This is a five-year program from USAID and UK Dev aimed at expanding Ukraine’s digital capabilities and creating sustainable ecosystems for a safe and successful future.
BRDO has joined the consortium that will implement it.
The DTA project aims to achieve three main goals:
❓Why is this important?
Currently, the direct damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure as a result of the war is more than 150 billion dollars, and this figure will increase. The country has suffered significant losses of productive capacity: millions of jobs have disappeared, business logistics routes are congested, and the labour pool continues to shrink as working-age people emigrate or go to the front lines.
Even before the start of the Russian full-scale invasion, Ukraine was a world leader in the use of digital technologies for sustainable growth and development. Many of these state-of-the-art innovations were introduced to increase transparency and efficiency and to fight corruption, but after February 24, 2022, proved vital to the country’s military efforts as well. Digital technologies will become key to winning not only the war, but also peace in Ukraine.
❓What will be the tools for achieving the goals of DTA?
DTA reforms are aimed at creating an inclusive, transparent and effective digital ecosystem, stimulating economic growth, improving administrative efficiency and developing relations between citizens and the Government of Ukraine.
The DTA project is implemented by an experienced consortium led by the Eurasia Foundation. The consortium includes: BRDO, Eastern Europe Foundation, Institute of Analytics and Advocacy, Kyiv School of Economics, Open Contracting Partnership, SocialBoost, Transparency International Ukraine, and Women in Digital Transformation. To achieve results, DTA will cooperate with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Economy and other authorities, as well as with business, technology companies, local authorities, public organisations, educational institutions and citizens of Ukraine.
You can learn more about the project at the link ▶️ https://www.eurasia.org/project/digital-transformation-activity-ua/
UAH 15 million per year – this is approximately how much technical hemp producers will be able to save thanks to the deregulation of the industry. This is made possible by draft law No. 7457 approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which is currently awaiting signature of the President.
Technical hemp with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of no more than 0.08% can still be produced in Ukraine today. However, only the stem and seeds of the plant are allowed to be used in production. Paper for banknotes, ropes, protein, oil, fabrics, construction materials, disposable dishes, fuel briquettes are made from them.
Due to strict regulation, technical hemp is now essentially equated with narcotic substances. So, as of the end of 2023, there were only 7 factories for the primary processing of industrial hemp in Ukraine. For comparison, in the USSR times, there were 36 such plants on the territory of Ukraine.
The new law will allow the cultivation of technical hemp with a THC level of 0.3%. This has a significant impact on the industry’s investment attractiveness and increasing the income of enterprises, says Iryna Gruzinska, head of the agricultural sector of the BRDO. Read more about how the new law will affect the development of the prospective market in the Deutsche Welle Ukraine article (in Ukrainian).
The BRDO team has been working on the deregulation of the technical hemp market for several years. Read more on why it is promising not only for agrarians, but also for Ukrainian industry in general, especially in the conditions of war, in our previous publication.
The Ukrainian army is in critical need of digitization, which is introduced by draft law No. 10062. The BRDO team, which participated in the development of the document, joins the Ministry of Defence, the General Staff, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, and the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine in calling on the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to adopt the Law.
❓Why is this important?
Draft law No. 10062 will unlock the digitization of the Ukrainian army and allow it to operate more efficiently and mobile. The electronic services provided for in the document will be useful to both military personnel and conscripts.
The provisions of the draft law will allow solving two urgent problems of the Ukrainian army:
❓What will change thanks to draft law No. 10062?
The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine will strengthen the cyber protection of its data and will be able to place its IT systems in the cloud storage of NATO member countries. This practice is already widespread in the Armed Forces of the United States, Great Britain, Australia and other allies. Data will be securely protected and encrypted.
Thanks to this, the access of the Ukrainian army to intelligence allies will be expanded, the development and deployment of new combat systems and electronic services for the army will be accelerated, data protection against enemy cyber attacks will be strengthened, etc.
Separately, we note that the deployment of military IT systems abroad will free up air defense equipment that currently protects national data centers from constant missile attacks. Instead, this resource will be used to cover other military and civilian infrastructure.
The Ministry of Defence will improve the register of conscripts, conscripts and reservists, in particular, in terms of establishing interaction between registers, using data on military records, etc. Employers and educational institutions that keep personal military records of persons (their employees and students) in paper form will have the opportunity to keep them in an electronic office.
