Despite the full-scale war, Ukrainian business continues to demonstrate high dynamics in obtaining the status of Authorized Economic Operators (AEO): over the 4 years of the program, 48 Ukrainian companies have received 50 AEO authorizations. This status gives companies the highest degree of trust and a number of simplifications in customs procedures.
This dynamics of Ukrainian companies coincides with the dynamics of most EU countries in the first 4 years of the program, and sometimes exceeds it. The biggest “jump” in AEOs occurred in the fourth year of the program, when “local simplifications” without authorizations were abolished, which was not the case in any EU country.
For comparison, the dynamics of AEO for the first 4 years of the program in the EU (2008-2011):
– more than half of the countries (17 Member States) had similar (Denmark, Ireland, Slovenia, Czech Republic) or lower (Finland, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Greece, etc.) rates of increase in AEO authorizations;
– 8 countries had a higher rate of increase in AEO authorizations, in particular, the United Kingdom*, Austria, Belgium, and Sweden;
– only 3 countries out of 28 EU countries (France, Germany, the Netherlands) increased AEOs at a much higher rate than Ukraine. These countries generally have much stricter requirements for companies to preserve and restore documents and other business processes, the reliability of which is a condition for obtaining this status. Therefore, the authorization of enterprises did not require a large number of additional requirements.
Currently, there is every reason to expect a positive trend in the number of AEO authorizations obtained by Ukrainian businesses: 31 more applications are pending at the State Customs Service. This demonstrates the interest of domestic businesses in the program.
It is worth reminding that AEO is a special status that demonstrates a high level of trust in a business entity. It provides customs simplifications and advantages in international trade, which can also compensate for a number of difficulties at the border caused by external circumstances. The AEO status opens up opportunities for enterprises to develop and compete in foreign and domestic markets.
In Ukraine, the AEO program began operating in August 2020 after the adoption of the necessary legislative changes in the process of approximation to European customs law and standards of foreign economic activity.
As reported, as of November 7, 2023, the provisions of the Customs Code of Ukraine regarding the possibility of customs clearance of goods without presenting them to the customs authorities became invalid. In order to continue to use the possibility of clearing goods at the facilities of enterprises, the State Customs Service recommended that businesses obtain the status of an authorized economic operator.
Having AEO authorization allows a company to take advantage of all the benefits of AEO and will facilitate access to the simplifications provided for by the Customs Code and the Convention on a Common Transit Procedure. In particular, the simplifications include reducing the level of risk in relation to the goods being transported, prioritizing customs formalities and releasing goods at the company’s location.
Earlier, roundtables were devoted to customs reform, where the event’s organizer and moderator Maksim Urakin stated that the State Customs Service provides 35-40% of state budget revenues, and these figures have remained stable in recent years. That is why customs reforms are so important for the country.
As part of the deregulation reform, the Ministry of Economy has amended the order “On the Procedure for Licensing the Export of Goods,” according to which Ukrainian exporters will receive licenses in electronic form, the ministry’s press service reports.
“Digitalization of services provided by the state to business is one of the key components of deregulation. We are currently fully transferring the process of obtaining licenses by exporters to an electronic format. And we are working on a similar simplification of the procedure for importers. In addition, we are simplifying the process of obtaining permits by reducing the number of documents required to apply for a license,” said First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko.
According to the amended order, entrepreneurs will be able to submit documents and obtain licenses in electronic form, while they can also submit documents in paper form if they wish.
In addition, the list of documents required to obtain a license has been shortened. The amendments to the Order also update the license application form, the license form, instructions for filling them out, and the regulations on the licensing procedure.
In order to obtain licenses for the export of goods from Ukraine, entrepreneurs who have chosen the electronic form of submitting documents should go to the section “Foreign Economic Activity” on the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services at https://my.gov.ua/info/service/2817 /details.
The entrepreneur must submit a package of required documents in his/her electronic cabinet. After they are reviewed within the established timeframe and if a positive decision is made, the license will appear in the applicant’s account in electronic form.
If a person submits documents in paper form and wants to receive a response by e-mail, then at the stage of submitting documents, they must provide the recipient’s mail address and indicate that they want to receive a response in this way.
The Ministry of Economy noted that during martial law, the issuance of licenses for the export and import of goods is free of charge. Therefore, the letter of application for a license does not require a guarantee of payment of the state fee for its issuance and an upload of a package of documents.
The Interagency Working Group on Accelerated Review of State Regulatory Instruments for Business has already reviewed more than 1,300 regulatory instruments for business, of which 456 are recommended to be canceled and 584 to be simplified, the Ministry reminded.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) announced an auction on 6 August to privatize a 97.5458% stake in the authorized capital of Zaporizhzhya Aluminium Smelter (ZalK). According to the SPF press release, an online auction for the privatization of 607 million 446,012 thousand shares is scheduled for August 6. The auction will be held in the electronic trading system Prozorro.Sale with a starting price of almost UAH 151.9 million, and the deadline for submitting bids is August 5.
