroyed properties can submit claims. Such points will be created by TsNAPAs and public social protection bodies.

Applications for compensation for destroyed housing can be submitted during martial law and within one year from the date of its termination or cancellation in the territory where the destroyed object of real estate is located (was located).

Yes, compensation can be provided in two options:

• monetary – in this case, the applicant receives funds to an account with a special mode of use for financing the construction of a manor-type house, a cottage house or a country house;
• financing the purchase of an apartment, other residential premises, a manor-type house, a cottage or country house (including financing the purchase of such premises/houses that will be built in the future, or investing/financing its construction) using a housing certificate. Such a residential certificate is produced in electronic form using the Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property.

Compensation for the destroyed manor house, cottage or country house, construction objects (manor house, cottage and country houses) is provided at the choice of the recipient of compensation in one of the above ways.

The search and selection of an apartment, other living space, manor-type house, cottage or country house (including such a room/house that will be built in the future) is carried out by the recipient of compensation independently. At the same time, such a choice is possible on the territory of any territorial community of Ukraine, except for:

• the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, defined in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On ensuring the rights and freedoms of citizens and the legal regime in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine”;
• territories of territorial communities that are located in the area of military (combat) operations or that are under temporary occupation, encirclement (blockade) in accordance with the list approved by the central body of executive power, which ensures the formation and implementation of state policy on issues of temporarily occupied territories.

It may happen that the price of a new real estate object, the financing of acquisition (investment/financing of their construction) is carried out using a housing certificate, will be lower than the amount of monetary compensation specified in the certificate. In such a case, information about this will be recorded in the Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property, and the unreceived amount of compensation will be paid to the applicant at the expense of funds received from the Russian Federation for compensation for damages caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in accordance with the procedure established by law.

The compensation will be calculated according to the formula and coefficients taking into account the average indicators of the cost of housing depending on its type. Accordingly, the cost will be averaged.

How will it be possible to receive compensation for damaged housing?

Compensation for damaged housing will be provided by performing construction-related work on the damaged real estate object for the purpose of its restoration (including the development of project documentation for construction, its examination, construction work) and/or the provision of construction products to perform such works. The procedure for obtaining such compensation will be determined by the Government.

Compensation is also provided for damaged or destroyed housing that was not completed before the start of the war, provided that retaining and external fencing structures (except for translucent structures and filling of doorways) were erected in the construction object with such housing, and in relation to such an object, received the right to perform construction works.

In addition, the law provides for compensation for objects damaged or destroyed as a result of circumstances caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine (mining, demining, etc.), after the termination or cancellation of martial law. In such a case, an application for compensation for a damaged/destroyed real estate object is submitted to the Commission for consideration of issues regarding the provision of compensation within three years from the date of termination or cancellation of martial law in the territory where the damaged or destroyed object is located (was located) real estate.

The law is aimed at creating a legal basis for citizens to receive compensation for some types of real estate as quickly as possible, without waiting for the decisions of international courts regarding reparations from Russia, as such processes can drag on for years. At the same time, further distribution of compensation to other categories of persons or other types of immovable property is not excluded in case of financial possibility. Receiving compensation in accordance with the adopted law is a right, not a duty of a citizen.

It is important in the draft law that the funds allocated for compensation for damaged or destroyed housing will work for the economy of Ukraine. This will be possible thanks to the fact that Ukrainians who have lost and need housing will be able to use the certificate to obtain housing on the secondary market or to finance the construction of new housing or separate construction materials or services by analogy with eSupport.

During the implementation of the compensation mechanism, it is also necessary to take into account:

• the possibility to build a private house on one’s own plot, if the apartment was destroyed;
• the opportunity to build a private house independently;
• inflation;
• the need to regulate the activities of commissions that will make decisions on compensation, to ensure transparency and accountability;
• the need to ensure proper communication of this decision.

We call on elected officials to adopt this law as soon as possible.

Green light for deregulation! The Interdepartmental Working Group on Issues of Accelerated Review of Instruments of State Regulation of Economic Activity (IWG on Deregulation) has started its work. BRDO prepares analytics on the necessity of maintaining or canceling regulations, the priority of digitization of state regulatory tools, participates in meetings and helps to implement the decisions of the IWG, in particular, to develop legal acts.

The goal of the IWG on deregulation is to improve the business climate in Ukraine. As of now, more than 1000 instruments have been identified in the field of state regulation of economic activities, including: 528 permits, 224 licenses, 157 approvals, 145 conclusions, 121 certificates, 55 declarations, 42 notifications, 23 certifications. Accordingly, with such a large number of regulatory tools, it is quite difficult to start and run a business.

At the first meeting, the IWG on deregulation recommended to the Cabinet of Ministers to cancel 47% of licenses and permits in areas where the Ministry of Economy develops policy. These are instruments that regulate doing business in the fields of export and import of goods (including those with military purposes), investments and intellectual property, technical regulation, labor relations, and labor safety.