It will be allowed to create and use military registration documents (certificates) in digital format.
The Ministry of Defense will create a register of servicemen of the Armed Forces and the State Service of Special Transport. The data available in the register will be used by a new digital portal, where servicemen and conscripts will be able to receive services online. In particular, it will be possible to provide the UBD status automatically online and offline if the necessary data is available in the system.
Draft law No. 10062 will increase the country’s defence capability. The BRDO team considers it an honour to participate in the development of this critically important document and calls on the people’s elected representatives to adopt the draft law as soon as possible.
The Single State Register of Pets will be launched in Ukraine – its software is being developed by the BRDO team on the Diia.Engine platform.
Why is this important to the veterinarian community?
The Register was presented to Ukrainian veterinarians for the first time at the International Scientific and Practical Conference IVC Winter 2023 last December. The event was attended by the Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Denys Bashlyk, the Chief State Veterinary Inspector of Ukraine, the Deputy Head of the State Production and Consumer Service Olga Shevchenko and the adviser to the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Artem Mykhailiuk.
Kateryna Parunova, BRDO project manager, gave a demonstration of how the registration and search of animals using the register will take place for the veterinary community. Representatives of IT solutions for veterinarians, who became project partners and agreed to provide veterinarians with the functionality of animal registration in the Single State Register of Pets, also spoke at the event.
The project has practical and strategic advantages for veterinarians, because it essentially removes the monopoly of state clinics on animal registration. Thus, the Register can promote additional demand for veterinary services, bring clients to clinics and create free marketing opportunities.
How will the Register work?
Pet owners will be able to register their pets voluntarily and free of charge during a visit to a veterinarian. Initially, the Register will contain information about cats and dogs, then this opportunity will be scaled to other animals.
When registering an animal, its profile is formed, which contains information about the owner, a description of the animal, data on clinical examination, vaccinations, sterilisation, processing and other veterinary manipulations. In addition, it will be possible to record a change of owner, as well as information about the loss or finding of a pet, in the Register. Such information will be supplemented and updated during each subsequent visit to the veterinarian.
What will the introduction of the Register change?
Identification of domestic cats and dogs is a requirement of the EU legislation.
The implementation of the Register will bring Ukraine one step closer to the creation of a veterinary passport for an animal in Diia, so that the documents of pets are always at hand.
The Register will also allow to:
The project to introduce the identification and registration of domestic animals has already been supported by leading Ukrainian and international veterinary and animal protection organisations: All-Ukrainian Guild of Veterinarians, Ukrainian Association of Veterinary Medicine Doctors, Association of Veterinary Business Owners, Association of Animal Protection Organisations of Ukraine, UAnimals, Happy Paw, Save Pets of Ukraine, Four Pows, Eurogroup for Animals, International Fund for Animal Welfare (ifaw) and many others.
The project was created on the initiative of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine and the State Production and Consumer Service and is implemented with the participation of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine within the framework and at the expense of the international technical assistance program “Innovation Laboratory for the Support of the Ukraine-EU Association (InnoLabEU)”, which is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ Ukraine) GmbH in partnership with the East Europe Foundation with the financial support of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Ukrainian state sanitary norms, rules, and hygienic standards (SanPiN) contain a large number of state regulatory instruments (approvals, certificates, licenses, etc.), most of which no longer make any sense and only burden the activities of entrepreneurs.
Which ones should be kept and which ones should be discarded?
According to the results of the last meeting, the IWG on deregulation reviewed the above-mentioned instruments and made the following decision:
Why did Ukrainian business need this revision?
SanPiN are mandatory for the implementation of the legislation of the central executive body, which ensure the formation of state policy in the field of health care, establish medical safety requirements for the life activity environment and its individual factors. Their non-compliance creates a threat to the health and life of a person and future generations, as well as the threat of the emergencies and spread of infectious diseases and mass non-infectious diseases (poisoning) among the population.
As part of the preparation for the meeting of the IWG, the BRDO team analysed the current state of the legislation approved by the SanPiN.
“During the inventory and review, we found 298 current instruments of state regulation, which are contained in state sanitary norms and rules. This is an extremely high indicator, because it makes up a third of the total number of state regulatory instruments that were identified during the year of work of the IWG,” explained Hanna Bashniak, head of the Regulatory Policy sector of BRDO.
Which instruments will be abolished and which will be digitised as a result of the revision?
