The Verkhovna Rada on March 20 passed a law “On Amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Bankruptcy Procedures” (No. 4409), under which bankruptcy filings will now be considered in simplified proceedings without summoning the parties, the Ministry of Justice said.
“The bill also simplifies the work of bankruptcy trustees. It provides for the creation of an automated information system “Bankruptcy and insolvency,” uniting the necessary registries and databases and which will include an electronic office of the trustee in bankruptcy,” the Ministry of Justice said in a press release on Wednesday.
The department reminded that the bill number 4409 was adopted as a basis back in June 2021. In preparation for the bill for the second reading of 248 amendments were filed, of which 112 were proposed to take into account.
Deputy Minister of Justice Valeriy Kolomiets thanked the head of the profile subcommittee of the Rada Oleksiy Movchan “for persistence and for being in crime” in the difficult process of adopting the document and wished a little more patience, because the adoption of the bill on “military bankruptcies” and the implementation of EU Directive 2019/1023 until September this year.
Eurogroup finance ministers believe the collapse of U.S.-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) will not have a direct impact on Europe’s financial system, but is a signal of the importance of ensuring the stability of the EU banking system amid ongoing uncertainty.
“Since this bank’s presence in the EU is very, very limited, we do not see direct consequences, but we are closely monitoring developments and we take note of the strong reaction of the U.S. authorities,” EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said after the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels.
He noted that the eurozone economy has entered this year in slightly better shape than expected a few months ago, but turmoil in the banking system amid general volatility could arise at any time.
“Uncertainty remains very high,” the European commissioner stressed.
Eurogroup Chairman Pascal Donohue said the SVB collapse, which shook up the U.S. financial system, was one of the topics of discussion among European ministers.
“The problems (in America) arose because of the specific business model of the bank (…) and the picture here in Europe is very different. Our banks are generally in good shape,” Donohue assured.
The Eurogroup’s statement from the meeting notes that the eurozone economy has recovered significantly from the pandemic and has weathered the effects of rising energy prices. Nevertheless, economic growth is expected to “remain modest in 2023 and gradually accelerate in 2024.”
“While uncertainty about the outlook, especially geopolitical and energy factors, remains elevated, the risks to growth appear more balanced than before. This reinforces the need for fiscal policy to remain flexible,” the statement said.
The Eurogroup gave forward-looking guidelines for fiscal policy in the euro zone. Between 2023 and 2024, it should focus on debt sustainability over the medium term as well as sustained improvements in economic growth and addressing the transition to green and digital technologies through investment and reforms.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierres, before signing documents within the framework of the initiative for the safe transportation of grain and food from Ukrainian ports, said that “the main attention in the preparation process was paid to what is more important for the people of the whole world.”
“It will bring relief to developing countries that are on the brink of bankruptcy and the most vulnerable people on the brink of starvation. And help stabilize world food prices, which were already at record levels even before the war,” he said on Friday in Istanbul .
“In particular, the initiative that we have just signed opens up trials for significant volumes of commercial food exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea – Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny,” he said. At the same time, he stressed that “the shipment of grain and food supplies to world markets will help close the global gap in food supplies and reduce pressure on prices.”
The UN Secretary General acknowledged that “this agreement was not easy.” “From the very beginning of the war, I have emphasized that there is no solution to the global food crisis without ensuring full global access to Ukrainian food and Russian food and fertilizers. Today we have taken important steps towards this goal, but it has been a long way,” he said. .
He said, “We look forward to the Turkish government maintaining its decisive role going forward, and I assure that the United Nations will continue to be actively involved in the success of the agreement. We are stepping up efforts to ensure that the UN can fulfill their obligations.”
He also announced the creation of a joint coordinating center to monitor the implementation of the Black Sea initiatives.
According to Gutierres, as part of the initiative, “a task force led by the secretary general of the apparatus, Rebecca Greenspan, has focused its efforts on facilitating the unhindered access of food and fertilizer produced in the Russian Federation to world markets.”
“This is an unprecedented agreement between two sides involved in a bloody conflict. But conflicts continue, and people die every day, and fighting rages every day. The beacon of hope in the Black Sea today shines brightly thanks to the collective efforts of many people,” he said.
Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada on Thursday, October 18, passed the Code of Bankruptcy Procedures of Ukraine (bill No. 8060) with 237 supportive votes, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported. “Thanks to the adoption of the code we would climb 10 positions in Doing Business,” Head of the parliamentary committee for economic policy Andriy Ivanchuk said, presenting the bill. Representing the code, the deputy said that the document is structured into four books. According to him, the first book regulates the general provisions and deadlines, the second – the activities of the self-governing organization of arbitration managers, the third – the issues of bankruptcy of legal entities.
“And the fourth book is a novelty in the Ukrainian legislation, earlier the country did not have it – it is the bankruptcy of individuals,” Ivanchuk said.
He said that this book provides an opportunity for individuals – bona fide borrowers in the event of a difficult economic situation to initiate a bankruptcy procedure and get rid of this debt obligation, while the lender is deprived of this right.
Ivanchuk said that more than 1,300 amendments were received to this bill for the second reading, of which approximately 40% were rejected. According to him, when the code was finalized, its structure was changed: the entire notions were removed from the bill, for example, the amicable agreement, and all remarks related to the amicable agreement lost their relevance.
The head of the committee said that a block of amendments on the introduction of an automated arrest of accounts was rejected, as it had not previously received support in parliament.
“Most of the amendments on the introduction of a unified electronic registry of debtors were rejected. In the process of discussion and in-depth analysis, we were shown fears that there might be a leak of confidential information about legal entities, especially individuals,” Ivanchuk also said.
According to him, many questions were transferred to the level of bylaws, in particular, the specification of the regulation of the procedure for the sale of the debtor’s property.
First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Maksym Nefyodov said that the adopted document provides for the sale of bankrupt property at transparent electronic auctions of the ProZorro.Sales system. The head of the committee also said that the code would be enacted in six months.
Immediately before the vote, Ivanchuk reported that the Main Legal Department of the Verkhovna Rada prepared its comments on the document, which the committee promptly took into account on the evening of October 17. In this regard, he read another five pages of amendments with which the code was adopted.