In addition to the abolition of outdated and irrelevant regulatory instruments, at the meeting of the Working Group on Deregulation, it was recommended to digitize and simplify about a third of the instruments that belong to the sphere of competence of the Ministry of Economy.

The co-chairs of the group are the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Economy and the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Digital Transformation. Representatives of the ministries of economy, digital transformation, environment al protection and natural resources, justice, finance, etc. will also take part in the work of the group. In addition to the BRDO, representatives of other NGOs, in particular the Center for Economic Recovery and the Center for Economic Strategy, are involved in the work of the MWG.

At the next meeting of the IWG on deregulation, tools in the spheres belonging to the responsibility of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine will be considered. In the future, the IWG on deregulation will work out regulatory instruments that belong to the sphere of competence of all other authorities.

Building infrastructure to combat money laundering is essential for Ukraine’s victory and future reconstruction. Why is this question so fundamental?

Financial issues of Ukraine’s recovery, mechanisms for preventing money laundering, as well as ensuring transparency were discussed recently by Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, and Oleksii Dorogan, executive director of the BRDO. Here are some of the takeaways of their conversation:

🔹 When large-scale investment in reconstruction begins, there will be calls to ensure that the country’s financial system effectively prevents illegal activities. The state should prepare for this right now so that when the time comes, Ukraine can say: we have an effective financial monitoring system, and funds cannot be stolen and diverted through the banking system to invest, for example, in property in London or real estate in Miami.

🔹 There is a lot of resistance to change in the world of financial crime. In general, when progress is made, it is slow, whether in banking or the government sector. These are usually step changes. In the case of Ukraine, there is an opportunity for change from day one to create an entirely new system that the rest of the world could learn from.

🔹 Providing banks with access to all the information they need to decide on suspicious transactions is one of the fundamental guarantees of the transparency of the financial system. Once the money leaves the country, it is almost impossible to get it back. Therefore, securing that first stage, when laundered money goes to a local bank and then out of the country, is critically important.

🔹 Strengthening the fight against money laundering in Ukraine and worldwide will make it more difficult for Russia to wage war. Also, the fight against money laundering in Ukraine will increase the confidence of governments ready to allocate funds for reconstruction so that this money will not be stolen. We are talking about hundreds of billions of dollars.

Listen to the full conversation of the experts here: in Ukrainian and in English

The podcast was created as part of the project “Supervising and Monitoring Ukraine’s Reconstruction Funds” of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies (CFCS) at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies and the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO).

This is evidenced by the fresh “borscht index” from BRDO.

When calculating the index, we use data from the “Minfin” portal for finance and investment on average monthly prices for products. Unfortunately, at the moment we cannot confirm the relevance of the index for regions of Ukraine that are in the zone of active hostilities.

How did the war affect the prices of basic products?

UAH 99,2 – that’s how much a portion of borscht for four people, prepared according to a traditional recipe, will cost on January 13, 2023. Compared to February 24, 2022 — UAH 81,84 — the price has increased by 21,22%

All borscht ingredients have significantly changed their price.

The cost of meat increased the most (+63,67%).

The noticeable increase in the price of meat products is currently due to the cost of animal feed, the decrease in livestock, as well as problems in the energy sector. In particular, they affect the ability of manufacturers to store both raw materials and finished products.

Sour cream (+31,91%) and carrots (+26,48%) are next on the price scale.

On the other hand, the price of other vegetables – potatoes, cabbage and beets – decreased.

RISE Ukraine Coalition was founded to support the recovery and modernization of Ukraine after the war. We also work to increase the number of funds allocated for reconstruction and ensure their transparent and effective use. Unfortunately, we have to state that the achievement of this goal is currently under threat.

Accountable and transparent reconstruction depends on the availability of open data

A key element of transparency and accountability is access to public information in the form of open data. After the introduction of martial law, valuable sets of open data on which the infrastructure of transparency and anti-corruption in Ukraine was built for years disappeared from public access.

Limitation of access to information occurred chaotically, without proper legal regulation and public discussion. This was justified in the first months of a full-scale invasion but is unacceptable ten months after the invasion began.

In particular, on February 24, 2022, access to the Open Data Portal was completely closed. In March 2022, by Resolution No. 263, the Cabinet of Ministers allowed limiting the operation of information systems, which was interpreted by some officials as the green light to stop the publication of data. And in April 2022, the Ministry of Justice issued an order to stop publishing information in open data format (https://minjust.gov.ua/n/22649).

Access to the Portal was restored on August 1, 2022, but several valuable data sets are still unavailable. Why access to each individual set was limited is not known. According to our information, access was limited, including following the recommendations of the security authorities under the label “For official use” and separate orders from the top management of the state. Currently, the process of legalization of part of the actual restrictions is underway due to changes to the Resolution of the CMU No. 835 dated 10/21/2015. This act defines the list of open data sets to be made public.