221 regulatory instruments in the state sanitary rules and norms of the IWG on deregulation are considered irrelevant or duplicated with other instruments of state regulation. In general, this is 74% of the total number of processed tools.
For example, it is proposed to cancel:
47 tools are recommended to be optimised and brought into compliance with the current legislation (16%).
For example, it is suggested to optimise:
It is proposed to leave 30 regulatory instruments out of 298 unchanged, i.e. only 10%.
Deregulation reform continues. To remind, in order to simplify the conditions of doing business, in January 2023 the Government created an Interdepartmental Working Group on Deregulation, which has already reviewed 1,323 regulatory instruments for business. Of them, 456 are recommended to be abolished, 584 to be simplified. As of December 12, 100 tools have already been cancelled.
With the support of the USAID Program “Competitive Economy of Ukraine”, BRDO prepares analytics on the expediency of maintaining or canceling regulations, participates in IWG meetings and the development of relevant regulatory and legal acts.
Contamination of the territories of Ukraine with explosive objects is a challenge that our state should respond to today. The primary task is to increase the number of mine action operators who will be able to clear them. The government is determined to stimulate the development of this market.
To make the algorithm for opening such a business clear and convenient for future operators, the BRDO team together with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine prepared step-by-step instructions for the state info service #StartBusinessChallenge.
“Ukraine and the whole world are facing unprecedented challenges. Now we need to use non-standard and asymmetric actions both on the battlefield and in our liberated, de-occupied territories. To speed up demining, we rely on several tools that no one has used anywhere before us. One such tool is market creation. Clear and protected relations between the participants of such a market will speed up the process of humanitarian demining and protect the interests of both parties. Our task is to write such rules,” emphasised Ihor Bezkaravainyi, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine.
What permits are required and what procedures do you need to go through to register the business “Operator of Mine Action in Ukraine”?
Details here: https://sbc.regulation.gov.ua/startup/261?city=all.
Why is this important?
According to the data of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, as of February 17, 2023, the total area of the territories of Ukraine that may be contaminated by explosive objects (EXP) as a result of the military aggression of the Russian Federation is about 174,000 km2. Every day of delay in demining results in injuries and deaths of civilians.
The capacity of the existing mine action operators is not comparable to the scale of the current challenges. The demand is increasing, but not the supply: for 2021, 4 operators were certified, for the next 1.5 years of full-scale war – only 18. Currently, the total number of mine action operators is 23.
Currently, the opening of a mine action operator is a complex procedure that has differences in different certification bodies. In order to simplify business life, the abovementioned instruction was developed, which describes in detail all the stages and necessary documents for obtaining a mine action operator certificate.
In the future, the Government, together with the BRDO, plans to unify and simplify the procedure for the certification of mine action operators.
In addition, existing problems in the field of mine action and blocks for the development of the market of mine action operators in Ukraine will be considered at the meetings of the IWG on deregulation, in order to make a decision on their settlement. Follow the news on the website: https://deregulation.me.gov.ua/.
BRDO joined the work of the IWG within the EU4busines: SME Policies and Institutions Support (SMEPIS) project, implemented by Ecorys in a consortium with GIZ, BRDO and Civitta.
The first e-Certificate about the origin of wood was generated on the Single ecological platform EcoSystem. This innovation is another step in the comprehensive reform of the forest sector of Ukraine, which the BRDO team has been working on for the past 7 years.
How to get a Certificate of origin of wood online?
Now, in order to obtain the Certificate and confirm the legality of the wood, the business does not need to physically submit an application and documents for registration, and then pick up the Certificate in paper form.
To obtain an e-Certificate, the applicant must:
Step-by-step instructions: https://www.ukrforest.com/EducationalMaterials
Why is this important?
The electronic service was implemented in accordance with the resolution of the CMU No. 483 “On the implementation of an experimental project on the issuance of a special permit for the special use of forest resources (logging ticket) and a certificate of origin of timber and lumber made from them in electronic form.” The goal of the reform is to introduce transparent and effective management mechanisms in this area.
To remind, in 2017, the team of the “Agriculture” sector of BRDO published a green paper “Regulation of the wood market”, which highlights the key problems of the industry and ways to solve them. In 2 years, the implementation of the proposals outlined in the BRDO study began.
