Business news from Ukraine

Brussels will continue to support Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia in implementing pro-European reforms

Brussels will continue to support Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia in carrying out pro-European reforms, according to a statement issued on Friday following the EU summit.

“The European Union will continue to work closely with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia and support their reform efforts on their European path,” it said.

The statement says that the meeting also decided that Brussels will support Moldova in addressing the challenges it faces due to the events in Ukraine.

Last March, Georgia applied for EU membership, but has not yet been granted candidate status.

In February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Ukraine’s application for EU membership. In June of the same year, the EU Council granted Ukraine candidate status.

In June 2022, Moldova was also granted candidate status.

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HEAD OF OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE ANNOUNCED NEED FOR REFORMS OF SBU, COURTS, MINISTRIES

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said that judicial reform remains one of the necessary ones for joining the EU.

“Judicial reform, a mechanism for selecting judges and holding them accountable,” he said, speaking at a Forbes-Ukraine conference on Friday.

Among the necessary reforms, he also named the reform of the SBU. “We must also continue to implement a plan to de-oligarchize Ukraine in order to eliminate the influence of the oligarchs on political decision-making,” he said. At the same time, he stressed the need for a significant strengthening of the antimonopoly legislation.

Yermak also announced the reform of key ministries and departments. “The state should become more compact and efficient,” he said.

The main principles for the authorities, according to him, remain “security standards, the rule of law, the value of human life.”

“Joining the EU will help us build a Ukraine that we can be proud of,” Yermak said, noting that “this (joining the EU-IF-U) should take place “as soon as possible.”

He also considers it necessary to develop practices for creating industrial parks and special regimes for IT companies.

Yermak urged businessmen to “be more active in making proposals and cooperating with the government and the President’s Office.” “The government, together with experts, should create a national plan for joining the EU. The plan should be as realistic as possible,” the head of the President’s Office said.

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GERMANY IS READY TO HOLD CONFERENCE ON REFORMS IN UKRAINE IN 2024

Germany is ready to hold a conference on reforms in Ukraine in 2024, German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Svenja Schulze said.
“The restoration of a free and democratic Ukraine is our joint goal. Recovery and reforms are elements of what will be a strategic task for the coming years. Therefore, Germany will also host an international expert conference on reconstruction issues. Germany is also ready to host a conference on reforms in Ukraine in 2024 “, she said at the International Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine in Lugano (Switzerland) on Tuesday.
Schulze emphasized that the platform for the restoration of Ukraine should unite the Ukrainian government, all international partners and experts.
In addition, the minister stated that her government is committed to providing grants in the amount of EUR426 million in direct support to Ukraine.

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ACCORDING TO EUROPEAN COMMISSION, UKRAINE NEEDS MORE REFORMS TO IMPROVE COMPLIANCE WITH FATF STANDARDS

Ukraine’s anti-money laundering legislation partially complies with the standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and international legislation, but the recommendations of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Money Laundering Measures (Moneyval) still remain unfulfilled , says the European Commission.
“Further reforms are needed to improve Ukraine’s compliance with FATF standards, in particular those relating to virtual assets, ultimate beneficial ownership and supervision of non-banking enterprises and transactions,” the European Commission’s Opinion on Ukraine’s application for membership in the European Union states.
It states that for these reasons, Ukraine is still reporting to Moneyval in accordance with the enhanced control procedure.
The European Commission also pointed to the need for more progress in investigating and prosecuting major money laundering schemes.
“Establishing a comprehensive framework for combating financial crime and money laundering and ensuring its effective implementation is critical to addressing the significant risks they pose,” the Opinion notes.
With regard to the established National Agency of Ukraine for the identification, search and management of assets obtained from corruption and other crimes (ARMA), it is indicated that since the end of 2019 it has not had a permanent head.
“Legislation regarding the management of seized assets should be improved and an appropriate national strategy for the return of assets should be adopted,” the European Commission believes.

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U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE LISTS 5 KEY REFORMS IN UKRAINE

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has named five ways the Ukrainian government can develop the progress made and where the United States is ready to help Ukraine.
First. To adopt the draft law on reforming the High Council of Justice, followed by the law on the High Qualifications Commission of Judges. Together, these laws will ensure a transparent process for the selection of judges. Second. To ensure that the selection of the leadership of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office is transparent, credible and based on merit, Blinken said in a video message to participants of the Ukraine Reform Conference, which is taking place in Vilnius on Wednesday.
According to him, the third step is to pass a law on transparent corporate governance, which protects the independence of the supervisory board, CEOs and complies with the standards of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Blinken called the fourth step the adoption of legislation that demilitarizes, depoliticizes the Security Service of Ukraine, and leaves the work of combating corruption and combating organized crime to other government institutions created for this purpose.
And fifth. Bring corrupt officials to justice. A number of investigations have been carried out, but no senior official has been tried or convicted of corruption since 2014. People need to see that the system is working in order to believe in it, the Secretary of State said.

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VENICE COMMISSION PRESIDENT URGES TO ACCELERATE REFORMS IN UKRAINE

President of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) Gianni Buquicchio called for accelerating the reform of the judiciary in Ukraine, and also noted that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) should be “safeguarded at any cost.”
“The judiciary reform must be comprehensive. The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has been working on this reform in Ukraine for decades already, without real success,” Buquicchio said at the Democracy in Action: Zero Corruption Conference on Tuesday.
He stressed that the NABU must be safeguarded at any cost. “Because they have done a good job and they must continue to do their job,” the President of the Venice Commission said.
“Vetting the High Council of Justice and selecting new good members is a priority. The High Qualifications Commission is also a priority. But they two are interlinked, and I think it is much more important that the Council is vetted and reformed, in order to select good members of the High Qualifications Commission,” Buquicchio said.
According to him, the reform is also urgent, because Ukraine lacks 2,000 judges, and next year there will be another 1,700 judges who will retire by that time.
“This means that the judiciary will operate with half of its personnel. All these issues are urgent, and what I hope that the government and the parliament will do is to accelerate these reforms,” he said.

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