Negative consequences for the economy from long-term air strikes, the blocking of the Polish-Ukrainian border for Ukrainian carriers, the restoration of human capital, the introduction of a special tax regime for the self-employed – these and other issues were discussed by the participants of the “Restoration of Ukraine – key business priorities 2024” conference. The conference was attended by the head of the “Servant of the People” party, the head of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, Olena Shulyak; Chairman of the VRU Committee on Economic Development, Dmytro Natalukha; head of the subcommittee of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Oleksiy Ustenko, representatives of leading business associations and analytical centers. Organizers: Ukrainian Business Council, National Business Coalition.
The discussion was joined by Grigol Katamadze – president of the Association of Taxpayers of Ukraine, member of the Supervisory Board of URB; Mykhailo Nepran – the first vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine; Vasyl Voskoboynyk – president of the All-Ukrainian Association of International Employment Companies; Borys Emeldesh – president of the All-Ukrainian Professional Association of Entrepreneurs; Anatoliy Dolynyny – president of the Ukrainian Federation of the Security Industry, member of the Supervisory Board of URB; Yuriy Peroganych – general director of the Association of Information Technology Enterprises of Ukraine, member of the Supervisory Board of URB, Olena Khotenko – vice president of the Association of Taxpayers of Ukraine and other heads of business associations.
President of the Association of Taxpayers of Ukraine, member of the Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian Business Council, Grigol Katamadze, raised the issue of the negative impact of long-term air alarms on business, which is forced to stop work, etc.
“I understand that there is a very fine line in this matter, but maybe, in order not to stop business, the economy and the country in general, it would be more correct to use the information provided by accredited international organizations and embassies? Maybe we should turn to them so that we can receive more accurate information, first of all, to the citizens of Ukraine – and rank alarms? Our economy is in a difficult state even without this,” said Grigol Katamadze.
The participants of the discussion reached a common opinion on the importance of ranking alarms, agreed on the creation of a working group with the involvement of national security specialists to develop and implement an optimal model. The head of the parliamentary committee, Dmytro Natalukha, also believes that business entities should develop internal protocols for actions during the announcement of an air alert in order to avoid large gatherings of people.
The participants of the meeting discussed alternative ways to solve the problem of blocking the Polish border: the establishment of international container lines to the ports of Odesa to unload the western border, state insurance of war risks of container carriers.
The head of the Parliamentary Committee, Olena Shulyak, noted this issue as extremely urgent and promised to discuss with the Government the possibility of its implementation in the near future.
Grigol Katamadze emphasized the importance of another draft law: “We talk a lot about the fact that we will restore the country, build a new effective management system. The draft law No. 10069 “Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Improving the Efficiency of Activities in the Field of Identification, Search and Asset Management” is currently under consideration in the Parliament, in the Anti-Corruption Committee. This is very important, as it is necessary that there be a clear distinction between the State Property Fund of Ukraine and ARMA.”
Commenting on the issue of demonopolization of the creation of electronic services only by the state, minimization of the number and implementation of corporate management for utility companies (in particular, project No. 5593-d), Dmytro Natalukha noted that the draft law should be adopted by the end of the year. The text of the document has been agreed with all international partners and is not subject to change, but this law is only the first step. The People’s Deputy proposed to develop a new draft law on communal enterprises, to which the necessary proposals should be made. As part of the discussion of this issue, it was agreed to create a joint working group and develop optimal solutions.
The draft law on the modernization of public-private partnership (No. 7508), unfortunately, is not moving yet, discussions are ongoing around it, people’s deputies said. A possible option is when the draft law will need to be divided into several parts, so that a number of norms important for business are adopted quickly, and all conflicting norms are included in a separate document.
A number of issues related to the promotion of employment of internally displaced persons. Representatives of business associations proposed to exempt IDPs from salary taxation for a certain period and to reconfigure the model of social assistance to stimulate the employment of IDPs.
The head of the subcommittee of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, Oleksiy Ustenko, noted that the issue of employment of IDPs is extremely important, and offered to work out these proposals in a working group and develop a joint project of the law.
Oleksiy also emphasized that the extremely important bill 10088-1 on restarting the Bureau of Economic Security should be voted on in the Parliament soon.
The restoration of Ukraine’s human capital (draft law No. 9585 on foreigners in the armed forces and military personnel), the introduction of investment and business visas, the radical simplification of migration legislation, the stimulation of entrepreneurs to attract socially vulnerable segments of the population to work) should become part of the broader state strategy for the recovery of the country, the participants emphasized meetings
Also, representatives of business associations raised the issue of modernizing the procedure for business trips abroad in wartime: for this, it would be possible to use the experience of Israel. The parliamentarians expressed their readiness to communicate with the Cabinet of Ministers the joint position of Ukrainian business.
Borys Emeldesh, president of the All-Ukrainian Professional Association of Entrepreneurs, raised the issue of the importance of unification and increasing the transparency of the activities of entrepreneurs who conduct business in temporary structures.
The head of the Parliamentary Committee, Olena Shulyak, noted that the corresponding draft law is being finalized by various Committees and is now being prepared for registration. The key wish of the business – to foresee the need for the project to reimburse the investments of entrepreneurs who invested in the construction of buildings – will be discussed by the deputies before the registration of the draft law.
Another issue that was discussed during the conference was the introduction of a special regime of income taxation for individuals (draft law No. 10166). Representatives of the Ukrainian Business Council consider this project to be positive, and before the second reading, they propose to provide for the possibility for certain categories of self-employed to pay a certain fixed amount per month without the application of the PPO. Additional consultations on these proposals will be held with the participation of members of the Tax Committee.
In December 2023, Committee hearings on issues of small and medium-sized businesses will be held, at which we will be able to discuss and make a decision on most of the issues raised – said Dmytro Natalukha.
Mykhailo Nepran, the first vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine, emphasized that the current Government Plans do not provide answers to the questions: where will the country move, how to recover? It is necessary to raise this issue to the highest level and in an inclusive dialogue with the participation of key representatives of the government, business, analytical centers – to determine and fix the key directions of movement.
The participants of the discussion agreed that in order to develop a joint Strategy, a separate platform is needed, which will unite representatives of the authorities, business, scientists, and analytical centers.
As a result of the discussion, the participants reached a common opinion on all the discussed issues and agreed to work together on their implementation.