The Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs met with the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Yulia Svyridenko.
SUP is grateful to the Ministry of Economy for its active cooperation with business since the very beginning of the full-scale war, especially on the matter of relocation, the rapid inclusion of goods in the list of critical imports, and the provision of clear explanations of martial law. However, in three months, business requests for transparent communication from the authorities have compiled; so entrepreneurs want to understand that the country is heading towards a liberal economy.
During the meeting, we managed to discuss pressing issues of economic policy during the war, in particular:
- How will the post-war reconstruction occur? The main direction is deregulation. The Minister assured that since it is necessary to return people to jobs that were created before the war, the government has no intention to increase taxes; instead, there is an initiative to improve the business environment, including the need to remove inspections so that businesses can simply operate.
- Withdrawal of Resolution № 153 “On the list of critical import goods”, which will take place in the nearest future. Thus, the possibility of making cross-border foreign currency payments for transactions of import of all goods and services will return. The resolution was once a necessary decision, but now it makes sense to remove these restrictions to stabilize the situation.
- The issue of reserving conscripts and their leaving abroad for work. It is currently intended to separate these two aspects and to develop separate mechanisms to improve the regulation of this process. After the meeting, the Union sent a letter with its proposals and a vision of such a system, and it is ready to engage in the development of joint ideas with the Ministry.
- Process automation. The SUP members shared their vision of automation: electronic interaction of banking institutions with the Taxpayer’s Office, obtaining certificates on having no debt online, introduction of e-contracts for public procurement, electronic accounting of all business inspections etc. According to the Ministry, there are plans to introduce an electronic automation system for conscripts reservations by the business in the near future.
- Maintaining the accessibility of Ukrainian business to the markets of the G7 and the EU.
- Increasing the term of payments for foreign trade transactions: this issue is especially important for business, because in the 90 days provided for payments, it is currently impossible to conduct all transactions. In particular, businesses deals with raw materials that take long to be manufactured and delivered, so that many payments are delayed and businesses receive fines. Therefore, entrepreneurs emphasize the need to resolve this issue, as the condition of timely payment is not met en masse for objective reasons.
We hope that this meeting will intensify the process of interaction between business and government in the process of economic recovery of Ukraine.
SUP members are ready and willing to continue to participate in the discussion of issues essential for the coordinated work of business during the war and post-war reconstruction.
