The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on September 20, 2021, decided to extend the adaptive quarantine and emergency situation regime until December 31, 2021.
From September 23, a yellow level of epidemic danger has been established throughout the country.
The yellow level requires the following quarantine restrictions to be applied:
- it is forbidden to hold mass events with the participation of more than one person per 4 square meters of area or occupancy of more than two thirds of seats in each room;
- no more than 4 people at a table in a catering establishment, and the distance between the tables – at least 1.5 meters;
- cinemas and other cultural institutions operate with a capacity of less than two thirds of seats or 50% of seats in each hall;
- gyms and fitness centers work only if the number of visitors is limited per person per 10 square meters of area, etc.
At the same time, restrictions on the yellow level of epidemiс hazard will not apply if all participants (visitors) and at least 80% of organizers of mass events, employees of cafes and restaurants, cinemas, theaters, museums or other cultural institutions, gyms and swimming pools have at least one vaccination or valid (72 hours) result of PCR or rapid testing.
The final decision on whether to provide services only to vaccinated people or to comply with all quarantine restrictions remains with the owner. To verify the safety of visitors or employees of institutions (other than education), you should temporarily use international certificates, ‘yellow’ or ‘green’ internal COVID-certificates, certificate 063/o (vaccination card), a valid certificate of negative results (72 hours) of PCR-test or rapid testing for antigen.
Educational institutions will operate provided that at least 80% of employees have at least one vaccination. International certificates and COVID certificates are accepted to verify the safety of educators.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted in the first reading a draft law on deregulation of labor relations (No. 5388), aimed at liberalization and modernization of labor legislation of Ukraine.
The draft law provides for the preservation of existing and introduction of new social and labor guarantees for employees, defined by international acts. It is important that it was developed in close dialogue with business and has the support of entrepreneurs.
Thus, the bill proposes the following key steps to deregulate labor relations:
- simplify the procedure for concluding a fixed-term employment contract;
- provide the employer with the opportunity to verify the competence of the employee;
- clearly define the procedure for providing the employee with information on the terms of the employment contract;
- simplify the regulation of certain procedures for amending the employment contract related to the improvement of working conditions;
- reduce the number of mandatory personnel documents;
- provide an opportunity for alternative regulation of certain aspects of work in the employment contract;
- change the mechanism of trade union participation in the termination of the employment contract;
- update the issue of liability.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved three bills on September 22:
- On amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding electronic identification and electronic trust services;
- On amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine regarding electronic identification and electronic trust services;
- On amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine on electronic identification and electronic trust services.
As noted in the explanatory notes to the projects, a pilot project is currently being implemented in Ukraine to enable the use of advanced electronic signatures and seals based on qualified public key certificates.
A feature of using an advanced electronic signature or seal is to enable the user of electronic trust services to perform electronic file storage (eg, USB-Flash, CD, DVD) as a medium of electronic signature for electronic interaction, electronic identification and authentication as opposed to a qualified electronic signature or seal, the private key of which must be stored in a qualified electronic signature or seal device, which has built-in hardware and software that protects the data stored on them from unauthorized access, direct acquaintance with the values of private key parameters and their copying (protected private key carrier or token).
The use of advanced electronic signatures and seals in cases provided by law, significantly reduces the cost of users of electronic trust services to purchase a personal key carrier.
We hope that the Rada will support these bills and that payers will not have to bear the extra costs of purchasing tokens and suffer the inconvenience associated with their use.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted as a basis the draft law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning the Regulation of Certain Non-Standard Forms of Employment”.
The purpose of the bill is to regulate the issue of non-standard forms of employment for persons who perform work on a non-permanent basis, to provide flexibility in choosing the organization of labor relations, to strengthen employee mobility in exercising the right to work.
The bill proposes to enshrine in the Labor Code of Ukraine a new form of employment contract – “Employment contract with fixed working hours” as a special type of employment contract, the terms of which do not set a specific time of work, and the employee’s obligation to perform such work, that emerges in the case of providing the owner or authorized body with the work provided for in this employment contract without guaranteeing that such work will be provided permanently.
The draft stipulates that the employer independently determines the need and time of employee involvement in the work, the amount of work and within the employment contract agrees with the employee mode of operation and duration of working time required to perform the work.
The number of concluded employment contracts with non-fixed working hours may not exceed 10% of the total number of employment contracts.
Legal entities and natural persons – entrepreneurs who employ less than 10 employees may enter into no more than one employment contract with non-fixed working hours.
The National Bank of Ukraine by Board Resolution No. 93 of September 16, 2021 “On the introduction of the international standard ISO 20022 in the payment infrastructure of Ukraine” set the date of transition to a new generation of EPS.