The government introduced electronic accounting of wood, which was the first step to prevent illegal felling and illegal wood circulation ▶️ https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1142-2019-%D0%BF#n29
Next, the state introduced the sale of raw wood at electronic auctions, which created a transparent, convenient and affordable mechanism for the circulation of wood on the market ▶️ https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1178-2019-%D0%BF#Text
Digitisation of the issuance of permit documents is the next step in the comprehensive reform of the forest industry. However, it is far from the last.
BRDO experts worked on the digitalisation of these services together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine and the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine as part of the USAID/UKaid TAPAS Project/Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services.
The e-Entrepreneur service was presented at Diia.Samit.
This service allows you to get the services you need to run your own business with one application.
e-Entrepreneur contains 8 services for business, including: registration as a private entrepreneur, opening a bank account, registration of a fire declaration, tax services and others. From now on, it will not be necessary to go to various institutions, collect certificates and extra papers to get services, you only need to have a gadget and 20 minutes of free time.
How was the service developed?
Since 2017, the BRDO has systematically worked on the implementation of the idea of opening a business online. In particular, the white paper “Licensing as a tool for restricting access to markets” and the green paper “Analysis of tools for market access” analysed the regulatory environment and obstacles that prevent entrepreneurs from doing business.
In 2020, the BRDO team, together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the EU4DigitalUA project, developed draft resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On the implementation of an experimental project to simplify the conditions for starting and conducting business activities” and “On changes to the Regulation on the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services”.
The EU4DigitalUA project, together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, worked out business processes, formulated development requirements and supported the development process, which is still ongoing – because even more services are planned to be launched in the complex.
The uniqueness of the complex service is the absence of a single starting point – that is, everyone can choose whether to order all services or only those that the user needs.
This made it possible to provide comprehensive services on Diia state portal to all who requested them. In 2021, the resolution of the CMU dated August 4, 2021 No. 808 “On the implementation of an experimental project on simplifying the conditions for starting and conducting business activities”, also developed with the participation of BRDO, was approved.
In addition, the Start Business Challenge portal, developed by the BRDO team, has been operating since 2018 and is designed to collect all information about the permits required for opening various types of businesses, from a coffee shop to a sawmill. Since 2022, the portal has been integrated with Diia.Business. And during 2022, the development of the comprehensive electronic service “e-Entrepreneur” initiated by BRDO, based on previous developments, continued.
How to use the service?
You need to go to the Diia portal and fill out an application.
After authorisation on the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services “Diia”, go to the “My Business” section and select the “e-Entrepreneur” service. If authorisation on the Portal was done using the KEP of a legal entity, then the opportunity to open a business “from scratch” is not provided and the user moves on to the selection of related services.
After choosing to open a business “from scratch”, the user must complete the following steps:
You can get the service at any stage of starting or developing your own business. For example, already registered private entrepreneurs will be able to expand the business.
The service is currently at the testing stage and will be available for all Ukrainians in the near future.
The comprehensive e-Entrepreneur service is being developed within the framework of the EU4DigitalUA project, financed by the European Union and implemented by the Academy of e-Government of Estonia.
Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and Ministry of Education of Ukraine presented the Global Innovation Vision.
The goal is to strengthen the Ukrainian innovation system and the development of the corresponding state policy.
The key factor for swift reconstruction and transformation of the country is innovative entrepreneurship. The global vision defines the development vectors of the innovative future and sets key priorities.
The focus is on improving the defence and tech sector, improving the quality of life of citizens through modern medical and biotechnological solutions, ecological reconstruction with an emphasis on “green” trends, smart city technologies and urbanisation, human capital development, support for digital literacy and STEM education, as well as development of an economy without borders. In particular:
The vision offers a new organisational structure of management, which will allow for effective policy formation in the field of innovation:
The global innovation vision of Ukraine contains four sections: “Innovations today”, “Innovations of the future”, “Innovation vision of Ukraine 2030” and “Innovation strategy”. The detailed analytical document on more than 100 pages covers all sectors and is available at the link: https://winwin.gov.ua.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine announces a public discussion of the strategy. Join the discussion – send suggestions and comments to [email protected].
The BRDO team is happy to be a partner in the development of the strategy.
✅ The review of the system of state supervision and control has begun. The reform of the activity of state inspections aims to rebuild the system of inspections from punitive to preventive, increase the service component of control and optimize the number of state inspections and their areas.
Why is this important?
