The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading as a basis the draft Law on Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service" regarding the performance of military service under a contract by persons who have reached the age limit for military service (reg. No. 13229).
The purpose of the draft is to create legislative grounds for accepting into military service under a contract for a period of 1 year during the period of martial law at their own request persons over the age of 60 who are recognized by a military medical commission as being fit for military service in terms of health, for the positions of private, sergeant, non-commissioned officer, as well as for the positions of junior and senior officers, if such persons were discharged from military service after January 1, 2015.
The proposed procedure for involving the specified category of persons in military service provides for:
- granting the right to military units (through the written consent of the commander) to initiate the recruitment of such persons into service;
- granting the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the authority to approve the candidacies of persons applying for junior or senior officer positions, as well as to determine the procedure for approving candidacies and the list of necessary documents;
- establishing a 2-month probationary period and introducing grounds for dismissal from military service for persons who fail such probation.
In addition, it is established that citizens of Ukraine who have reached the age limit for being in the reserve may be re-registered as military conscripts (at their own request) if there is a written consent from the commander of the military unit to accept them for military service under a contract.
It is proposed that corresponding changes will be made to the Law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service".
It is expected that the implementation of the relevant Law will improve the process of manning the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations during martial law, which will contribute to strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities.
The President of Ukraine signed Law of Ukraine No. 4278-IX of February 27, 2025 "On Amendments to Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine "On Ratification of the Multilateral Convention on the Implementation of Measures Relating to Tax Agreements to Combat Base Erosion and Profit Evasion"".
The list of notifications and reservations of Ukraine has been updated in connection with the entry into force or termination of a number of international agreements on the avoidance of double taxation, as well as the entry into force of protocols amending such agreements.
In particular, positions on the extension of the Convention to agreements on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of tax evasion with respect to countries such as Belarus, Cuba, Syria, and the Russian Federation have been excluded.
The previous agreement concluded with Malaysia is also excluded. Cuba is excluded because the Cuban side has not yet completed the relevant domestic procedures for the entry into force of this Convention.
Relevant agreements with Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Singapore, the UAE, and a new agreement with Malaysia also entered into force.
Changes have also been made in connection with the entry into force of agreements between Ukraine and Qatar on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of tax evasion.
Law No. 4278-IX enters into force on June 7, 2025.
The President of Ukraine signed a law allowing communities to fully use humanitarian public transport.
This is draft law developed by the Ministry of Development and Communities No. 12177-1 “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding Meeting the Transportation Needs of the Population under Martial Law.”
The law allows communities to use public transport received as humanitarian aid. These include buses, trams, trolleybuses, and metro cars to transport citizens.
For a long time, the legislation prohibited the use of this transport by municipal enterprises for passenger transportation. After all, humanitarian aid cannot be used for profit, and this is the key principle of the work of municipal enterprises. However, the approved Law allows this possibility.
In particular, the Law covers humanitarian aid from Ukrainian and international donors in the form of transport for the carriage of passengers.
Such transport can be purchased by municipal enterprises engaged in transportation by road or urban electric transport.
It is important that buses not lower than the Euro-3 environmental standard, trolleybuses, trams, electric buses, and subway cars can be recognized as humanitarian aid. The law also regulates the issue of transferring such transport to other municipal enterprises. This is important, for example, when there is an emergency need in a certain region, and another community can support in this matter.
Another significant provision of the Law is the ability to accept transport in the form of humanitarian aid within a year after the end of martial law.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine voted in favor of the basis and draft laws in general No. 13305 and No. 13306, which exempt from import duty and VAT the import of optical fiber for the production of drones.
These legislative initiatives provide for exemption from customs duties optical fibers for the production of drones, which will provide favorable conditions for the development and production of unmanned systems that use optical cable for control and video signal transmission necessary for the defense of Ukraine.
The President of Ukraine signed Law of Ukraine No. 4282-IX of March 11, 2025 "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Implementation of Unified Approaches to Remuneration of Civil Servants Based on the Classification of Positions."
This is an important step towards building a transparent, predictable, and competitive civil service pay system based on job classification.
The classification of positions will allow us to understand what professional areas of work exist in the civil service. It will allow us to compare civil service remuneration with the labor market in Ukraine - accountants with accountants, lawyers with lawyers, HR with HR, and not civil servants in general with an impersonal market. Thus, the introduction of a new remuneration system will gradually strengthen the position of the state as a competitive employer in the labor market.
According to the Law, the components of a civil servant's salary are fixed salary (fixed payment and basic remuneration for performing official duties) and variable salary.
Law No. 4282 also defines other guarantees and compensations, namely:
- cash benefit paid upon the onset of annual leave. It is paid in the amount of the official salary, seniority bonus and rank bonus of a civil servant;
- material assistance to solve social and household issues.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the second reading and as a whole the draft Law on Amendments to Article 101 of the Law of Ukraine "On Social and Legal Protection of Military Personnel and Members of Their Families" regarding guaranteeing the right of military personnel to payment of monetary compensation for all unused days of annual basic and additional vacations in the event of dismissal from service during martial law (reg. No. 11495).
The purpose of the Law is to guarantee the right of military personnel to payment of monetary compensation for all unused days of annual basic and additional leave, as well as other types of leave, including additional social leave in the event of dismissal from service during martial law.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 13018-д on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine regarding the development of financial inclusion in Ukraine in the second reading.