It is noted that ZALK is an excellent brownfield project, as it is located in Zaporizhzhia, next to the national highway H08. The facility’s advantages include a large total area of premises and land. The new owner may consider the facility for business or its relocation.
The JSC’s balance sheet includes 1497 registered units of real estate and infrastructure with a total area of 370,929.85 square meters. The property also includes 291 units of vehicles and special equipment. The real estate owned by the JSC is located on 25 registered land plots with a total area of 216.0856 hectares.
As of May 31, 2023, part of the company’s real estate with a total area of 6,755.6 sq. m. was leased out under eight agreements with the maximum term of validity until September 1, 2065.
The company’s balance sheet includes 18 state-owned objects that were not included in the company’s authorized capital and remained in state ownership (two shelters, instruments, radio stations, engineering networks, roads, etc.)
The company has debts, including overdue accounts payable of UAH 6.44 billion.
Under the terms of the auction, the new owner is obliged to ensure repayment of wage arrears and budget arrears within 18 months from the date of transfer of ownership, as well as to prevent dismissal of ZalK employees within six months, in accordance with the requirements of Articles 40 and 41 of the Labor Code of Ukraine.
For more information about ZALK JSC, please follow the link: http://surl.li/oyxgsp
Zalc used to be the only primary aluminum producer in Ukraine. In 2004, the Russian group SUAL became the owner of Zalc. In 2007, the plant came under the control of UC RusAl, which was created as a result of the merger of aluminum and alumina assets of RusAl, SUAL and Swiss trader Glencore. In the long-running lawsuits, a verdict was reached on the termination of the sale and purchase agreements for 68.01% of ZalK’s shares and the return of this stake to state ownership. The authorized capital of ZALK JSC is UAH 155 million 682.28 thousand, with a share price of UAH 0.25.
Estimated number of population in regions of Ukraine based on number of active mobile sim cards (mln)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” (UZ) has made changes to the schedule of two Intercity+ trains on the Kyiv-Premysl route to reduce the risk of delays at the border.
“Starting August 10: train No. 715 Kyiv-Premysl will depart from Kyiv at 11:26 instead of 11:59. Train No. 705 Kyiv-Premierzl will depart at 19:19 instead of 20:05,” the company’s press service posted on Facebook on Thursday.
At the same time, as indicated, the arrival time of both trains to Przemyśl will not change. The additional time will be used to extend the stop at Lviv station for border and customs control.
Due to the high traffic, Ukrzaliznytsia advises passengers to allow at least 2-2.5 hours for the transfer.
In January-June 2024, Ukrainian grocer EVA opened 28 new stores, expanding its network to 1080 outlets in Ukraine.
According to the retailer’s press service, by the end of this year, it is planned to launch 30 more new EVA stores, mainly in the Women’s Energy chain format.
According to the chain, as of the end of June, e-commerce accounted for 14% of the chain’s sales. In addition, the assortment from third-party sellers on the Eva.ua marketplace already includes 10 thousand SKUs, with sales of over UAH 500 thousand.
In January-March, the total web traffic on the retailer’s platforms averaged 13 million sessions per month, which made it possible to generate 13-14 thousand online orders, the report says. Meanwhile, about a third of online orders are made through the EVA mobile app, and the number of app installations reached 4.2 million by the end of June.
According to the press release, the number of online ordering points currently stands at 1064 in 340 cities. By the end of the first half of 2024, the share of online orders delivered to the points of delivery by the retailer’s own transport reached 51%. Courier delivery is currently available in Kyiv, Lviv and Dnipro.
In the first half of the year, the company also expanded the warehouse area of the online store in Lviv by 2.6 thousand square meters (up to 24.8 thousand square meters). In addition, the company is building a new building, automating processes at its distribution center in Odesa and increasing the level of automation at its warehouses in Lviv and Brovary, the retailer said.
In January-March 2024, the amount of funds allocated to charitable and social initiatives by EVA and its customers amounted to UAH 18 million.
RUSH LLC, which manages the EVA chain, was founded in 2002. As of June 30, 2024, the chain had 1080 stores in operation.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of RUSH LLC is Insetra Holdings Limited (Cyprus, 100%), and the company’s ultimate beneficiaries are Ukrainian businessmen Ruslan Shostak and Valeriy Kiptyk.
According to RUSH’s financial results, the company’s revenue last year increased by 33.7% to UAH 21 billion, net profit by 26% to UAH 2.2 billion, and asset value by 45.2% to UAH 15.03 billion. In 2023, EVA paid UAH 2.02 billion in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels.
