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The government does not plan to reintroduce a hard lockdown

28/ 08/ 2020
  The European Business Association learned about this and other Government’s plans during an online meeting with Denys Shmyhal, the Prime Minister of Ukraine. During the 1.5-hour conversation, Mr. Shmyhal and other members of the Cabinet of Ministers gave clarifications on many important economic and social issues, including the Governments action plan to combat the spread of coronavirus, overcome the current economic crisis and further economic recovery. According to the Prime Minister, the Government will not consider the introduction of severe restrictive measures in the event of a second wave of coronavirus spread but will rely on adaptive quarantine and localization of disease outbreaks. It will be recalled that adaptive quarantine in Ukraine was extended until October 31, 2020. At the same time, according to Mr. Shmyhal, the Government is working on a systematic resumption of economic activity, particularly, on the development of a long-term development strategy of Ukraine for 2030, as well as on the implementation of the Economic Stimulus Program and the Government Action Plan, which contain incentives for various sectors of the Ukrainian economy. Surely, we could not help but raise in a conversation with Mr. Shmyhal two sensational decisions of recent days - a month-long ban on the entry of foreigners into Ukraine and the decision of Parliament to raise the minimum wage to 5,000 UAH. The Prime Minister expressed his support for this recent decision and said that the authorities have plans to further increase the minimum wage to UAH 6,000 and UAH 6,500 in 2021. Instead, businesses see the move as a disguised tax increase and hope other unreasonable decisions will not be made in the future. Regarding the ban on entry of foreign nationals, Mr. Shmyhal assured that certain categories of foreign nationals will still be able to come to Ukraine, namely IT specialists, technical specialists of launching equipment, foreigners who have residence permits in Ukraine, members of international and humanitarian missions, crew members. The full list of exceptions will be promptly published on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers. Separately, the business drew attention to the possibility of entry for Belarusian citizens. The Prime Minister noted that the citizens of this country can obtain a permit on the border with Ukraine upon request. The specialists of the State Border Guard Service will make a decision to allow border crossing. We were glad to hear from Mr. Shmyhal that the Government had rejected the idea of ​​reorganizing the State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection which smooth operation is vital for many businesses in Ukraine. Instead, a separate sanitary-epidemiological authority will be established to control the epidemiological situation and the health of the population in Ukraine, which will be subordinated to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. The State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection will continue to work in the usual mode with its inherent functions of controlling the production and export of products. However, the reorganization will still affect the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine. The Ministry is to be divided into two separate authorities with the allocation of the Ministry of Agriculture, as the agricultural sector is of great importance for the economy of Ukraine and must be properly represented in the Government. The Prime Minister assured that the systemic reforms of such important business authorities as to the tax and customs services, the State Agency for Public Health, the reform of the health care system, and a set of measures aimed at combating smuggling are currently taking place. We hope that soon businesses will be able to see the results of reforms in practice. Similarly, businesses are waiting for the signing of the ACAA Agreement which implies the visa-free regime for industries. We were pleased to hear about the Governments plans to develop infrastructure projects and the energy sector, as well as to address the accumulated problems in these important areas. In particular, the Prime Minister confirmed that the repayment of debts to RES producers will be carried out under the terms of the previously signed Memorandum. We would also like to thank Ihor Petrashko, Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture, for supporting the Draft Law Np.2289 which unblocks the access of innovative plant protection products to the Ukrainian market. The European Business Association will be sure to send all questions from member companies to the Prime Minister and other members of the Government for consideration and further processing. We truly thank the participants and the Government team for the professional and fruitful dialogue!   Be the first to learn about the latest EBA news with our Telegram-channel – EBAUkraine.

The European Business Association learned about this and other Government’s plans during an online meeting with Denys Shmyhal, the Prime Minister of Ukraine. During the 1.5-hour conversation, Mr. Shmyhal and other members of the Cabinet of Ministers gave clarifications on many important economic and social issues, including the Government’s action plan to combat the spread of coronavirus, overcome the current economic crisis and further economic recovery.

According to the Prime Minister, the Government will not consider the introduction of severe restrictive measures in the event of a second wave of coronavirus spread but will rely on adaptive quarantine and localization of disease outbreaks. It will be recalled that adaptive quarantine in Ukraine was extended until October 31, 2020. At the same time, according to Mr. Shmyhal, the Government is working on a systematic resumption of economic activity, particularly, on the development of a long-term development strategy of Ukraine for 2030, as well as on the implementation of the Economic Stimulus Program and the Government Action Plan, which contain incentives for various sectors of the Ukrainian economy.

Surely, we could not help but raise in a conversation with Mr. Shmyhal two sensational decisions of recent days – a month-long ban on the entry of foreigners into Ukraine and the decision of Parliament to raise the minimum wage to 5,000 UAH.

The Prime Minister expressed his support for this recent decision and said that the authorities have plans to further increase the minimum wage to UAH 6,000 and UAH 6,500 in 2021. Instead, businesses see the move as a disguised tax increase and hope other unreasonable decisions will not be made in the future.

Regarding the ban on entry of foreign nationals, Mr. Shmyhal assured that certain categories of foreign nationals will still be able to come to Ukraine, namely IT specialists, technical specialists of launching equipment, foreigners who have residence permits in Ukraine, members of international and humanitarian missions, crew members. The full list of exceptions will be promptly published on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Separately, the business drew attention to the possibility of entry for Belarusian citizens. The Prime Minister noted that the citizens of this country can obtain a permit on the border with Ukraine upon request. The specialists of the State Border Guard Service will make a decision to allow border crossing.

We were glad to hear from Mr. Shmyhal that the Government had rejected the idea of ​​reorganizing the State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection which smooth operation is vital for many businesses in Ukraine. Instead, a separate sanitary-epidemiological authority will be established to control the epidemiological situation and the health of the population in Ukraine, which will be subordinated to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. The State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection will continue to work in the usual mode with its inherent functions of controlling the production and export of products.

However, the reorganization will still affect the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine. The Ministry is to be divided into two separate authorities with the allocation of the Ministry of Agriculture, as the agricultural sector is of great importance for the economy of Ukraine and must be properly represented in the Government.

The Prime Minister assured that the systemic reforms of such important business authorities as to the tax and customs services, the State Agency for Public Health, the reform of the health care system, and a set of measures aimed at combating smuggling are currently taking place. We hope that soon businesses will be able to see the results of reforms in practice. Similarly, businesses are waiting for the signing of the ACAA Agreement which implies the visa-free regime for industries.

We were pleased to hear about the Government’s plans to develop infrastructure projects and the energy sector, as well as to address the accumulated problems in these important areas. In particular, the Prime Minister confirmed that the repayment of debts to RES producers will be carried out under the terms of the previously signed Memorandum. We would also like to thank Ihor Petrashko, Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture, for supporting the Draft Law Np.2289 which unblocks the access of innovative plant protection products to the Ukrainian market.

The European Business Association will be sure to send all questions from member companies to the Prime Minister and other members of the Government for consideration and further processing. We truly thank the participants and the Government team for the professional and fruitful dialogue!

 

Be the first to learn about the latest EBA news with our Telegram-channel EBAUkraine.

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