Editor’s note: This is issue 69 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak’s weekly “Ukrainian Economy in Brief” newsletter, covering events from Aug. 12- Aug. 18, 2024. The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial programs.
The Kyiv Independent is republishing with permission.
Benchmarks and soft commitments in the memorandum with the IMF
Draft laws on increasing taxes and defense expenditure were postponed until the beginning of September.
In August, Ukraine's Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will not consider draft law #11416 on increasing budget spending on defense and draft law #11417 on increasing taxes. The Verkhovna Rada will consider both draft laws in the first reading during the meetings scheduled for Sept. 3-5 along with several other draft laws for meeting requirements of international financial programs.
In August, parliament will consider in the second reading a draft law to restore medium-term local budgets.
This week, plenary meetings scheduled for Aug. 20-22 in the Verkhovna Rada will consider in the second reading draft law #11131 with amendments to the Budget Code to restore medium-term planning of local budgets. This step is among Ukraine’s intentions fixed in the Memorandum with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
As we reported in Issue 63, the draft law restores medium-term planning of local budgets except for Russian occupied territories or war zones, expands opportunities to use remaining funds, gives right for local councils to provide a financial guarantee for refinancing previously taken loans upon agreement with the Finance Ministry, allows local authorities not to apply the provisions of the Budget Code regarding the total volume of local debt for another 6 years until 2030.
Liliane Bivings
World Bank priorities
Draft laws on customs reform and ratings are ready for the second reading.
The working groups finalized draft law #6590-d on customs reform and #5819 on regulating rating agencies for the second reading. Both texts have been already checked by the legal team. The Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Services has to consider it at the meeting at the end-August. The parliament will vote on the draft laws in the final reading during the plenary week scheduled for Sept. 3-5.
Lawmakers submitted a package of draft laws on state bank privatization.
Danylo Hetmantsev, the Chair of the Tax Committee, and other lawmakers submitted to the Verkhovna Rada draft law #11474 to address the issue of privatization of the state banks and corresponding amendments to the Civil Code (draft law #11475) and the Criminal Procedure Code (draft law #11476) of Ukraine. The Tax Committee will consider the main draft law #11474 at the end of August so that the parliament can vote for it in the first reading during the plenary week scheduled for Sept. 3-5.
The Government approved a new draft law on public procurements.
On Aug. 16, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a new draft law on public procurements. The new text is a requirement of the EU and the World Bank and makes changes particularly to address issues related to the war such as establishing the definition of the veteran’s enterprise or banning procurements from several states such as Russia, Belarus, or Iran.
Moreover, the draft law regulates procurement procedures and simplified procurements, procurements for small amounts (less than 200 hryvnias) and the opportunity for the government to design standard contracts to make some procurements easier.
The draft law was soon to be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada.
It’s crucial for this draft law to include provisions which require state-owned enterprises to publish estimates of procurements. Moreover, we will insist on returning almost all wartime exclusions from the responsibility of the Cabinet of Ministers to the level of law.
Abbey Fenbert