Unreasonable hiding of public information in the form of open data:

• complicates the work of authorities, businesses, and public organizations;
• endangers transparent and accountable reconstruction;
• reduces the trust of international partners, on whom coverage of the budget deficit depends.

During the war, the country’s military-political leadership has the right to limit access to information guaranteed by Art. 34 of the Constitution of Ukraine. However, the mechanism of such restriction is not described in the legislation, and the responsible authorities, principles, procedures, and responsibility for their violation are not defined. Therefore, restrictions are introduced haphazardly and may have a larger scale than required by the needs of state security (or even contradict them).

Current restrictions on access to information are characterized by the following:

• Absence of publicly known principles by which access to information is limited;
• Limiting access to individual data sets completely, regardless of the sharing of “sensitive” information in it;
• Lack of discussion of data privacy risks and ways of managing them;
• Lack of discussion of the harm caused by the unavailability of information;
• Inconsistency: when information continues to be available for an official fee or on the black market.

This approach is inconsistent with the following:

• The principles of openness and transparency of the activities of central executive bodies (Article 2 of the Law “About Central Executive Bodies”);
• Provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine (Article 34) on limiting the use and distribution of only that information, in respect of which the interests of national security, territorial integrity, and others defined by the Constitution require it.

As a Coalition that stands for the transparent and accountable reconstruction of Ukraine, we consider such a situation harmful. The available volume of financial resources and the efficiency of their use by Ukraine directly depend on the transparency and accountability of their use. Effective public control cannot be built without the use of open data.

We think that a temporary restriction of access to individual information during the war can be justified but must be explained and meet clear criteria for defining security-sensitive information. Therefore, it is necessary to review the approach of chaotic closure of access to information and be guided by the following principles:

• Motivation: access restriction must be accompanied by a description of specific risks, scenarios of their implementation, and ways of managing them;
• Proportionality: only the information that creates the described risks can be restricted in access;
• Completeness and consistency: restrictions cannot apply to information that is available in other public sources or has been made public before;
• Legality and transparency: the decision to restrict access should be made based on criteria and procedures defined by the law, for example, a three-part test, as provided for in the Law “On Access to Public Information”.

We call on information managers to:

• Urgently restore access to priority data sets in an amount that does not pose a security threat;
• For information that poses security threats and is hidden on this basis, to publicize the justification of such decisions;

The RISE coalition formulates specific proposals for restoring access to priority data sets:

1) Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Public Organizations (USR)

2) Spending – Information made public following the Law of Ukraine “On Open Use of Public Funds”

3) Unified State Register of Declarations of persons authorized to perform the functions of the state or local self-government (Register of declarations)

4) Unified state register of persons who have committed corruption or corruption-related offenses (Register of corrupt persons)

5) “Learn more about your business partner” service (Tax debt of enterprises)

6) Financial reporting of companies

7) The unified state register of assets subject to seizure in criminal proceedings (Register of seized assets)

8) Court Register

On 15 December 2022, Supervising and Monitoring Ukraine’s Reconstruction Funds (SMURF) project held a discussion in a hybrid format (in-person in Kyiv and online) with BRDO (Better Regulation Delivery Office, Ukrainian think tank) and the members of RISE UA coalition on how to protect Ukraine’s reconstruction funds from corruption.

Ukrainian civil society organisations working on the rule of law, anti-corruption, anti-money-laundering and experts from the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies (CFCS) at RUSI took part in the discussion.

RISE Ukraine’s paper: Institutional Architecture of Reconstruction of Ukraine framed the discussion on the most effective approaches to Ukraine’s reconstruction and its key principles of coordination, responsibility, transparency and accountability of reconstruction funds flows.

“We’re already working with RISE Ukraine on systems and processes for transparent and accountable reconstruction of Ukraine. I’m delighted that RUSI’s CFCS is joining us to build an effective anti-money laundering system,” said Oleksii Dorogan, CEO of BRDO.

Key Considerations From the Workshop

• The project is focused on taking an operational approach to reconstruction. As of now, the concept of the electronic system for managing reconstruction already exists and it was suggested that we use already successfully working solutions (such as Prozorro, Spending.gov.ua, Register of Damaged or Destroyed Real Estate, etc.) and integrate them into a single, user-friendly interface to create an understandable and clear representation of the lifecycle of a reconstruction project. In using this system we aim to provide a level of transparency to international partners and donors, to civil society, and to Ukrainian citizens so that of all the steps and stages of each reconstruction project can be seen.

