Current legislative regulation of the forest sector can’t provide a complete forest inventory, while being powerless to deal with illegal logging and not offering effective mechanisms for forest protection and transparent timber sales. High corruption risks of regulatory instruments provoke the growth of the shadow market. (more…)
Volodymyr Zelenskyi cancelled more than 160 decrees. From now on, life will become easier for businesses. This list includes two decrees, which were among the 10 most important requirements awaited by the business community for almost two years. This is primarily about the decree that had existed since the 1990s and provided for a minimum amount of state duty for notarization of real estate purchase and sale transactions – 1% of its value. In that case, the notaries could compete for large contracts with the public sector, because they could make a fortune even with one transaction. For example, a notary who certified the documents during the privatization of Kryvorizhstal in 2004 earned 250 million hryvnias.
This duty was not only expensive for the state. It created the basis for corruption in this area. First of all, there was no procedure on how to choose a notary for your case. Most often, a notary was chosen by a seller, so the State Property Fund should decide whom to pay 250 million hryvnias for services. Until now, the business had similar problems: if all the notaries provide their service for the same price, a big company could arrange for ‘special treatment’ with one of them. For example, it may include the condition that part of the duty will be paid back to the entrepreneur somehow. The president’s decision will save up to a billion hryvnias on the price difference, and the real estate cost can be reduced.
Another important initiative is the abolition of a decree on cash discipline, because it has been required just in the early 90’s. In the Soviet Union, the number of private cash registers was significantly lower than in modern Ukraine, and therefore, on June 12, 1995, the president signed a decree imposing fines for violating the cash circulation regulation rules. Entrepreneurs was obliged to report on time when the money was received, how they were included to the cash balance, registered in documents and how the costs were settled. Heavy fines for a several hours delay in calculating funds are now cancelled.
At present, in Ukrainian courts, there are about a thousand pending cases, the total amount of fines of which is 10 billion hryvnias. Currently, there is no need for such strict regulation, and we don’t have to be afraid of chaos without this decree, because there is another liability – the administrative one. It implies that officials and entrepreneurs can also be convicted, but not later than 3 months from the violation date. Previously, a tax officer could open a 2-year-old violation case on delaying in cash withdrawals on account for one day.
A decree on school uniform, which had to be made only from Ukrainian fabrics until now, was cancelled as well. The decree stated that the Cabinet of Ministers should introduce the selection and approval of school uniforms, providing for its options for students of all ages. Now it sounds like an absurdity and makes no sense.
A number of outdated rules was also cancelled in the agricultural sector. For example, in regard to the outdated price regulation.
Why did the president resolve such issues?
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian economy needed additional standards. For example, there were no private notaries in the state until 1990, so it was necessary to resolve this situation and provide them with some earnings. When the new Constitution went into effect, the president was entitled to approve decrees helping to quickly resolve urgent issues for three years. For this purpose, decrees should be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and signed by the Prime Minister of Ukraine. At the same time, the president had to submit a similar draft decree for consideration by the Verkhovna Rada. If people’s deputies didn’t approve or cancel a draft law within 30 days, a decree should enter into effect. It was supposed that it would act temporarily, but in practice, it had almost an endless effect.
Volodymyr Zelenskyi, like his predecessor, can make such decisions no longer. Ukraine has a market economy, and therefore the president can not, for example, approve salaries for lawyers or notaries again.
What else should be changed for businesses in Ukraine?
For example, there is no quality Internet outside the Ukrainian cities. The fact is that in Ukraine, 3G and 4G technologies were introduced at high bands (about 2000 MHz), and the current communications – at 900 MHz. The higher the band, the smaller area it covers. It’s not just about the village areas, but even about some parts of the city.
This can be changed if we, first of all, introduce a principle of technological neutrality. Frequencies are like roads. They can be used with different technologies, so there is no reason to allocate special bands for 3G and 4G. In addition, it is necessary to allow operators to switch frequencies. Due to the fact that frequencies are assigned to certain users, they can not be leased or shared, although this would help entrepreneurs avoid holes in their coverage and provide quality Internet access everywhere.
Raider attacks are among other pressing business issues. In this case, the Presidential Administration itself can take the lead, but it is impossible to technically change something without cooperation with the Ministry of Justice. It is also needed to approve a package of changes that will establish a transparent subsoil resource allocation process. Historically, gas, oil and other minerals were being allocated without going through auction procedures. Accordingly, the Ukrainians were losing their subsoil resources for peanuts. They were given to people who had an influence on their allocation. Therefore, now it is important to launch a transparent system to register these subsoil resources, in order to understand what their status is and who receives them as well as develop our own extraction more actively.
Electronic registration is also required for wood. Entrepreneurs cut down forests against Ukrainian interests and violate the law. Such a registration is required to make this business official and regulate it properly. All such documents and projects have been developed for two years, but they were previously blocked by the Cabinet of Ministers.
It is important to make the information of the state land cadastre public: its data are inaccurate and complicated, and nobody understands who actually owns this or that land plot. Public cadastres would help with the analysis and security of their owners. This is critically necessary for opening the land market. So the start is good, but we are waiting for next steps.
