The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has implemented some measures to digitalize red tape procedures and circulation of documents, according to a posting on the website of the government. “Online, it will also be possible to recover lost or stolen driver’s licenses using the online procedure. Soon they can be ordered through the driver’s electronic account or through the unified public administrative services portal. The new rules so far relate to the licenses issued after January 1, 2013,” the government said.
In particular, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a bill that will simplify the receipt of free legal assistance for low-income citizens. It would be possible to apply without a certificate of income. Getting this help takes a lot of time and will require a lot of effort from people. The bill will soon be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine introduced the compensation of postal costs in court cases for low-income citizens by its decision.
“It allows lawyers to reimburse postal expenses in cases where they provide free legal assistance to low-income and socially unprotected groups of the population. In particular, the state will reimburse the cost of sending registered letters in appeal proceedings that were previously paid by citizens themselves. This will improve the quality of assistance to people who cannot pay for it,” the government said.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 21/11/19
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Soon a separate department which will regulate and protect intellectual property will be created in the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, Deputy Minister Dmytro Romanovych has said.
During a speech at the Media Law conference on Tuesday, he said that the issue of protecting intellectual property is one of eight priorities that the minister identified as promising.
“This is one of our priorities. We have eight of them. You also know that in fact we are now representing two and a half ministries. Therefore, there are a lot of priorities, as well as the areas for which the Economy Ministry is responsible. Being among our eight priorities is a sign that that the field of intellectual property is a very important industry,” Romanovych said.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has amended the Action Plan on Implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, the press service of the Ukrainian government reported. “The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a resolution amending the Action Plan on Implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. The updated plan takes into account the deepening of the Ukraine-EU bilateral relations and a series of decisions adopted by the bilateral bodies of the Association Agreement in recent years,” reads the statement.
The amended document actualizes, aligns and streamlines the objectives with the dynamically evolving EU legislation. The updated tasks are related to customs and financial policy; taxation, entrepreneurship, financial services and competition; justice, social and humanitarian issues; transport; energy economy and energy efficiency; digital sphere, science, technology and innovation; nature management and others.
It is expected that the government’s decision will accelerate Ukraine’s advancement towards the EU and make this process more transparent.
Restructuring of the feed-in tariff for electricity generated by solar power plants is inappropriate for the sector, Executive Director of the Solar Energy Association of Ukraine Artem Semenyshyn said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv on Tuesday. “If from January 1 [2020] for the new solar energy projects, the feed-in tariff is reduced, according to the law, by 25%, then the proposal to further reduce it by another 25% (thus, by 50%) crosses the line of economic feasibility,” he said.
At the same time, Semenyshyn said that such changes would cause investor concern and adversely affect the country’s investment climate. In addition, market players do not currently have a clear understanding of government plans for regulating the industry, which does not allow Ukrainian or foreign companies to plan business projects.
In turn, KNESS Group Business Development Director Yevhen Didichenko said that the restructuring of the feed-in tariff, which is being discussed, as a measure to stabilize the market situation, will not produce the desired effect.
“If 50% of all plants go to reduce the tariff by 20%, this will add UAH 3 billion to the Guaranteed Buyer’s balance, while at present we have a misbalance [the Guaranteed Buyer’s shortage] of UAH 16 billion, and the industry operates UAH 300 billion. That is, it is such a miniscule figure and such dire consequences that it is not worth it,” he said.
Didichenko also focused on the fact that the current model of the electric energy market does not comply with the principles defined by law.
“The problem should not be solved by patching holes. We need to look more broadly. The only right solution is to establish a free market,” he said and recalled that in particular, it is about lifting price restrictions, entering the market by National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom and PJSC Ukrhydroenergo.
“Preliminary calculations show that when entering the market, Energoatom will receive an additional UAH 80 billion a year. Ukrhydroenergo will receive an additional UAH 10 billion. The state could use these resources to subsidize the population and renewable energy (under the existing model for plants that have already been built.) The state would also have a resource to enhance the competitiveness of state-owned thermal power plants,” Didichenko said.
Semenyshyn said that the association prepared a draft memorandum of understanding with the government. It will identify mechanisms acceptable for Ukrainian business to further stimulate the development of solar energy.
The total absorption in the high-quality office real estate market in Kyiv in July-September 2019 increased by more than 70% compared to the same period in 2018 and amounted to near 46,000 square meters, according to a press release of Colliers International (Ukraine), the international consulting company.
“In general, during the first nine months of 2019, the volume of transactions amounted to about 131,000 square meters, which already exceeds the results of entire 2018. According to the results of the third quarter, IT industry companies (48%) had the main share of the total absorption, as well as companies from industry and energy (33%),” Colliers said.
According to the company, new offer in the third quarter amounted to 10,000 square meters, or some 15% of the declared for commissioning in the second half of 2019.
According to Colliers, developers announced five facilities with a total area of about 57,000 square meters for going live by the end of 2019.
“A significant part of the office space under construction already has signed preliminary lease agreements. This trend is one of the indicators of increased demand and the formation of the landlord market. Given the shortage of high-quality office space, the vacant space of facilities with a good location and concept is quickly absorbed by the market,” Colliers said.
According to company analysts, rental rates in Kyiv offices in the third quarter remained at the level of the previous quarter. In particular, the range of base rental rates in Class A business centers amounted to $22-30 per square meter, in the class B centers it is $14-21, and in the class C centers it is $9-13.
Modest growth is projected during the first half of 2020.