State inspections have always been associated with corruption among Ukrainian entrepreneurs. After all, the existing state control system is mainly focused on detecting business violations and applying sanctions in the form of fines. Year after year, every second inspection records a violation – but the number of violations, despite the fines applied, does not decrease. In addition, entrepreneurs are challenging the imposition of fines in court in their favor.
The IWG plans to focus on finding ways to solve two key problems:
✅ Also during the meeting, the preliminary concept of reforming the nature protection sphere was presented. As a result, the main function of environmental supervision bodies should change from holding harmful enterprises to responsibility to stopping damage to the environment.
The main principles of the work of the new state nature protection inspection were determined:
In general, the IWG on deregulation as part of reforming the work of state supervision and control bodies plans to review the work of 50 supervisory bodies in 126 areas of their activity.
With the support of the USAID Program “Competitive Economy of Ukraine”, BRDO prepares analytics on the feasibility of maintaining or canceling regulations, participates in meetings of the IWG and the development of relevant regulatory and legal acts.
Ecological, social, and corporate governance reporting (ESG) is a report published by a company or organization about the environmental, social and managerial consequences of the activities of this company or organization (hereinafter – the ESG report). In the Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups (NFRD), this report is called “the management report”, and in Ukrainian legislation its counterpart is the “report on managing”. Among the criteria evaluated in the ESG report are, in particular, the impact on the environment (air, water, soil), social (treatment of employees, absence of discrimination based on gender, race and other grounds, as well as the impact on the population of the communities where the organization is operating), management (transparency and accountability, corporate governance, practices of working with state and regulatory bodies, compliance with legislation, combating corruption).
The ESG report is widely being used all over the world and in different fields of activity. In the field of subsoil use, the ESG report is particularly important, because companies operating in this sector directly affect the environment, the quality of life of the communities in which they operate, and the employees of such companies often work with increased risks to life and health. Moreover, natural resources attract those willing to circumvent the law in search of big money, and this increases the risks of corruption. Accordingly, the ESG report is a tool that allows honest companies to be transparent and open.
What are the benefits of ESG reports?
In line with international best practice, most monetary transactions take place only after an ESG report has been reviewed. In this way, investors receive complete information about the company, the level of its corporate, social, and environmental responsibility, and based on this they decide whether to invest in it or not. Therefore, if a company reports on ESG issues, its chances of attracting investment increase.
In the international arena, internal and external stakeholders are demanding transparency and efficiency on ESG issues. For example, mining and extractive industry enterprises and their stakeholders are under increasing attention of society and government bodies, especially regarding the reduction of environmental pollution, sustainable development, health protection of both employees and ordinary citizens, development of local infrastructure, etc. Therefore, the ESG report gives the company an advantage due to effective interaction with regulatory bodies and society, as well as, due to transparency, it is an important tool for attracting the necessary financial resources for long-term business development.
An ESG report is an effective tool that allows companies to answer a wide range of questions that stakeholders may ask, in one document. However, creating an ESG report can be challenging as it must meet the requirements of the reporting methodology.
How is ESG used in Europe and the world?
In the European Union and the UK, ESG reporting is mandatory for most large companies. EU companies with more than 500 employees must prepare an annual ESG report (See Article 19a of Directive 2013/34/EU as amended by NFRD). The current requirements will soon also be extended under the Directive (EU) 2022/2464 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 as regards corporate sustainability reporting (CSRD), which has already entered into force but requires national legislative measures by EU Member States to implement it.
Outside of Europe, many countries are also introducing ESG reporting. In the US, ESG reporting is not currently a legal requirement for companies, but the Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed reporting on climate impacts to a select list of companies.
Does ESG reporting work in Ukraine in the subsoil use sector?
In Ukraine, there is a legislative framework for keeping ESG reports. Taking into account their increasingly widespread use, in particular in the European Union, to which Ukraine is on its way to membership, and the advantages of using them, the experts of the “Development of Ukraine’s new Subsoil Code” project analyzed the best practices of ESG reporting and the European legal framework. Based on the analytical report, the experts provided several recommendations on how the ESG reporting process can be improved in Ukraine and what needs to be done to make these reports mandatory for all mining companies in the Ukrainian subsoil sector.
