Dear colleagues, dear Ukrainians!

We are starting a regular meeting of the Government.

This week, two extremely important events will take place in the sphere of Ukraine’s European integration. Firstly, on February 2, the first-ever intergovernmental consultations between the Government of Ukraine and the European Commission will take place. Secondly, the EU-Ukraine Summit will be held in Kyiv on February 3.

The fact that this Summit will be held in Kyiv is a powerful signal to both partners and enemies. To our partners, it is a message that Europe believes in Ukraine’s victory and supports our rapid movement towards EU membership. To our enemies, it is a message of the futility of their efforts to divide the coalition supporting Ukraine and stop our Euro-Atlantic integration.

First of all, we expect an interim positive assessment of our European integration efforts from the Summit. We want to formulate a detailed roadmap on how to go through the European integration process as quickly and successfully as possible – from assessing the work done after receiving candidate status to starting substantive negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.

In addition, the agenda of the EU-Ukraine Summit will include issues of sectoral integration of the Ukrainian economy into the European space. In particular, it is crucial for us to gain long-term access for all Ukrainian goods to the EU market without quotas and duties. We also hope for progress in Ukraine’s accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and in joining the single roaming area. The issue of “industrial visa-free regime” remains on our agenda.

Discussions on financial assistance to Ukraine for the rapid rebuilding of energy, infrastructure, and damaged housing will also be important. These are our priorities for 2023. Especially, when it comes to energy sector and energy efficiency.

Yesterday, Ukraine launched a large-scale program to exchange old incandescent lamps for LED lamps. This is an initiative of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, supported by the European Union. 30 million of these lamps have already been purchased by the EU, and another 5 million are expected to be delivered by France. We thank our partners for their support.

I would like to remind you that you can submit a preliminary application for the exchange via the Diia or simply exchange old lamps for new ones at Ukrposhta offices. Ukrainians have already ordered more than 300,000 energy-saving lamps for exchange through the Diia. Therefore, we are confident that the program will be successful.

As for today’s agenda. We have a decision on deregulation and improvement of the business climate in Ukraine. The Government has set up an Interagency Working Group on Accelerated Deregulation. It has already presented its first recommendations – to cancel 47 licenses and permits under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economy. These are the rules governing the export and import of goods, rules in the field of investment activity, intellectual property, and technical regulation.

Today, we are adopting a decree amending the action plan for deregulation and improvement of the business climate. We are adding more than 30 points to the list of simplifications. This concerns administrative procedures, transport, logistics and IT, healthcare and social services, the oil and gas sector and the environment, as well as the agricultural sector. Governmental decisions to implement this plan will be adopted throughout 2023.

Also today, the Government will approve amendments to the draft law on environmental impact assessment. With these changes, we aim to optimize the procedure. First, it will be fully digitized. Secondly, the timeframe for this procedure will be significantly reduced. And third, we are removing discretionary powers in decision-making, i.e. we are removing opportunities for abuse by officials. We are confident that businesses will positively evaluate these changes.

We are building a free economic space for investors to feel comfortable. After all, the private sector is the backbone of our economy, and it will become a key element of Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.

We are working with our partners to bring foreign investment back to Ukraine and encourage the private sector to participate in reconstruction projects. To this end, we are deregulating, privatizing, preparing public-private partnership projects, digitizing services, and introducing tax incentives for investors.

In fact, supporting Ukrainian business is one of the five priorities for rapid recovery. For this purpose, we allocate funds from the state budget and seek resources from international partners. Today we have agreed with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation that it will raise USD 250 million to support small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine.

Finally, I would like to say a few words about another important area of Government’s work – the social sphere. Today, we are approving the budget of the Mandatory State Unemployment Insurance Fund. Its expenditures will amount to almost UAH 17 billion. These are funds for payments to the unemployed, for compensation to employers for hiring IDPs, for partial unemployment compensation, and for microgrants to small entrepreneurs. Last year, we financed social expenditures in full. This year, we will also fulfill all our obligations.

We will continue to work, strengthen the Ukrainian front and rear, and bring victory closer!

Thank you for your attention! Glory to Ukraine!