Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has passed at first reading bill No. 1055-1 on lending state-owned and municipal property, envisaging the lending of this type of property via the e-auction system.
An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that the bill was backed by 263 MPs on Thursday.
“The Verkhovna Rada today adopted bill No. 1055-1, which will finally allow creating fair competition and fully opening up this market. Perhaps the story is familiar to many city dwellers: no one knows who and for what money, what “matchmakers” and “godfathers” rent premises in the middle of the city for UAH 1, to whom the high-rise complex of a plant is rented. All this is now a thing of the past,” First Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Pavlo Kukhta said on his Facebook page, commenting on the adoption of the bill.
He said that according to the document, state-owned and municipal property should be leased according to the results of electronic auctions to those who offered the highest price.
In addition, a unified database of state-owned and municipal property leased will be created.
“By October 1, 2020, all existing lease contracts, even those that were concluded under the old law, will be entered to the electronic trading system @ProZorro.Sales with free access to data,” he added.
Ukraine’s parliament has adopted draft law No. 1071 on amending certain laws of Ukraine involving the development of activities in space and attracting investments to Ukraine’s space sector. The bill will allow private companies to engage in activities in space, including launching rockets into space. Some 308 members of parliament supported the adoption of the bill in its second reading and as a whole, including its technical and legal amendments, at a plenary session on Friday.
According to the explanatory note to the bill, the text of which was published on parliament’s website, the bill will ensure the creation of a competitive environment for the development of private property enterprises along with the public sector of the space industry, and will also help attract investment in Ukraine’s space industry.
According to the text of the document, the basic principles of space activities in Ukraine are: state support for the commercialization of space activities and attracting investments in Ukraine’s space industry, opening outer space for citizens and legal entities and the ability to freely explore and use outer space, including the use of outer space and the resources contained therein, with restrictions only when necessary to ensure compliance with national security interests.
The importance of promoting international cooperation, maintaining and developing existing international relations in the space industry, taking into account national interests, is also emphasized in the bill.
Under the new law, companies will not be required to apply for licenses to work in the space sector.
Currently, only state-owned companies can carry out activities related to testing, production and operation of space launch vehicles in Ukraine.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada committee for energy and utilities Andriy Herus has initiated the abolishment of the provision to exempt taxpayers from paying value added tax (VAT) on imported equipment for solar power plants and wind farms.
“This is an absolutely unacceptable situation when importers receive preferential VAT, do not pay it to the national budget, and Ukrainian producers are forced to pay VAT under the worst conditions… From Monday [September 30] I will register the corresponding bill in order to cancel this equipment import privilege as quickly as possible,” he said during a meeting on legislative regulation of state support for the development of renewable energy projects in Kyiv on Friday.
As reported, at the end of 2018, the Verkhovna Rada introduced amendments to the Tax Code, which exempted taxpayers from paying VAT on imported equipment for solar power plants and wind farms.
EQUIPMENT SOLAR POWER PLANTS, IMPORT, PARLIAMENT, VAT, WIND FARMS
The European Business Association (EBA) has asked Head of the Verkhovna Rada committee for transport and infrastructure Yuriy Kysyl to support a bill proposing new legislation for the taxi market, the press service of the EBA said on Friday. “The adoption of a new model for regulating the taxi market is a significant step in introducing European standards into the life of Ukrainians. We hope that the new law on taxis will allow us to remove transportation from the shadows, get rid of outdated regulations and instead introduce clear and equal rules of the game for market players. For the first time, Ukraine has approached the reform of the taxi services market in such a comprehensive and professional manner that it is undoubtedly a positive signal,” the press service said, citing Advocacy Team Leader at the EBA Igor Gotsyk.
According to the report, the bill proposes the cancellation of obtaining a license for the domestic transportation of passengers by taxi, while at the same time the obligation is introduced to notify the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety, which also provides the functions of the public register of road carriers.
In addition, according to the document, an individual road carrier is not required to register as private entrepreneur. He also does not need to draw up a contract on transportation for each service in paper. He can only draw up a contract in electronic form.
“Given the thoroughness of the above-mentioned provisions and the importance of their adoption in order to increase the transparency of operations by carriers who operate road passenger transport services, we expect fruitful cooperation and hope that the bill will be adopted this autumn,” the EBA said.
Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has ratified a protocol on Amendments to the Convention between the Government of Ukraine and the Republic of Turkey for avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and real estate.
An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that a total of 320 MPs backed bill No. 0005 on ratification of the amendments on Wednesday.
According to the conclusion of the foreign policy committee, the changes relate, in particular, to the procedure for taxation of income received by residents of the state, which is party in the treaty, from the disposal of shares or other rights; the procedure for taxation of remuneration received in connection with employment on a ship, aircraft, or other transport operated by an enterprise of the state, which is party in the treaty. The changes will also concern the exchange of information.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine calls on the Verkhovna Rada to provide internally displaced persons (IDPs) with the opportunity to vote in the upcoming local elections. The UNHR urges parliament to take steps to provide IDPs and labor migrants with the opportunity to vote in local elections scheduled for 2020, mission head Matilda Bogner said at a press conference, presenting “Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 May to 15 August 2019” in Kyiv on Tuesday.
She noted that the Monitoring Mission would monitor developments around the Electoral Code, which President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky vetoed, giving Parliament 30 days to amend the document.
Bogner emphasized the need to solve the problem of paying pensions to residents of temporarily uncontrolled territories of Donbas. She said pensions should be paid to everyone who is entitled to them, regardless of their place of residence, adding this is an urgent recommendation, hoping that the new government will consider it one of the priorities.
In addition, the Mission notes that it is necessary to find a mechanism for paying off pension arrears.
At the same time, the UN Mission considers the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers to compensate families whose homes were destroyed as a result of the conflict in Donbas a positive sign. However, it has concerns about a number of issues, in particular, the condition that applicants for compensation should live in the same village where the destroyed housing is located, as well as the fact that funds for these needs will be provided for in the budget after 2020.
As reported, on July 15, 2019, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine established a mechanism for monetary compensation for private housing destroyed as a result of Russian armed aggression in eastern Ukraine.
