The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has introduced amendments to Resolution No. 1178 of October 12, 2022, which are aimed at creating appropriate conditions for the effective implementation of public procurement.
Amendments to the resolution include harmonization of its provisions with other legislative acts. In addition, the following main changes have been adopted:
- item 4 is set out in a new edition and provides for the conditions for the publication by the customers of the report on the execution of the procurement contract in the electronic procurement system (EPS);
- the number of reasons for making purchases without using Prozorro has been reduced;
- it has been clarified what information customers may not publish in annual procurement plans and in tender announcements if such information poses a security threat;
- obliged to publish the texts of the contracts and all their annexes, in the case of purchases without the use of Prozorro, but left the possibility to hide sensitive information about the supplier, the delivery address, if such information poses a security threat;
- the grounds and cases of rejection of offers by suppliers of goods of Russian and Belarusian origin, as well as companies owned by their citizens, have been specified.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved changes to the Procedure for providing assistance for partial unemployment, aligning it with the Law of Ukraine “On Employment of Population”.
The new Procedure expands the list of criteria by which partial unemployment benefits are granted, in particular, in relation to the fact that the employer or an individual entrepreneur, who is an insured person, has no debt to the state (local) budget for more than six months. This decision was made at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on March 3, 2023.
It is predicted that 21,000 Ukrainians will be able to use partial unemployment assistance this year. 226 million UAH is provided for this.
Transfer of funds to the current account of an individual entrepreneur who is an insured person, or an employer for the payment of partial unemployment benefits to employees is carried out by the regional employment center.
The changes provide that partial unemployment assistance is not provided in the event that a liquidation procedure has been opened in relation to an employer or an individual entrepreneur, or they recognizes their inability to fulfill obligations to creditors in a timely manner due to an unsatisfactory state of financial and economic activity.
The new Procedure also defines the mechanism for confirming the absence of indebtedness by employers and individual entrepreneurs who are insured persons to the state (local) budget, in particular, in the procedure for exchanging information between the State Employment Service and the State Tax Service.
Another change concerns the verification of the intended use of funds. It is assumed that it can also be carried out at the employer's place of business.
The National Bank of Ukraine by Resolution No. 12 of March 1, 2023 “On Amendments to the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine No. 18 of February 24, 2022”, which entered into force on March 2, 2023, updated a number of currency restrictions with the aim, in particular, of ensuring smooth operation of volunteer movement of Ukraine and giving citizens the opportunity to support people affected by earthquakes in Turkey.
From March 2, 2023:
- in view of updating the customs legislation, the list of product codes that can be purchased by individual volunteers abroad to maintain Ukraine's defense capability has been clarified.
Thus, on January 1, 2023, a new law “On the Customs Tariff of Ukraine” entered into force, which singles out a new code for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Taking this into account, the NBU has added a new UAV code to the list of codes of defense goods that can be purchased by volunteers – natural persons abroad to help maintain Ukraine's defense capability.
The relevant list also previously included: thermal imagers, walkie-talkies, bulletproof vests, hard hats, helmets, military and tactical uniforms, military and tactical footwear, protective clothing, optical surveillance devices, sleeping bags, car cases and means of providing first aid;
- it is allowed to transfer foreign currency to the fund created by the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Ukraine to support earthquake victims in Turkey.
The National Bank has given residents and non-residents the opportunity to transfer funds in foreign currency to the accounts of the charity fund Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Büyükelçiliği Dayanışma (the Solidarity Fund of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Ukraine), created to accumulate funds to support people affected by earthquakes in Turkey.
In addition, the aforementioned fund is allowed to buy foreign currency and transfer it abroad. The fund will make such a transfer in favor of the AFAD Humanitarian Mission of the Ministry of Interior of Turkey, the Turkish Red Crescent and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey.
The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine has published bills “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Deregulation of Economic Activity” and “On Amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine Regarding Deregulation of Economic Activity”, which contain proposals for deregulation of economic activity in Ukraine. Currently, a large number of state regulatory instruments operate in all areas of legal regulation, which negatively affects the ability of business entities to start operations and compete on the market. This is unacceptable for the economy of the country, especially in the conditions of martial law.
The procedure for obtaining permission documents requires large time and financial costs of business entities, and also creates an additional administrative burden on them.
In order to resolve this situation, the Ministry of Economy has developed and published bills for discussion.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine by Resolution “On Amending the Annex to Resolution No. 236 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of March 9, 2022 and Recognizing as Expired Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1006 of September 10, 2022 and No. 1409 of December 20, 2022” decided on the gradual reduction of the list of goods for which it was possible to postpone the payment of customs payments during the importation of goods into the customs territory of Ukraine.
This will make possible to streamline relations regarding the payment of customs payments and provide for the reduction of the list of goods that, when imported into the customs territory of Ukraine, were allowed to postpone the payment of the appropriate customs payments to the budget for a later period.
Such a decision does not cancel the tax benefits that are currently provided for by the Customs and Tax Codes of Ukraine, but regulates the issue of paying the appropriate customs payments to the budget within the terms provided by the Law.
