Members of the Ukrainian Business Council met with government officials to discuss the urgent needs of SMEs. Rebuilding the country according to new standards, compensation for war damage to citizens, economic booking, and interaction between business and ARMA were among the topics discussed. The conference was held in Kyiv on September 27. It was organized by the Ukrainian Business Council in cooperation with the National Business Coalition. Partners of the event were Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e. V. and the Economic Expert Platform.

The government representatives took part in the event: Olena Shulyak, Head of the Servant of the People Party, Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning; Olena Duma, Head of the ARMA; Serhiy Smetanko, Director of the Department of Security and Defense Economics; Grigol Katamadze, Deputy Head of the ARMA

The business was represented by: Mykhailo Nepran, First Vice President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Yosyp Buchynskyi, Vice President of the Association of Taxpayers of Ukraine; Borys Emeldesh, President of the All-Ukrainian Professional Association of Entrepreneurs; Anatoliy Dolynnyi, Head of the Ukrainian Federation of Security Industry; Khrystyna Venhryniak, Director of the Software Ukraine Association; Nadiya Bedrychuk, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Association of Direct Sales, etc.

The meeting was opened by Olena Shulyak, who shared the latest news on the reconstruction efforts. The key issues to be addressed are ensuring the country’s energy efficiency, improving the standards of civil protection systems (shelters) and economic development of communities. Regarding the construction of shelters, the Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning emphasized that she was open to suggestions. As the enemy improves its weapons, civil defense systems must also improve.

“Now communities have begun to look at the economic factors of their cities, districts, and regions and are starting to work with numbers. They clearly define which businesses have closed, which have relocated, which businesses can enter a particular community, but they need to find some new potential. Before implementing and developing a comprehensive recovery program, local authorities still analyze such a factor as demographics, because they need to clearly understand where these people will work and live, what public services they will use, what is the situation with kindergartens, schools, hospitals, etc.”

Olena Shulyak next focused on the issue of public discussion of the Law of Ukraine “On Compensation for Damage and Destruction of Certain Categories of Real Estate as a Result of Hostilities, Terrorist Acts, and Sabotage Caused by the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine” and the future funding of the Restoration Program in 2025 within the budget.

Another huge problem is the accumulation of construction waste. Since there are no companies in the country to recycle it, the waste is taken to specially designated landfills. Therefore, the government is highly interested in encouraging businesses that utilize construction materials.

Mykhailo Nepran asked a question that worries the agricultural business: will farmers receive compensation for the damaged business, lost land, etc. in the near future?

Olena Shulyak noted that the state budget does not currently allow for this to be done in full. And now there is a struggle for human capital, the enemy is trying to gain the loyalty of Ukrainians in the occupied territories, but the Ukrainian government is not ready to lose citizens. There will definitely be compensations, first the state will reimburse the lost property of citizens through the E-recovery program, which is working successfully, and then the property of entrepreneurs.

Rostyslav Korobka, Vice President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, noted that businesses are currently experiencing a shortage of labor and need solutions, such as the ability to “import” employees from other countries. Secondly, it is important to prevent corruption in the construction of defense structures and to correlate employee salaries with market conditions.

Olena Shulyak replied that Ukraine will most likely have to attract international labor. In this case, the government will develop an appropriate mechanism to prevent the economy from deteriorating. As for corruption in construction projects, the pricing system needs to be revised, and think tanks can help.

“We are ready to get involved, because the current post-Soviet pricing system leads to corruption risks and abuse, because nothing can be verified. Now the Verkhovna Rada has passed a law on the obligation to publish all estimates. MPs are happy, but I see the problem a little deeper. You can publish any estimates, but corruption is not only there. Corruption occurs in the execution, in the technology, in the process of construction or restoration. Therefore, we are ready to work on pricing and improve the mechanisms.”

Serhiy Smetanko, commenting on the issue of reconstruction, noted that in August, the Cabinet of Ministers published Resolution No. 924, introducing an economic pilot project to receive critical industrial production and industrial equipment as part of humanitarian aid. The idea is to form commissions at regional administrations to collect data on what industrial equipment was destroyed as a result of Russian aggression. But we are talking only about critical means of production. The resolution defines a list of this property that can be received as humanitarian aid.

“I recommend everyone to study this resolution and think about it. If there are any opportunities with international partners, it is worth looking for such equipment.”

The next issue to be discussed was how to improve the current model of the current reservation system. The Director of the Department of Security and Defense Economics emphasized the importance of maintaining a balance between those who work and the military. With the introduction of the electronic booking system, the process has been greatly accelerated and simplified. However, there is a problem of administration and a need to expand the platform’s capabilities.

Yefrem Lashchuk, Legal Specialist at the Economic Expert Platform, thanked the Ministry of Economy for introducing booking in Diia and simplifying all procedures in the summer. It really changed the situation with booking for the better. At the same time, Yefrem drew attention to the expediency of separating company executives from general booking lists. After all, company management should definitely be economically booked. In addition, it is important to simplify and speed up the booking procedures, which is also important for entrepreneurs.

Borys Emeldesh, spoke about the shortcomings of the electronic cabinet of persons liable for military service “Reserve+”. The main drawback is that the employees of the TCC do not accept the status of the electronic cabinet as valid and require a military ID card.

Sergiy Smetanko noted that the relevant ministries will work on these issues, and all reasonable business proposals will be taken into account in the next updates of the regulations.

Olena Duma, Head of the Asset Management Agency, spoke on the issue of interaction between ARMA and business, noting that all the issues raised at the Conference are relevant to ARMA’s activities, as the Agency’s performance is a significant factor in budget replenishment. In 2022, the state received UAH 35 million from the management of the Agency’s assets, in 2023 UAH 167 million, for 8 months of 2024 already UAH 1.8 billion (+ cash portfolio under ARMA’s management for UAH 10 billion, of which UAH 6.6 billion, $ 31 million and 6.5 million euros were purchased in military bonds, from which the state budget received a net profit of more than UAH 600 million). The Head of the ARMA informed the participants about the Agency’s activities and achievements, the peculiarities of the formation and maintenance of the Unified State Register of Assets Seized in Criminal Proceedings, which is publicly available, and noted the low level of ARMA funding, which is insufficient to form a professional staff of the agency and its high-quality marketing.

Olena Duma also informed the participants of the event about the legislative initiatives developed by ARMA aimed at creating appropriate conditions for the quality performance of ARMA’s functions and powers, in particular, she emphasized the importance of MPs’ support for the draft laws No. 11280-1 on the management of corporate rights of the Russian Federation and Belarus; No. 11009 on the transfer of seized sanatoriums for the rehabilitation of military personnel; No. 11137d on obtaining licenses for mining; No. 10069 on improving the efficiency of activities in the field of asset tracing and management.

In his speech, Grigol Katamadze focused on the main areas of ARMA’s activities, in particular, the management of assets seized in criminal proceedings in order to preserve or increase their economic value by

• transferring assets to management on the basis of a management agreement;
• disposal – sale of the relevant assets with further placement of cash on accounts in state-owned banks until the end of the criminal proceedings.

At the end of his speech, Grigol Katamadze thanked the participants for the meaningful dialog and called on business representatives to actively cooperate with the Agency.

Borys Emeldesh, Head of the UACP, proposed that business associations support draft laws No. 11009, 10069, 11137d, 10069 and facilitate their prompt consideration by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which will enable ARMA to work more efficiently and replenish the country’s budget.

Following the discussion, the participants reached a common opinion on all the issues discussed and agreed to work together to implement the projects discussed.