The EBA discussed the issue of electronic document management in business

28/ 07/ 2022

During the war, issues of digitization become even more important for the work and life of the business. Among other things, the faster a business has the opportunity to solve various administrative issues, the faster it can recover. In particular, the issue of electronic document management (compatibility of various systems, personnel electronic document management, use of digital signature, etc.) is currently extremely relevant. So yesterday, a meeting was held at EBA with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Digitization, the Ministry of Justice and the State Archives Service. One of the key issues for discussion was the impossibility today of exchanging electronic documents signed in different systems and, accordingly, downloading and saving such documents from different programs in one - to create a single archive of electronic documents. Thus, a representative from the Ministry of Digital Affairs reported that the ASiC Standard is currently being implemented, which will become operational this year and will provide an opportunity to exchange information. It is expected that key government institutions will switch to the use of this Standard, accordingly, businesses will also have the opportunity to use ASiC in communications with government bodies and among themselves. Also, you can now use System of electronic interaction (СЕВ) for exchange between systems. Although, of course, these standards and systems have the status of an opportunity, and are not mandatory for use. But businesses still have many questions about how this will all work, especially given the fact that service providers are not legally required to exchange electronic documents between systems. The next issue was the use of an electronic digital signature. There are currently several varieties of them - a qualified, improved signature based on an electronic qualified certificate, a simple digital signature. You can watch a video about the features and rules of their use. It was clarified that there are documents that must be signed only using the qualified electronic signature (КЕП) (for example, notarized contracts - that is, critical legal relationships with serious consequences of violations). Advanced electronic signature (Diia.Signature) or qualified electronic signature can be used in personnel matters. In addition, in certain cases, the manager can use his own digital signature to sign documents of a legal entity. However, the possibility of using simple signatures in personnel matters, signing contracts with foreign counterparties with e-signatures (because they are not issued with KEП, etc.) remains a question. As for state authorities, according to the new regulation, heads of structures must use KEП for signature, employees - an improved signature. The business believes that the paper duplication of some electronic documents is a major obstacle. According to the State Archives Service, there are still documents that must be kept in paper form, and handed over to the archive, where they must be kept for 10 years or more (for example, regarding general business activities). The procedure for transferring electronic documents to the archive for permanent storage can be viewed at the link. The settlement of this issue requires additional discussions with the Ministry of Social Policy and the Pension Fund of Ukraine. At the same time, it was agreed to hold additional meetings and discussions regarding the document flow with other involved state authorities, including representatives of the tax and customs services, to develop procedures that would correspond to the present and simplify formal procedures for the transparent business.

So yesterday, a meeting was held at EBA with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Digitization, the Ministry of Justice and the State Archives Service.

One of the key issues for discussion was the impossibility today of exchanging electronic documents signed in different systems and, accordingly, downloading and saving such documents from different programs in one – to create a single archive of electronic documents. Thus, a representative from the Ministry of Digital Affairs reported that the ASiC Standard is currently being implemented, which will become operational this year and will provide an opportunity to exchange information. It is expected that key government institutions will switch to the use of this Standard, accordingly, businesses will also have the opportunity to use ASiC in communications with government bodies and among themselves. Also, you can now use System of electronic interaction (СЕВ) for exchange between systems. Although, of course, these standards and systems have the status of an opportunity, and are not mandatory for use. But businesses still have many questions about how this will all work, especially given the fact that service providers are not legally required to exchange electronic documents between systems.

The next issue was the use of an electronic digital signature. There are currently several varieties of them – a qualified, improved signature based on an electronic qualified certificate, a simple digital signature. You can watch a video about the features and rules of their use. It was clarified that there are documents that must be signed only using the qualified electronic signature (КЕП) (for example, notarized contracts – that is, critical legal relationships with serious consequences of violations). Advanced electronic signature (Diia.Signature) or qualified electronic signature can be used in personnel matters. In addition, in certain cases, the manager can use his own digital signature to sign documents of a legal entity. However, the possibility of using simple signatures in personnel matters, signing contracts with foreign counterparties with e-signatures (because they are not issued with KEП, etc.) remains a question. As for state authorities, according to the new regulation, heads of structures must use KEП for signature, employees – an improved signature.

The business believes that the paper duplication of some electronic documents is a major obstacle. According to the State Archives Service, there are still documents that must be kept in paper form, and handed over to the archive, where they must be kept for 10 years or more (for example, regarding general business activities). The procedure for transferring electronic documents to the archive for permanent storage can be viewed at the link. The settlement of this issue requires additional discussions with the Ministry of Social Policy and the Pension Fund of Ukraine.

At the same time, it was agreed to hold additional meetings and discussions regarding the document flow with other involved state authorities, including representatives of the tax and customs services, to develop procedures that would correspond to the present and simplify formal procedures for the transparent business.