Ukrainian legislation should enable pharmaceutical manufacturers to buy a license for the production of a COVID-19 vaccine, which can be developed by foreign companies, Head of the supervisory board of JSC Farmak (Kyiv) Filya Zhebrovska has said.
“Ukrainian legislation should provide an opportunity so that we can buy or use a license, possibly pay royalties, so that we have the opportunity to produce this vaccine,” the company’s press service reported, quoting her as saying.
Zhebrovska said that the possibility of buying a license to produce a COVID-19 vaccine at Ukrainian production facilities will reduce the price of this vaccine by 15-20% compared with the purchase of the finished product.
As reported, Farmak does not rule out the possibility of joining a consortium, which the European Investment Bank (EIB), together with WHO, created to develop the COVID-19 vaccine. The EIB allocated EUR 7.6 billion to this consortium.
In the middle of May, Farmak, as part of international research, began the third phase of clinical trials of the Amizon drug (Enisamium) in fighting COVID-19 in Ukraine.
Farmak is the leader in the pharmaceutical market with a share of 5.9% in monetary terms. The company annually reinvests of approximately 95% of the profits in its development.
Farmak is a member of the Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine association.
According to the public register, the ultimate beneficial owner of PJSC Farmak is Zhebrovska, who holds 80% of shares in the company.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a bill amending a number of Ukrainian legislative acts on the conditions for the turnover of farmland, which the Verkhovna Rada passed on March 31, 2020.
“The document provides for the formation of a legislative framework for introducing market-based turnover of farmland. The law signed by the president will empower citizens to exercise their constitutional rights to freely dispose their property and will provide for transparent terms for acquiring ownership of agricultural plots of land by citizens of Ukraine,” the president’s press service said on Tuesday.
LCF Law Group has announced the expansion of its business by adding the teams of the Evris Law Firm and the Sheverdin and Partners attorneys association and introducing new practices.
The company said in its press release that it launches such new practices as tax law, antitrust and competition law, intellectual property law, as well as criminal law and cross-border investigations.
As a result of the integration of two law firms, the company’s team will increase to more than 60 lawyers, including nine partners.
The executive team remains unchanged: Managing Partner Hanna Ohrenchuk and Senior Partner Artem Stoyanov.
The integration will be fully completed by the end of May 2020.
The Verkhovna Rada at an extraordinary meeting has adopted a law on opening the land market from July 1, 2021 with the restriction of its operation in the first three years only to land plots owned by individuals with a maximum ownership of 100 hectares per capita. According to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent, 259 MPs voted for bill No. 2178-10 on farmland turnover at second reading and as a whole on Tuesday night with the quorum being 226 votes.
The votes for the law were distributed as follows: Servant of the People with 206 votes, European Solidarity with 23 votes, Holos with 13, Dovira with 12, non-affiliated with five votes. The factions of Opposition Platform-For Life, Batkivschyna, and For the Future group did not give a single vote in support.
The document stipulates that from January 1, 2024 legal entities will be able to purchase agricultural land, the concentration threshold per entity will increase to 10,000 ha. The sale of agricultural land of state and municipal property is prohibited.
In addition, banks get the opportunity to obtain land as recovery of collateral, however, such land plots should be sold at auction within two years.
According to the bill, the access of foreigners to the land market will depend on the results of the national referendum.
In addition, it is stipulated that until January 1, 2030 the selling price of agricultural land plots allocated to land plot holders cannot be less than their regulatory monetary value.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has signed the law on amending the Land Code of Ukraine and some other legislative acts to combat raiding adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on December 5, 2019.
According to information on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, on January 13 the document was returned with the signature of the president.
As reported, bill No. 0858 establishes that if a party to the contract wishes to refuse to automatically renew the land lease, then no later than 30 calendar days before the expiration of the contract, it must submit an application to the state register of property rights. In the absence of such a statement after the relevant expiration date of the contract, it is extended for the same period and with the same conditions.
The lease payment for land plots of state and municipal property leased at land tenders cannot be reduced by agreement of the parties during the term of the lease, as well as upon its renewal, as indicated in the document.
The bill also provides for the establishment of a guarantee contribution amount per lot at the level of 5% of the starting price for the sale of a land plot and 50% of the starting amount of the annual fee for using a land plot, but not less than 500 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens and not more than 5,000 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens.
According to information on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, on December 27 the document was returned with the signature of the president.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada adopted as a whole bill No. 2240 on settling the issue of amber extraction, which provides for the introduction of uniform exploration permits with the right to produce amber for a period of five years on plots of up to 10 hectares through ProZorro electronic auctions.
This decision was supported by 279 MPs with the quorum being 226 votes.
According to the bill, access to amber deposits will be regulated by establishing the right of land easements and defining separate Article 971 of the Land Code for exploration and mining on disturbed lands.
In addition, the document introduces criminal liability for illegal mining and administrative liability for violation of mining requirements, as well as toughens liability for non-compliance with land reclamation requirements and the obligation to compensate for losses incurred.
