The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the draft Law of Ukraine on Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Social Services" to improve the procedure for providing social services (reg. No. 12124).
The purpose of adopting the act is to improve certain aspects of the provision of social services in Ukraine, address existing regulatory gaps, and modernize certain norms in accordance with the latest legislative changes.
The adopted Law introduces changes to:
- concepts of "case management" and "multidisciplinary team";
- provi phsion of ysical support to persons with intellectual, sensory, physical, motor, mental and behavioral disabilities;
- clarification of the classification of social service providers (by their form of ownership and legal status), information entered into the Register of Social Service Providers and Recipients;
- determining the mechanism for providing social services for which there is no state standard;
- introduction of a new article on the multidisciplinary team in terms of its composition, form of work, tasks and procedure for formation.
Particular attention is paid to clarifying liability for violations of legislation on social services and regulating the procedure for the reorganization of state and municipal providers of social services into non-profit enterprises.
The adoption of this Law will contribute to improving the quality and accessibility of social services in Ukraine.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the signing of a Grant Agreement that will allow the launch of the fourth phase of the Emergency Recovery Program. The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development together with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Such Grant Agreements regulate the conditions for the provision and use of funding.
The very first agreement was signed back in March 2023. Since then, 3 phases of the Program have already been implemented. This has enabled a rapid response in various sectors: transport, energy, waste management, water supply, utilities, and healthcare.
A grant of 8.8 billion Japanese yen, or about 60 million dollars, has been allocated for Phase 4. It will implement 6 subprojects aimed at:
- supporting humanitarian demining;
- energy infrastructure maintenance;
- restoration of water supply systems;
- supporting public health and safety projects;
- provision of educational services;
- improving public infrastructure in the regions.
The Ministry of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine has been designated as responsible for coordinating the implementation of the Grant Agreement, and the responsible executors of the Program's subprojects will be the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and the State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development of Ukraine.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted draft law No. 12148, which provides for easing lending and leasing conditions for small and medium-sized businesses. Its effect extends to enterprises, in particular, agricultural enterprises, whose property is under occupation or in a combat zone.
This draft provides for the possibility of suspending the accrual and collection of accounts payable on loans and suspending and collecting property from guarantors.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Labor Code of Ukraine to Improve Legal Regulation of Certain Issues of Work from Home and Remote Work" (reg. No. 10164-1).
The purpose of adopting the draft law is to ensure legal certainty in the event that an employer needs to send home-based or remote workers on a business trip, if such a possibility is provided for in the employment contract for home-based or remote work; to create favorable working conditions for parents whose children study remotely in secondary education institutions.
It is proposed to supplement the Labor Code of Ukraine with provisions regarding the following cases:
- sending home and remote workers on business trips, if this is provided for by the employment contract;
- transferring an employee to work from home or remotely, in connection with the distance learning of a child under 14 years of age, upon agreement with the employer.
The adopted Law will contribute to the restoration of violated rights of home and remote workers if it is necessary to send them on business trips; legal certainty for employers if it is necessary to send home or remote workers on business trips; creation of appropriate conditions for the work of parents, in the case of a child's distance education in secondary education institutions.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported as a basis draft law No. 11290, aimed at strengthening information protection and cyber protection of state information resources and critical information infrastructure facilities. The document provides for strengthening the national cyber protection system, expands the powers of specialized structures with the involvement of specialists from the private sector, and also introduces a comprehensive system of responding to cyber attacks in accordance with European cybersecurity standards.
In particular, it is planned to create a professional network of cybersecurity specialists in all state institutions that process important data of Ukrainians. The adoption of the bill will accelerate the process of creating a "Pentagon for state registries", necessary to protect data from cyberattacks.
The adoption of this bill is one of the key steps towards ensuring a systematic approach to cyber protection and the security of citizens' data in an environment where cyberattacks on the public sector have intensified and show signs of being systematic.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 13018-e on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine regarding the development of financial inclusion in Ukraine as a basis.
The draft law:
1) introduces 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);
2) defines at the legislative level the terms "financial inclusion", "limited banking license", "financial inclusion bank", and also empower the National Bank of Ukraine with powers to promote the development of financial inclusion;
3) provides that the financial inclusion bank will be able to provide banking and other financial services exclusively to individuals, business entities, public and charitable organizations, the volume of annual income from any activity of which for the previous reporting calendar year does not exceed the amount equivalent to 5 million euros, determined at the official exchange rate of the hryvnia against foreign currencies established by the National Bank of Ukraine, as well as to state authorities and local self-government bodies;
4) ensures focus on relevant target client groups, restrict financial inclusion banks from conducting operations in capital markets, as well as establish limits on the total amount of credit that can be provided to one borrower and another.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted as a basis draft law No. 12426 on amendments to certain laws of Ukraine regarding the improvement of state market supervision and the system of technical regulation in accordance with the requirements of the European Union, submitted by the Cabinet of Ministers.
The draft law proposes to implement all the provisions of Regulation 1020 relevant for Ukraine into the national legislation on state market supervision.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 331 “On Amendments to the Procedure for Approving Minimum Allowable Export Prices for Certain Types of Goods”. The document was developed by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
According to the resolution, the list of supply conditions, which determine the minimum allowable export prices, has been supplemented for the following goods:
- honey (code according to UKT FEA 0409 00 00 00) (CIF)
- soybeans (code according to UKT FEA 1201 and 1205) (FCA)
- wheat (code according to UKT FEA 1001) (DAT, DPU, FAS)
- corn (code according to UKT FEA 1005) (DAT, FCA)
- sunflower oil (code according to UKT FEA 1512) (DDP, CFR, CIF, FAS)
- barley (code according to UKT FEA 1003) (FCA)
The resolution also amended the Procedure, according to which:
- the percentile in the calculation of reference minimum export prices for certain types of goods using the quantile method has been changed from the fifth percentile to the tenth percentile;
- the Procedure has been supplemented with a provision that provides that the minimum allowable export price for a particular type of goods cannot be less than the minimum price for this type of goods under the same delivery conditions in the previous month.