In the EU, CSRD replaced the Non-Financial and Diversified Disclosures Directive by Large Enterprises and Groups (NFRD) to structure ESG/sustainability reporting by EU companies from 2024. The mining sector in Ukraine already has legal obligations to comply with ESG reporting (based on NFRD) under the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU (Article 387 (1)(b), Annex XXXV). Based on this, it is recommended that after three years (and/or after mining companies in the EU have learned any lessons/experiences from CSRD implementation in 2023) Ukraine amends and updates its NFRD implementing legislation, including all CSRD requirements.
The Government of Ukraine (through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection) has been recommended to develop or revise the existing methodological recommendations specifically for the subsoil sector by further developing an instruction that describes in detail the principles of investor-oriented reporting, outlines a “step-by-step” or systematic approach to the implementation of the ESG reporting process, and the ESG matrix or metrics that will be used for the reporting process. After the provisions of the CSRD are transposed into Ukrainian legislation, the guidelines should be updated accordingly.
The world is being attentive to the decarbonization of the global economy, the achievement of the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals which require sustainable demand for metals and minerals over the coming decades. This has led to greater scrutiny of where these materials come from and whether they are produced responsibly.
To achieve this goal, the ICMM has introduced ten principles for the subsoil sector, designed to strengthen social and environmental demands on issues such as labor rights, gender equality, access to grievance mechanisms, mine closures, pollution and waste:
The Ukrainian government is invited to endorse these principles and encourage the subsoil sector to use them voluntarily. As such, it should also improve ESG reporting and scoring against the relevant metrics.
The Project “Development of Ukraine’s new Subsoil Code” is implemented by the Consortium consisting of experts from Projekt-Consult (Germany), MinPol (Austria) and the Better Regulation Delivery Office (Ukraine). This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Project and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Why international organizations support the decriminalization of pornography
In 2023, the International Commission of Jurists, together with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), officially released the “March 8 Principles on Approaches to Criminal Law on based on human rights”.
Using the basic principles of criminal law and principles of human rights, they demonstrate that the criminalization of sex work is unfounded and violates human rights[1].
“PRINCIPLE 17 – SEX WORK
Exchanging sexual favors between consenting adults for money, goods or services, and communicating with another person, advertising an offer or sharing premises with another person for the purpose of exchanging sexual favors between consenting adults for money, goods or services, whether in a public or private place , cannot be criminalized in the absence of coercion, force, abuse of power or fraud.
Criminal law cannot prohibit the conduct of third parties who, directly or indirectly, for obtaining financial or material benefit, on fair terms – without coercion, use of force, abuse of power or fraud – facilitate, manage, organize, communicate with another person, advertise, provide information about, provide or rent premises for the exchange of sexual favors between consenting adults for money, goods or services”
Why is there growing support for the decriminalization of sex work, including porn?
In recent decades, there have been significant changes in public and legal opinion regarding the criminalization of sex work. Now more and more international organizations are speaking out in support of the decriminalization of sex work. Below are the positions of international organizations regarding the decriminalization of pornography.
Human Rights Watch notes that the main motivation for decriminalization is to protect sex workers and their ability to enjoy basic rights, such as the right to justice and medicine.[2] Research by this organization in various countries shows that the criminalization of sex work increases vulnerability to violence, including sexual. This problem also exists for people who create porn, and with the criminalization of their work, they have no possibility of legal protection in case of violence against them or violation of their labor and other rights.
Freedom Network USA is a human trafficking advocacy organization. Their position is that the criminalization of sex work harms both those who volunteer and the victims of human trafficking because they fear and avoid law enforcement.[3] With decriminalization, industry participants who know the industry much better than outsiders will be able to identify victims of human trafficking and contact law enforcement without fear.
The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes the importance of medical interventions among sex workers to effectively combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Decriminalization of sex work is a necessary condition for this[4]. Thus, according to a study by the University of California, a quarter of porn actors suffer from sexually transmitted diseases [5]. Timely interventions can reduce this rate, but they are not possible if the industry is in the shadows.
The situation with the criminalization of pornography in Ukraine
Production, distribution, sale and storage of pornography for the purpose of distribution or sale are currently criminalized in Ukraine.
In 2022, a petition on the decriminalization of pornography received 25,000 votes, necessary for its consideration by the President. A coalition of public organizations called[6] to decriminalize pornography and later took part in the preparation[7] of the corresponding draft law (registered under number 9623).
Bill 9623 decriminalizes the production, distribution and sale of pornographic materials.
