President of Ukraine
People’s deputies
Prime Minister of Ukraine
Members of the Ukrainian Business Council, which includes 112 business associations of various sectors of the economy, whose members are 28,000 enterprises, analyzed draft law No. 10378 on improving certain issues of mobilization, military registration and military service and related draft law No. 10379 on strengthening responsibility for military offenses and note the following:
Of course, the effective defense of the state in this difficult time is the highest priority, to realize this goal, an inclusive dialogue between the government, business and civil society must be built.
In the Council’s opinion, such significant changes to the social contract, which are provided for by projects No. 10378 and No. 10379, should be considered only with the simultaneous reform of state institutions in order to maintain the balance of “society-state-business” interests.
At a time when the number of Ukrainian citizens actively participating in the defense of their Motherland at the front is increasing, the continued work of huge “corruption feeders” for officials and the operation of established mechanisms for stealing from the State is unacceptable.
Due to the inefficient and corrupt work of only three bodies – the State Customs Service, the State Tax Service, the Bureau of Economic Security – the state loses, according to experts, 180-200 billion hryvnias every year (grey imports, smuggling, counterfeiting, fraud, etc.), which are not at all the army is enough; hundreds of billions, which are now being dissolved in the offshore accounts of corrupt officials and their partners.
Ukraine needs changes of a complex and not point-by-point nature, especially regarding state bodies, which are characterized by inefficiency in society and proneness to corruption scandals.
Ukrainian business calls, together with the adoption of the updated legislation on mobilization, military registration and military service, to adopt in the first quarter of 2024 all the main anti-corruption and institutional changes that minimize corruption in our country: a complete reboot of the State Customs Service (project No. 6490d), State Tax Service (project No. 9243), Bureau of Economic Security (project 10088-1), civil service reform with the restoration of transparent tenders, completion of judicial reform, reform of the SBU, reboot of the National Police and reform of the Accounting Chamber with the approval of new tender procedures.
Ukrainians should protect the state, the functioning of which they are satisfied, and not ineffective officials and corrupt officials.
Ukraine, which citizens need, is a state with an “open access” society, where honest economic and political competition prevails, development is stable and stable; people have ample opportunities to realize their talents and aspirations; government, parties, media, public are transparent, public and accountable. The state serves the people, opportunities for corruption and abuse of power are eliminated, fair justice is ensured. The political system and local self-government coordinate various public interests, and citizens consciously influence the decision-making that concerns them, know and can exercise their rights.
Ukrainian business calls on the President, the Parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers to adopt comprehensive systemic decisions to minimize corruption at the beginning of 2024, in particular by adopting as laws the projects mentioned in the appeal.
At the same time, projects No. 10378 on the improvement of certain issues of mobilization, military registration and passing of military services and the related draft law No. 10379 on strengthening responsibility for military offenses also require comprehensive revision and elimination of norms that may negatively affect the functioning of business, which is currently in the “survival” mode and the general indicators of the economy in the state. We call on government representatives to involve leading business associations and analytical centers in the inclusive discussion and finalization of these projects to ensure the balance of the interests of the state-society-business and achieve the common goal of defeating the enemy.
Best regards
Members of the Ukrainian Business Council