Information on the approval of minimum allowable export prices is posted on the official website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy at the link.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 10257 on amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine and other laws of Ukraine regarding certain issues of administrative liability for violation of customs rules, clarification of the procedure for performing certain customs procedures, and elimination of terminological inconsistencies.
It provides for:
1) the separation of approaches to determining the amount of the fine depending on the body by which it is imposed. Thus, if the decision in a case of violation of customs rules (hereinafter - VCR) is made by customs - the sanction of the article provides for a fixed amount of the fine, but in articles under which the relevant decision is made by the court - the amount of the fine provides for the establishment of an upper and lower limit, as required by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine;
2) the Law retains the approach to determining the size of fines in individual articles (472, 482, 483, 484) depending on the value of goods, customs regulations, taking into account the draft of the new EU Customs Code, if adopted, such an approach will be mandatory for all EU members;
3) the approaches to the mandatory confiscation of goods have changed - from now on, under Articles 472, 484, the decision on the confiscation of direct objects of VCR is made on the initiative of the court;
4) the issue of exemption from liability of volunteers and other persons who, before April 1, 2024, transferred vehicles for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations that were imported under transit or temporary import regimes, including as humanitarian aid, is being regulated, provided that such transfer is documented.
Also by law:
- the terms of consideration of complaints against resolutions in cases on VCR have been regulated;
- the economic entities have been given the right, in the event of the customs authority's intention to make an unfavorable decision, to confirm their position not only with objections, but also with explanations;
- the list of bodies entitled to carry out customs clearance of military equipment and other goods transported using Form 302 has been expanded;
- the customs authority has been given the right to suspend the provision of tariff benefits (preferences) to goods originating from a state with which Ukraine has concluded a relevant international free trade agreement, supplied by the same exporter and for which the competent authority of the exporting state has provided a response on non-confirmation of their preferential origin for previous deliveries based on the results of inspections conducted at the request of the State Customs Service, until the results of inspections of their preferential origin in accordance with the international free trade agreement are received.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved amendments to the Methodology for Determining the Initial Sale Price at the Auction of a Special Permit for Subsoil Use. The innovations improve the mechanism for calculating the cost of permits by introducing the definition of such information and the methodology for its calculation.
Changes to the Methodology provide for: comparison of indicators in permit documents and those declared by taxpayers; calculation of the weighted average price; regulation of the fact that the State Tax Service provides all data on the basis of Appendix 1 of the Declaration "Calculation of the rental fee for the use of subsoil for the extraction of minerals" to the Tax Declaration on the rental fee, taking into account for the calculation only those indicators that have been verified according to the appropriate algorithm.
Another important change is the exclusion of the possibility of using the prices determined during the approval of reserves when calculating the initial price of a special permit for the use of subsoil, if less than a year has passed since that moment. The abolition of this rule will ensure the use of current price data when forming the initial cost of permits. Previously, a different approach to assessment could create unequal conditions for market participants. The new methodology provides a unified approach that will establish fair competition and equal conditions for business entities.
Clear and stable pricing rules reduce the risks of sudden changes and create favorable conditions for investment.
Updating the methodology is an important step towards a clear, clearly defined and fair calculation mechanism. It will become a flexible regulatory tool, able to quickly adapt to changes in the economic situation and market needs.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported in the second reading revised draft law No. 9549, which will simplify the process of obtaining land plots for lease by operators for the construction of mobile communication base stations. This will accelerate the expansion of 4G coverage along national and international roads, as well as in rural areas.
The draft will allow mobile operators to:
- reduce the terms for allocating land plots of municipal and state property from an average of 6 to 3 months;
- use the limited right to use someone else's land plot for the construction of mobile communication towers on the land plots (land easement);
- install temporary technical facilities and electronic communications structures. This will eliminate the risk of their dismantling, as there is currently no procedure for placing such facilities and structures.
These changes will help:
- to provide residents of remote rural areas with access to mobile Internet and, as a result, to online government services;
- to expand 4G coverage along important highways. Thanks to simplified procedures, connectivity will be available faster, which is important for safety and the development of tourism in the future;
- to restore communications in deoccupied territories more quickly. Operators will receive land for building new networks more quickly, and will also be able to place temporary communications facilities without the risk of their dismantling.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the draft law prepared by the State Statistics Service "On Amendments to Item 1 of the Law of Ukraine "On Protection of the Interests of Subjects of Reporting and Other Documents during the Period of Martial Law or a State of War" regarding the specifics of reporting during the period of martial law or a state of war".
The draft law provides for the restoration of the obligation to submit statistical reports during martial law.
A transitional period of three months will also be determined, during which respondents who did not report during the martial law legal regime will have to submit information for the entire period during which such reporting was not submitted.
This obligation will not apply to enterprises of the defense-industrial complex, as well as persons whose location is in areas of active hostilities or temporarily occupied territories. Such respondents, as previously provided, will submit reports within three months after the termination or cancellation of martial law or a state of war.
Reporting is required for the correct calculation of statistical indicators in order to provide state bodies with objective official information, which is necessary for making informed decisions in the interests of increasing defense capabilities, ensuring sustainable development, economic well-being and human rights, and fulfilling Ukraine's obligations under current international agreements.