The draft law provides for:
- introduction of a new type of bank – a financial inclusion bank, which will operate on the basis of a limited banking license, the main task of which is to serve clients who currently do not have sustainable access to financial services (citizens of Ukraine and micro-enterprises in areas close to the combat zone, in liberated territories, as well as socially vulnerable groups of the population);
- legislative definition of the terms "financial inclusion", "limited banking license", "financial inclusion bank", as well as granting the National Bank of Ukraine the authority to promote the development of financial inclusion;
- expectation that the financial inclusion bank will be able to provide banking and other financial services exclusively to individuals, business entities, public and charitable organizations, as well as state authorities and local governments, etc.
The draft law will create a legal framework for the emergence of a new type of financial service providers – financial inclusion banks – on the Ukrainian financial services market.
These banks will help ensure proper access to financial services for both Ukrainian citizens (including socially vulnerable groups) and micro-enterprises in areas close to the combat zone, in liberated territories, as well as in hard-to-reach and sparsely populated areas.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 12306 on factoring. The draft law provides for improving the regulation of factoring in Ukraine and certain provisions of the current laws of Ukraine relating to the provision of factoring services.
The provisions of the draft Law are aimed at:
- implementation into the legislation of Ukraine of the provisions of the Model Law on Factoring of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law, which will bring Ukrainian factoring closer to the best international counterparts;
- introduction of state registration of assignment of the right of claim, which will reduce the risk of fraud during factoring activities and promote transparency of the factoring market;
- determining the subject and content of the factoring agreement;
- determining the priority of assignment of the right to a monetary claim;
- delimitation of regulation of trade factoring and financial debt operations. At the same time, the activities of companies providing services for the assignment of claims under consumer credit agreements will be carried out within the framework of a financial company license.
Such a license provides for the right to provide funds on credit and will be incompatible with the provision of trade factoring services.
The President of Ukraine signed Law No. 4345-IX, which completes preparations for EU law on roaming and integration into the EU Digital Single Market.
The document will create the basis for joining Roam Like at Home. This will allow Ukrainians to use their operator's tariffs and not pay additional fees for mobile communications and the Internet in the territory of 27 EU countries. This law is also an important signal of our readiness for further integration into European markets.
One of the important innovations is that European operators will not need to undergo a general authorization procedure in Ukraine, if they do not provide electronic communications services. This will allow them to provide their services faster and easier through Ukrainian networks.
The Law also defines the powers of the NCEC necessary to improve the operation of the Roam Like at Home in Ukraine:
- monitoring the compatibility and connection of networks of Ukrainian and European operators;
- ensuring access, interconnection and compatibility of service provision by Ukrainian and European operators;
- assistance to Ukrainians in interacting with European operators if their communication services do not work.
Operators will be able to ensure that their networks are compatible, even if they use different equipment or technologies. This will allow subscribers to roam without any obstacles.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved amendments to the Procedure for the Reservation of Military Conscripts, as proposed by the Ministry of Economy. They expand the possibilities of preserving personnel potential for enterprises that ensure the country's defense capability during martial law.
Main changes:
- reservation of 100% of military-obligated enterprises, institutions and organizations that are determined to be critically important for ensuring the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations;
- special conditions have been introduced for enterprises that protect fuel and energy facilities. Such enterprises can apply any of the three established criteria - currently the criteria regarding the absence of tax arrears and the level of the average salary for the enterprise of at least UAH 20 thousand are not mandatory. Also, the requirements regarding the level of the average monthly salary of the reserved persons of at least UAH 20 thousand have been canceled for them.
The reserving conditions remain unchanged:
- the enterprise must be included in the list of critically important ones - upon submission by the relevant body (Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Energy, etc.);
- the application is submitted exclusively in digital format through the Diia portal;
- the responsibility for forming lists of enterprises is assigned to authorized state bodies.
The National Bank of Ukraine, by its Resolution No. 59 of May 30, 2025, “On Amendments to the Instructions on the Procedure for Foreign Exchange Supervision of Banks for Compliance by Residents with Payment Deadlines on Export and Import of Goods" expands the list of grounds for banks to terminate currency supervision over the operations of Ukrainian companies exporting goods.
From May 31, 2025, banks will be able to complete such currency supervision based on the receipt of funds into the company's bank account:
- from a guarantor bank (non-resident) under a guarantee provided to fulfill obligations to pay funds for a transaction on the export of goods;
- from a guarantor bank (resident) under a guarantee provided to fulfill obligations to pay funds under a transaction for the export of goods, provided that the guarantor bank (resident) has previously received funds in foreign currency from the counter-guarantor bank (non-resident) against a claim under such counter-guarantee .
The changes regulate the legal framework for banks to complete currency supervision over residents' compliance with payment deadlines for export transactions that involve the provision of guarantees / counter-guarantees by foreign banks. This will facilitate the wider use of such international banking instruments as guarantees and counter-guarantees by Ukrainian exporting companies to ensure the receipt of funds. The latter, in turn, will contribute to reducing the volume of non-receipt of foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine in the event of non-fulfillment of obligations under export contracts by non-resident counterparties.