Source: Hromadske
The development of telecommunication infrastructure, in particular providing broadband access to the Internet and high-quality mobile communications throughout the country, is an effective tool for reducing the digital divide in Ukraine. The first step towards this goal is the introduction of third-generation and fourth-generation mobile communication systems (3G and 4G) in the radio frequency spectrum of 790-960 MHz. (more…)
The Radio-Frequency Resource (RFR) plays a key role in providing modern telecommunication services: mobile and satellite communications and fixed Internet access. At the same time, the resource is very limited, and the advanced Ukraine’s RFR spectrum is distributed and used inefficiently. This makes it impossible to introduce modern technologies throughout most of the country. (more…)
We heard the Oleksiy Dorohan’s speech at some Legal Startup Crash Test event. He talked about a Start Business Challenge project – a step-by-step guide for business registration.
Almost two years have passed since then, and the fate has brought us together again ?
Imagine that when buying a dreamed apartment, you relied on a realtor, but he turned out to be a fraud. I would rather not think about such a situation, but it turns out that the realtor activities are not regulated by a separate law today. (more…)
Approval of the Strategy for SME Development in Ukraine until 2020 formed the basis for long-term planning of entrepreneurship development at the national level. The Strategy makes it necessary to further elaborate corresponding policies for the SME sector development at the oblast, city and community levels. The tools and approaches to do so will be presented during the All-Ukrainian Conference on Regional and Local SME Policy, which will take place on June 14th, 2019 at Vsi.Svoi Gallery with the support of the EU-funded FORBIZ and ULEAD projects.
“Increasing the competitiveness of the SME sector as the basis of the Ukrainian economy is one of the important priorities of our cooperation. Through the EU4Business initiative, we help SME to get better access to finance, markets and skills, and to improve the overall business environment in the country. In the context of decentralisation, support to SME at local and regional levels becomes even more important, as it’s where they generate revenues, create jobs and contribute the most to the community development”- says Stefan Schleuning, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Ukraine.
FORBIZ project developed a unified approach for long-term planning of SME development which will enable elaboration of efficient policies of entrepreneurship development at all territorial levels, reflecting the local specifics, and at the same time ensuring consistency of such policies with the National Strategy for SME Development. The experts will present such methodological approach, as well as best practices of its implementation. During the conference there will also be the opportunity to discuss how to increase the attractiveness of amalgamated communities for business and how regional and local authorities can develop regional and SME support measures in compliance with new State Aid rules.
The conference provides a unique opportunity for learning best practices of regional and local development, as well as entrepreneurship development support that already exist in Ukraine, for experience exchange and networking.
Background information:
EU4Business is the EU initiative that provides support to the private sector in Eastern Partnership countries, including Ukraine. Its goal is to improve the business climate, expand the availability of qualified consultants and access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses, boost economic growth and job creation.
Being part of the EU4Business initiative, FORBIZ project works to the Ukrainian national, regional and local authorities and other stakeholders to develop and implement effective economic development policies with specific focus on SMEs.
As part of its programming, U-LEAD with Europe contributes to the establishment of multilevel governance that is transparent, accountable and responsive to the needs of the population.
For additional information, please contact Olha Krasovska at [email protected] or at +38 0677639999.
In accordance with the Law “On Licensing Types of Economic Activities”, licensing activities in the telecommunications sector should cease to have effect from January 1, 2018. However, the NCCIR continued to issue licenses for this activity, referring to the fact that the Law “On Telecommunications” was not harmonized with the Law “On Licensing Types of Economic Activities”. (more…)
The purpose of this survey is to determine whether it is convenient to use existing services, find out how much time the process takes and whether these services contain corruption elements. The survey is anonymous.
Visit https://bit.ly/2wNXXpG for more information
Please rate the quality of state services you used both in the classical (paper) and in the new (electronic) formats.
Answers to the questions are required to determine the effectiveness of introducing public electronic services in Ukraine in saving time and money of users as well as in reducing corruption risks. The results of the study will be used in an aggregated depersonalized form.
We will greatly appreciate the most detailed answers to the survey questions. If you know other people who used the services listed in the questionnaire, please help us also get their opinion.
The study is conducted by the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) at the request of the State Agency for e-Governance and the East Europe Foundation as part of the Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services project (TAPAS) and the E-Governance for Accountability and Participation program (EGAP).
Ukraine is one of the world leaders in international tourism. More than 20 million tourists visit the country every year, and we have room to improve! But it is extremely necessary for Ukraine to develop the infrastructure to increase the tourist flow. (more…)
The reform of decentralization is considered the most successful Ukrainian reform. There are 899 united territorial communities created and 26 cities of regional significance joined by neighboring communities. Together, they cover 27% of the population and almost 40% of Ukraine’s territory. (more…)
Modern medicine is the dream of every Ukrainian. And creating an electronic health system is an integral part of Ukraine’s healthcare transformation. (more…)
Updating the regulatory framework is a long and complicated systematic process affecting the quality and safety of construction and construction products, their innovative and economic development and the protection of consumers’ rights. (more…)
On May 28, 2019, Oleksiy Honcharuk was appointed to the position of Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration by the Decree of the President of Ukraine No.328/2019. (more…)
Today, Ukraine meets more than 62% of domestic gasoline and 90% of diesel fuel consumption needs through imports. The biofuel production and use can provide additional tools for the country’s energy independence, in particular in the transport sector. However, instead of domestic production, Ukraine annually exports significant volumes of raw materials. For example, up to 35% of imported diesel could be replaced by rape and soya exported in 2017-2018.