The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine proposes to cancel the permits of local councils for the construction of land reclamation systems, as well as the approval by the State Fisheries Agency for construction or other works in the waters of seaports. The relevant provisions are contained in the draft amendments to the legislation approved by the Government at a meeting on 24 May 2024 as part of the deregulation reform.
"We continue to work on implementing the recommendations of the Interagency Working Group on Deregulation. The Government has supported the draft law that cancels outdated and irrelevant regulatory instruments. In particular, this includes the permission of village, township, and local councils to build reclamation systems. At present, such construction is carried out in accordance with general rules and requirements, which require businesses to obtain a general construction permit granted free of charge by the state architectural and construction control authority. Therefore, the need to obtain additional permits from local authorities only puts an additional burden on business and increases corruption risks. We propose to remove this from the legislation," explained Deputy Minister of Economy Oleksiy Sobolev.
In addition, the bill proposes to improve the legislation on fisheries, commercial fishing and protection of aquatic bioresources. In particular, it cancels the State Fisheries Agency's approval for construction or any other work on the territory and waters of a fishing seaport. According to Oleksiy Sobolev, this provision is also outdated, as there are no requirements for the provision of such a service in the legislative field.
The draft law approved by the Government was developed by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food jointly with experts from the Better Regulation Delivery Office following consideration of the relevant issues by the Deregulation Working Group. The document will come into force after its adoption by the Verkhovna Rada, signing by the President of Ukraine and publication.
As a reminder, the Interagency Working Group on Accelerated Review of State Regulatory Instruments for Economic Activity was established by the Government on 13 January 2023. The working group, co-chaired by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko, comprises representatives of the Ministries of Economy, Digital Transformation, Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Justice, Finance, and the Regulatory Service.
Experts from the Better Regulation Delivery Office, the Centre for Economic Recovery, the Centre for Economic Strategy, and EasyBusiness are also involved in the work of the IWG. The activity is supported by the USAID Competitive Economy of Ukraine Programme and the European Union under the EU4busines project: SME Policies and Institutions Support (SMEPIS) project, implemented by Ecorys in consortium with GIZ, BRDO and Civitta, USAID/UKAid Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services (TAPAS) project.
During its work, the IWG has already reviewed more than 1300 regulatory instruments for business, 456 of which were recommended for cancellation and 584 for simplification. So far, more than 100 instruments have been cancelled.
As a reminder, the deregulation reform website deregulation.me.gov.ua has a dashboard that showcases the progress and achievements of the reform.