• As of November 2022, the necessity of having an institution responsible for the reconstruction of Ukraine was discussed. Two options as to how this could be developed were considered: 1) use the existing design of the Cabinet of Ministers and state bodies that can perform the required functions, or 2) create a new national institution (or incorporate or reorganise the existing ones) with instruments ensuring its independence and accountability. The institution should be responsible for procedures and projects but not for the funding flows.

• At this point, there are more questions than answers. How to coordinate the whole process of reconstruction? Who will take responsibility? Who will design standards and procedures for developing projects for reconstruction and who will approve them? How will those procedures work? How to ensure transparency and accountability for the flow of reconstruction funds and reduce corruption risks? And how to ensure the financial system (banks, other non-financial businesses and professions such as lawyers and accountants, and government agencies) is alert to any financial flows (money laundering) related to corruption risks?

Key Insights From the Workshop

• A strong anti-money laundering framework to support the efforts of safeguarding Ukrainian reconstruction is important. In Ukraine, there is strong public financial oversight of banks. However, there is no established public financial monitoring system in non-banking areas such as real estate, law, audit. Organisations in these areas are not obliged to report on the suspicious transactions, therefore, limiting risk awareness and creating the risks of corruption and money laundering.

• There is a different understanding of transparency in Ukraine and Western countries. For example, under the World Bank procedures, an ex post statement is released on a contract signature with “organisation A” for a certain tender, but all details about competitors, reasons for disqualification etc. remain confidential. While in Ukraine, the principle “open by design” or “everybody sees everything” works facilitating the ability to trace online all stages of public procurement in the e-system https://prozorro.gov.ua/. The latter type of transparency is needed for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

• There is a misleading impression among Western countries that Ukraine’s institutional capacity is mostly ruined like in Iraq or Afghanistan. In those countries, the reconstruction was proposed to be implemented through NGOs. In Ukraine, despite all efforts of the Russian Federation to destroy the country, institutional capacity is well preserved. Therefore, the functioning governmental institutions should implement the reconstruction and there is no need to create separate NGOs with that purpose.

• Alongside international partners and donor funding, the role of private investment is essential for long-term reconstruction in Ukraine. To ensure the inflow of private investment, Ukraine should create a conducive environment for business operation, including strong protections against corruption and money laundering.  In sum, a system with demonstrated integrity.

The Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy of the Parliament of Ukraine recommended the adoption of the bill No. 8119 as a basis, which will promote both the development of the fishing industry and the growth of the economic potential and competitiveness of the production of aquatic biological resources and products from them in Ukraine.

BRDO team took part in the development of the document together with the Ministry of Agricultural Policy and the State Fishing Agency of Ukraine.

What does the bill envisage?

1. Attracting investments in the development of the fishing industry will take place according to an open, public and transparent procedure and on a contractual basis. The possibility of signing such contracts will be realised by conducting open auctions in the form of electronic bidding with equal access to participation in them. In addition, control and monitoring of the results of the execution of contracts, mechanisms of mandatory reporting by investors, etc. are established.
2. Lists of objects of attraction of investments will be determined for the first time by the Ministry of Agricultural Policy – this will allow to identify the priority areas of development and the amount of necessary investments in the field of aquaculture.
3. Aquaculture and mariculture in Ukraine will receive a powerful push for development – in particular, the adoption of the draft law will promote the development of SMEs (for example, in terms of opening new farms for growing mussels and oysters, fish farms for growing sturgeon and trout, and others).

BRDO welcomes the approval of the bill No. 8119 by the Committee and awaits its approval by the Parliament.

During the war, many Ukrainians are forced to seek shelter, as their homes are destroyed or they are forced to evacuate from the occupied Ukrainian territories.

Fortunately, many Ukrainians are ready to accept IDPs, and the state is ready to support them. Free accommodation of IDPs to Ukrainians is compensated by international charitable funds and donor organizations.

How to get compensation to the owner of the premises?

1️. No later than the next day after the placement of the IDP, the owner must submit an application to the local self-government bodies (executive committee), specifying the data of each of the placed persons and attaching copies of documents certifying their identity. You can download the application form here

2️. On the day of termination of placement of IDPs or change in their number, submit an application with information on changing the list of resident persons.

3️. Apply to the executive committee of the village, settlement, city council for the location of the residential premises to receive financial assistance.

4️. The payment is made in non-cash form using the bank details specified in the application by the 20th of the following month, provided there is no arrears for the homeowner’s utility services.

How is the compensation process organised?

A state electronic management system was developed for the convenience of providing compensation for the placement of IDPs. It was created as part of the Innovation Laboratory for EU project, implemented by the federal company Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Government. The Ministry of Communities and Territories Development and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine are responsible for the implementation of the project with the participation of BRDO experts.

Will the accommodation of all IDPs be compensated?

In accordance with the resolution of the CMU dated September 30, 2022 No. 1094, compensation is provided for free accommodation of IDPs who have been displaced from temporarily occupied territories and/or whose property has been damaged or destroyed.