People’s deputies also registered an alternative bill 9623-1, developed allegedly for the purpose of decriminalizing pornography. Draft Law 9623-1 declares exemption from criminal responsibility for the distribution of pornography “for personal, other than selfish motives.” However, in fact, according to it, distribution will continue to be criminalized. In addition, this draft law strengthens[8] minimum and maximum liability, but does not solve the fundamental problems of the field.
BRDO calls for support for Bill 9623. Decriminalization will help fight human trafficking more effectively, ensure the rights and freedoms of market participants and reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. This initiative is in line with global opinion on the harms of criminalizing sex work and the production of pornography.
For reference: The term “sex work” primarily refers to prostitution, although sex work is not limited to it. It includes other types of activities, such as the production of pornography, striptease, phone sex, and others.
Most applications and the materials discussed above refer specifically to prostitution. At the same time, prostitution and the production of pornography have partly similar risks for people working in these industries: the use of the labor of victims of human trafficking, violence, stigmatization, etc. Therefore, the arguments for recognizing sex work as work in general are transposed to the case of decriminalization of pornography.
[1] https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2023/march/20230308_new-legal-principles-decriminalization
[2] https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/08/07/why-sex-work-should-be-decriminalized – :~:text=How does decriminalizing sex work, protection, dignity, and equality .
[3] https://freedomnetworkusa.org/app/uploads/2021/09/FNUSAStatementDecrimSept2021.pdf
[4] https://www.who.int/teams/global-hiv-hepatitis-and-stis-programmes/populations/sex-workers
[5] https://www.aidshealth.org/2014/06/1-4-porn-performers-report-gonorrhea-chlamydia-ucla-adult-film-study/
[6] https://brdo.com.ua/news/gromadski-organizatsiyi-spilno-vystupyly-za-dekryminalizatsiyu-pornografiyi-v-ukrayini/
[7] https://brdo.com.ua/news/dekryminalizatsiya-pornografiyi-u-radi-zareyestruvaly-zakonoproyekt-9623/
[8] https://brdo.com.ua/news/zamist-dekryminalizatsiyi-posylennya-vidpovidalnosti-za-pornografiyu-u-vru-gotuyut-alternatyvnyj-zakonoproyekt/
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has significantly accelerated the process of receiving new weapons samples to the army. This became possible thanks to recent changes in Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 345 dated February 25, 2015, initiated by the Minister of Defense on November 21.
Now, the process of supplying new types of weapons and military equipment can last as little as 20 days, although this period can vary depending on the quality of the documentation provided by the manufacturers.
The updated “fast track” system of arms supply also provides for shortening the terms at other stages. So, testing and verification of combat characteristics of new models will take place directly on the battlefield.
The BRDO team was involved in the development of the resolution in the part related to the new approach to the procurement of UAVs. From now on, unmanned aerial vehicles of the “micro” and “mini” classes, which can be used for both civilian and military purposes, can be purchased by a government customer even if they have not passed the full process of admission to operation and codification as an item of supply.
These changes significantly speed up the process of putting new weapons into operation, which allows the army to get the necessary weapons and equipment faster. It also reduces the administrative pressure on manufacturers and facilitates more efficient interaction between the military and the defense industry.
Today, the Parliament of Ukraine considered and supported bill No. 9432 “On the use of the English language in Ukraine”, which establishes the status of the English language as the language of international communication in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and the team of the BRDO Effective Regulation Office participated in the development of the document.
Why is this important?
Research by the Ministry of Digital showed that:
What does the draft law provide for?
Candidates for the positions will be required to speak English:
In addition, the draft law provides for the use of the English language when interacting with foreigners in the work of units of emergency assistance to the population and when they cross the state border of Ukraine, as well as in the fields of education, culture, transport, and health care.
Also, according to the draft law, internet representations (in particular, websites) of state authorities and local self-government bodies, along with the version in the state language, must have an updated version in English.
The creation of appropriate conditions for the mastering of English by the citizens of Ukraine will contribute to the integration of Ukrainians into the European community, the formation of the subjectivity of Ukraine in the world globalization processes and the increase of the level of competitiveness of our state, the growth of its investment and tourist attractiveness. We welcome this decision of the Ukrainian Parliament and hope for the speedy application of the law in all areas of the country’s life.