Thus, the new generation of the electronic payment system of the National Bank of Ukraine (hereinafter – EPS) on the basis of the international standard ISO 20022 and around the clock (24/7) will start on August 20, 2022. This will give banks and businesses new opportunities, increase the security of payments. In addition, due to the implementation of the international standard ISO 20022, the payment will be enriched with additional information, and a significant number of processes during the processing of payments can be automated.
Resolution No. 93 applies to EPS participants – banks of Ukraine, the State Treasury Service of Ukraine, the National Depository of Ukraine, etc. In particular, for a coordinated transition to a modernized mode of operation, EPS participants are required to:
- by October 31, 2021 to connect to the test bench (open from April 1, 2021) for comprehensive testing of interaction with the modern generation of EPS;
- by August 20, 2022, make changes to the regulations of their automation systems, the formation of balance sheets for the day and other reporting.
Accordingly, from August 20, 2022, all interbank payment transactions will take place through a new generation of EPS.
The State Tax Service of Ukraine in letter No. 3215/ІПК/99-00-04-03-03-06 dated September 1, 2021 expressed its position on whether the right of a sole proprietor (hereinafter – SP) – a single tax payer enter into a joint venture agreement with another sole proprietor – a single tax payer without creating a legal entity. The STSU does not object to the possibility of such an action.
The tax authorities came to the conclusion that sole proprietors – single tax payers have the right to enter into agreements with other business entities on joint activities without creating a legal entity.
However, such SPs must take into account that the activities under the joint activity agreement must correspond to those activities, the implementation of which gives the right to apply a simplified system of taxation.
If the agreement on joint activity is not registered in the controlling bodies and each participant of such an agreement is registered in the controlling bodies, then such participants of the agreement perform the duties of taxpayers independently.
In this case, the participant of the joint agreement, the sole proprietor – payer of the single tax must take into account the income from activities under the agreement on joint activities in the general order together with the results of activities from conducting their own business.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed a law on the creation of a register of oligarchs and the deprivation of some of their rights. The law provides for the creation of a special register, which will include oligarchs. To do this, they must meet three of four criteria: participation in political life, significant influence on the media, control or ownership of a monopoly, and the availability of assets worth about UAH 2.3 billion.
The document states that the definition of oligarchs is the prerogative of the National Security and Defense Council, headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Businessmen who are on the register of oligarchs will be required to submit an electronic declaration along with officials. They will be banned from financing parties and participating in large-scale privatizations. In addition, oligarchs and civil servants will have to report on their contacts.
The document was voted in the wording of the Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted the Law “On Amendments to Article 11 of the Law of Ukraine “On Currency and Currency Transactions” Concerning the Performance by Banks of the Functions of Currency Oversight Agents”.
In order to ensure proper fulfillment by banks of the Law on Currency in terms of performing the functions of currency oversight agents for foreign exchange transactions, the law obliges banks to exchange information on the affiliation of their clients’ accounts to bank accounts opened for nonresidents for foreign exchange oversight carried out by their customers through these banks.
The law stipulates that the procedure for maintaining and using by banks the records of the register of accounts of the information system that ensures the collection, accumulation, storage, access and use by banks of information on the ownership of accounts to bank accounts opened for nonresidents is established by the National Bank.
The draft law was registered under No. 5851.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has supported the new version of the law “On Consumer Protection”.
The bill is aimed at introducing European standards of consumer protection in Ukraine, creating a level playing field for e-commerce and fair competition, as well as reducing the burden on business by cancelling outdated rules.
Thus, in particular, the document proposes:
- harmonize Ukrainian legislation in the field of consumer protection with EU legislation through the implementation of EU Directives listed in Annex XXXIX to Chapter 20 of the Association Agreement;
- extend the Law of Ukraine “On Consumer Protection” to the field of food products in terms of economic rights of consumers;
- determine the list of information about the product and the seller, which must be provided when conducting e-commerce, as well as the responsibility for the lack of such information;
- exempt the business from the obligation to create an exchange fund of goods and pay a penalty to the consumer for each day of delay in fulfilling the requirement to provide goods of the same brand;
- give the consumer the right to reduce the price or refund if the defect of the goods appears after the repair;
- exempt from all fees in all courts instances of consumers in cases related to the violation of their rights, the State Food and Consumer Service and public associations of consumers in cases of consumer protection;
- give the State Food and Consumer Service the right to apply to the Internet service provider to restrict access to the website (parts of the website, software) of the seller who did not provide reliable information on its website about its name, location, obliging the State Food and Consumer Service to contact such provider to restore such access, when the business entity complies with the requirements of the law.
The bill creates conditions not only for effective protection of consumer rights, but also for doing business on the basis of fair competition between sellers offline and online.
