Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman, as chairman of the interagency Commission established this year to ensure adherence by law enforcement agencies to the rights and legitimate interests of individuals, expresses readiness to lead the movement towards the protection of honest business and also support honest law-enforcers who faithfully discharge their duties. The Head of Government said this at a regular meeting of the Commission.

Volodymyr Groysman emphasized that the protection of business interests is the basis of the adopted by the constitutional majority of the Verkhovna Rada members the law that obtained the ‘popular’ name ‘Stop Masks Show’ initiative. However, the provisions of this law are often violated - both by law enforcement officers and entrepreneurs who work in a shadow economy.

The meeting participants agreed by the next meeting to consider the causes of violations, to discuss specific cases faced by entrepreneurs. "Assessing the work of law enforcers by the number of complaints is rather misinformative. 90% entrepreneurs never complain. It is efficient to collect information about direct contacts, but at the same time apply for information to the SFS, SBU and the Prosecutor's Office with a request to provide quantitative indicators", suggested Volodymyr Groysman.

He once again highlighted that the response to illegal actions - both on the part of law enforcement officers and businessmen - will be stern.

"I express readiness to head a real fight for the protection of honest entrepreneurs. At present, business associations are preparing specific cases that require a reaction. It will be severe. And the reputation of our interagency Commission should be unrivaled", urged Volodymyr Groysman. "Let's speak loud about real problems. I demand more analytical data and clear targets".

Background

At the end of 2017, with the constitutional majority a government bill aimed to limit abuses committed against entrepreneurs was passed. It had been drafted jointly by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Office of the Business Ombudsman and other agencies.

Key innovations of the document are the inadmissibility and invalidity of the evidence obtained during the execution of a search decision avoiding video and audio recording. Similarly, the evidence obtained during a search when advocate was not allowed is considered invalid.

In March 2018, a special commission was set up to meet the requirements of this law. The commission comprises representatives of the business community in the first place.