Titanium is a metal as strong as steel, but almost twice as light and very resistant to corrosion. It is used in the aerospace, automotive, medical (implants, prosthetics, cosmetics), defense industries, as well as in the production of household, computer and mobile appliances. Titanium dioxide is a common pigment in the production of virtually everything, for example, an ingredient in decorative cosmetics and natural sunscreens. Anything that has a white color (pills, paint, even AirPods) contains titanium. Titanium is the fourth in the list of the rarest elements on our planet and is included in the list of critical raw materials of the EU. And Ukraine is among the top 10 countries with the largest deposits of this critical raw material.
According to the Ukrainian legislation, information on titanium ore reserves is a state secret. At the same time, the US Geological Survey estimates our reserves at 8.4 million tons as of 2022, which is 1.12% of the world’s titanium reserves. Many experts estimate explored and unexplored reserves of titanium ores in Ukraine at the level of 10%. According to JSC “United Mining and Chemical Company” (UMCC), Ukraine has about 20% of the recorded world reserves of titanium ores.
On the basis of placer deposits of titanium, the Irshansky GZK operates in the Zhytomyr region. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, titanium (ilmenite) concentrates are mined by the Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Factory. Both enterprises belong to the state-owned JSC “United Mining and Chemical Company”, which is almost the only state-owned enterprise in the Ukrainian titanium industry, along with about a dozen private ones, the largest of which is VKF “Velta” LLC.
The following deposits are also being developed: the Valky-Hatskivske deposit and the Isakivske section of the Mezhyrichne deposit in the Zhytomyr region, the Byrzulivske deposit in the Kirovohrad region, the Vovchanske deposit in the Dnipropetrovsk region, as well as the Western and Eastern sections of the Balka Kruta deposit, which is a technogenic zircon-rutile-ilmenite ore deposit sands of the Malyshevske deposit of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Before the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, Ukraine was one of the largest producers of titanium dioxide in the world, ranking sixth with a volume of 564,000 tons. According to the US Geological Survey, Ukraine’s share in the world production of ilmenite was more than 6%, rutile – almost 15%. Part of the raw materials was processed into titanium sponge (from 6 to 12 thousand tons per year), metallic titanium and products made from it.
The enterprises of the titanium industry of Ukraine are territorially close together and are located in developed areas with a developed industrial structure and transport. This makes it possible to significantly expand the existing production capabilities for the extraction and processing of titanium and to create in Ukraine a full cycle of titanium processing with the production of products with high added value.
The European Commission noted that Ukraine is a significant global supplier of titanium and can become a potential supplier of more than 20 elements from the list of critical raw materials to the EU. Accordingly, among the planned measures of the EU in the field of trade, support for investments in the mining and processing industries of Ukraine, which work with rare elements, is noted.
Accordingly, in order for investors, primarily private ones, to have the desire to invest in Ukraine, it is necessary to create attractive conditions for this. In 2021, the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 306 put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine “On stimulation of the search, extraction and beneficiation of minerals that are of strategic importance for the sustainable development of the economy and defense capability of the state”, which includes titanium ores. And on March 28, the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Improvement of Legislation in the Field of Subsoil Use” dated December 1, 2022 No. 2805-IX entered into force. This law creates new rules in the field of subsoil use and effectively restarts the industry in order to develop and attract investment.
Nevertheless, the new law does not solve the entire range of problems of the investment attractiveness of the subsoil exploitation industry in Ukraine. For the systematic attraction of investments in the titanium sphere, it is necessary to ensure favorable conditions for both potential investors and existing market players and the state:
All of the above can be achieved through further deregulation of the market, the introduction of effective financial and economic instruments (crediting, state guarantees, etc.), the development of export potential, investments in the young generation of specialists, the introduction of international standards (in particular, regarding the assessment of JORC mineral reserves) and many other instruments.
But first of all, Ukraine needs a working and effective industrial policy, in particular regarding the development of the titanium industry.
Experts of the project “Development of Ukraine’s new Subsoil Code” are already working in this direction. Among the main tasks, planned for 2023, are the update of the research on investment barriers and risks for European investors in the Ukrainian subsoil sector, prepared by the Project in 2022, and development of the criteria for determining critical raw materials based on EU practice.
In order not to miss updates from the Project, follow the information resources of the BRDO or subscribe to the monthly digest.
The Project “Development of Ukraine’s new Subsoil Code” is implemented by the Consortium consisting of experts from Projekt-Consult (Germany), MinPol (Austria) and the Better Regulation Delivery Office (Ukraine). This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Project and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.