On August 30, the President of Ukraine signed Law of Ukraine No. 3326-IX of August 10, 2023 ‘On Amending the Customs Code of Ukraine and Other Laws of Ukraine on Countering the Illegal Circulation of Tobacco Products’.
This is evidenced by the card of basil bill No. 9315 on the VRU website.
The law proposes:
- to prohibit the placement and sale of tobacco products produced in Ukraine in duty-free shops during the martial law;
- to prohibit the sale by duty-free shops of more than two packs per check during martial law;
- to carry out an inventory of the remaining tobacco products intended for placement in duty-free.
The State Tax Service of Ukraine has published new handbook of benefits as of August 31, 2023, namely:
- Handbook No. 119/1 of tax benefits, which are losses of budget revenues;
- Handbook No. 119/2 of other tax benefits.
In the mentioned handbooks, a list of benefits with their codes and terms of validity is given, in particular, from the corporate income tax; value added tax; land fee; real estate tax; excise tax, local taxes and fees.
We would like to remind you that accounting of the amounts of tax benefits received by business entities is carried out by the controlling authorities on the basis of the information contained in the tax declarations submitted by such business entities.
The President of Ukraine has signed new Law of Ukraine ‘On Credit Unions’ (bill No. 5125). Under the new law, credit unions will become more sustainable and will be able to provide more financial services.
The new version of Law ‘On Credit Unions’ expands the list of persons who can become members of credit unions.
Thus, not only natural persons, but also legal entities can be their members. These are farms, condominiums, cooperatives, micro-enterprises.
The new law improves the requirements for the credit union’s capital structure.
In particular, it is envisaged to expand the sources of capital replenishment of the credit union, to introduce requirements for the components of regulatory capital of both the first and the second level.
The legislation will introduce new requirements for the credit union’s corporate management system and internal control system. Powers between the governing bodies – the general meeting, the supervisory board and the board (or a sole executive body) – will be clearly distributed. Restrictions on the combination of individual functions are also established to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
In addition, the law establishes a requirement for an impeccable business reputation and professional suitability of the heads of credit unions. The top management of significant and united credit unions will be agreed by the National Bank.
Actually, the new requirements for management systems will make it possible to prevent the concentration of all management processes around a narrow circle of persons. And this will reduce risks for the financial condition of the credit union and protect the interests of its members.
To replace the dual market entry procedure, the law provides for credit unions to obtain a license simultaneously with registration in the relevant register.
In addition, from now on it will not be necessary to obtain several licenses for different types of financial services, because the credit union will operate on the basis of a credit union license.
The law provides for the differentiation of licenses into standard and simplified ones. On the basis of a standard license, the credit union will be able to provide financial services for lending and attracting funds and bankable metals from its members, which are subject to return and are not equity contributions. On the basis of the simplified one – only to carry out lending. At the same time, the credit union will be able to provide guarantee services, foreign exchange trading, and some financial payment services if desired.
In addition, credit unions will be able to provide accompanying, intermediary and consulting services to increase the involvement of citizens in the use of financial services.
Licensing requirements for credit unions will be updated accordingly: when using standard licenses, the requirements will be strengthened.
Credit unions will be able to outsource a number of their functions. At the same time, they must inform the National Bank about it.
The new version of Law of Ukraine ‘On Credit Unions’ will enter into force on January 1, 2024.
The National Bank of Ukraine continues the implementation of the published Strategy of softening currency restrictions, transition to greater flexibility of the exchange rate and return to inflation targeting. According to it, the actions of the National Bank within the first stage of the easing of currency restrictions will be aimed, in particular, at minimizing the multiplicity of exchange rates.
To this end, the National Bank by Resolution No. 104 of August 28, 2023 ‘On Amending Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine No. 18 of February 24, 2022’ eases currency restrictions on the sale of non-cash foreign currency to citizens. Thus, from August 29, 2023, the National Bank:
- for the first time since the beginning of the full-scale war has allowed banks to sell non-cash foreign currency to the population without confirming the grounds or liabilities for conducting such a transaction. The relevant transactions will be carried out at the exchange rate set by the bank, within the monthly limit of UAH 50,000 equivalent in one bank;
- has increased from UAH 100 to UAH 200,000 equivalent monthly limit for the purchase of non-cash foreign currency by the population with subsequent placement on a deposit of three months.
The mentioned changes will contribute to the reorientation of a part of the population’s demand from cash foreign currency to non-cash, because operations for the sale of non-cash currency by banks are more convenient and safer. This will make it possible to reduce the difference between the cash rate and the official rate.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine at its meeting on August 25, 2023, made changes to the list of licensing authorities. The relevant decision was adopted by the Government in order to bring the list of licensing bodies and types of licensed business activities into compliance with the legislation.
In accordance with the Government’s decision, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine will be excluded from the list as a licensing authority for business activities involving mediation in employment abroad.
In January 2023, the interdepartmental working group on deregulation, co-chaired by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and the Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yuliia Svyrydenko, recommended canceling the relevant license. In March, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law ‘On the Protection of Labor Migrants and the Fight against Fraud in Employment Abroad’, which repealed this instrument of state regulation.
Also, the list includes new names of some types of economic activity, in particular, the licensing of which is carried out by the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting, the National Commission on Securities and Stock Market, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.
During its work, the IDG reviewed more than 1,000 instruments in total.
