On March 20th, 2020, the Bolt taxi service company launched a joint social initiative with the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine to transport hospital staff during quarantine.
In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 among the population of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Parliament recently adopted two laws No. 530-ІХ and No. 533-IX, which will significantly affect both business and the broader population in Ukraine. On March 17th, 2020 the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed the adopted laws and they were officially published. On March 18th, 2020 the laws entered into force.
The Ukrainian government continues to move on with its ambitious program of reforms aimed at the creation of a more business-friendly, transparent and flexible legal environment.
2019 was a year of several substantial developments in Ukrainian corporate law and practice. Here is a glance over some of the most interesting developments from our Corporate Law team.
Counsel
Since 2001 the sale of agricultural land in Ukraine has been prohibited. Most land plots used in the agricultural sector are done so based on long-term lease agreements.
Raiding, or the illicit acquisition of property, has become one of the most critical bottlenecks of the Ukrainian economy and a major deterrent for investment. According to the statistics of the General Prosecutor Office of Ukraine, over the last seven years there were more than 3 200 raider attack incidents in Ukraine and, on average, about 400 raider attacks per year.
On 11 September 2019 the Parliament of Ukraine adopted the draft law No.1031 “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Relating to Expropriation of Illegal Assets from Persons Authorised to Execute Functions of State” on its first reading.
On August 21, 2019, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved new procedures for state supervision and control of compliance with labor legislation. On August 30, 2019, these new procedures entered into force.
On the 16th of July 2019 the law “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the State language” №2704-VIII (hereinafter referred to as the “Law”) was adopted.
From July 19, 2019, the cost of registration of intellectual property (IP) rights in Ukraine will increase three-fold on average.
On June 10, 2019, the President of Ukraine submitted to the Parliament Draft Law No. 10376 (“Draft Law”) on amending the Law of Ukraine “On the Electricity Market”.
Clearstream, the international central securities depository of Deutsche Börse Group ICSD) has connected Ukraine to its electronic network and made Ukraine’s government securities available for purchase in its system since May 27.
According to the 2018 Law of Ukraine “On Limited Liability and Additional Liability Companies” (“the LLC Law”), the deadline for bringing the wording of Ukrainian LLC charters in compliance with the LLC Law will expire on 17 of June 2019.
While the Code of Ukraine on Bankruptcy Procedures (‘Bankruptcy Code of Ukraine’) is still awaiting the signature of the President of Ukraine, we continue analyzing the forthcoming changes and developments that will come with the launched bankruptcy law reform in Ukraine.
Ukrainian banking regulation on cross-border transactions has been radically liberalized with the new Law of Ukraine “On Currency and Currency Operations” taking force on February 7, 2019.
Law No. 530-ІХ “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine aimed at Preventing the Occurrence and Spread of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)” entered into force on March 17, 2020. In particular, the provisions of this Law determine that now force majeure (force majeure circumstances) apply to the quarantine established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Corresponding changes have been made to the Law of Ukraine “On Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Ukraine”.
The Cabinet of Ministry of Ukraine (“CMU”) updated the Conditions for Access to Geological Information (approved by CMU Resolution dated November 7, 2018 no. 939), which regulate main aspects of producing and using geological information.
The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (hereinafter – MLI Convention) is an effective tool for signatory countries to make amendments to some or all of their double taxation treaties (hereinafter – DTT) concurrently.
On October 23, 2019, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (hereinafter – CMU) adopted Resolution No.928 on amendments to Resolution No. 615 on the procedure for granting special permits for subsoil use, approved by the CMU on May 30, 2011. Resolution No.928 entered into force on November 21, 2019.
Partner
On the 13th September 2019 the Parliament of Ukraine adopted the draft law No.1054-1
In September 2019 the Parliament of Ukraine commenced a large scale legislative overhaul of the country’s tax system through draft laws No.1208, No. 1080, No.1051, No.1057, No.1073, No.1053-1 and No.1210. Overall, these drafts attempt to unify tax innovations and to eliminate any contradictions in the tax system.
On 19 September 2019 the Parliament of Ukraine upheld the Draft Law No. 1070 On Amending Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Improvement of Conducting Financial Restructuring Procedure (‘the Law’), which was stated by the President of Ukraine to be urgent, and adopted it in its 2nd reading.
Founding Partner, Managing Partner
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has announced the annulment of all restrictions on the repatriation of dividends.
The National Bank of Ukraine ( has abolished a rule that required businesses to exchange 30 of their foreign currency earnings into Ukrainian hrivnia ( on the currency exchange market on the day following receipt of foreign currency on their bank account in Ukraine The new regulation took effect on 20 June 2019.
In recent years, Ukraine has created favorable conditions for the development of green energy, most specifically by means of establishing the highest feed-in tariff among countries on the European continent.
Ukraine is one of the members of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and has ratified major international treaties in the field of Intellectual Property (IP) that are in effect in Ukraine.
The Law of Ukraine on ratification of the MLI Convention came into force on the 2 nd of April 2019 Accordingly, we should expect modification of Ukraine’s international treaties for the avoidance of double taxation (“double taxation treaties”, or “ in the nearest future What is the MLI Convention and what is the purpose of its development?
Global tendencies and intensively developing restructuring & bankruptcy legal environment across the globe make it impossible to stay aside from such processes. Ukraine is not an exception.
- 1
- 2