Авторы публикации
ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DOMESTIC, FOREIGN POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC EVENTS OF THE WEEK
20.09.- 26.09.2021
CONTENT:
SUMMARY AND KEY TRENDS.
INTERNAL POLICY.
1. In the second reading, the law No. 5599 on de-oligarchization was adopted.
2. Adopted a law on preventing and combating anti-Semitism in Ukraine.
3. The assassination attempt on the first assistant to the president, Sergei Shefir. Possible consequences.
4. Sociology. Presidential and parliamentary ratings.
FOREIGN POLICY.
1. Speech by Vladimir Zelensky at the session of the UN General Assembly.
2. Aggravation of the migration crisis on the eastern borders of the EU.
3. The UN expressed concern about Ukraine's sanctions against opposition media.
ECONOMY.
1. Rada adopted amendments to labor legislation.
2. News of Ukraine's relations with the IMF.
3. News of the 2022 budget.
4. News from Naftogaz, Bureau of Economic Security, UZ and Centrenergo.
5. News of the "tax amnesty" and statements by Daniil Getmantsev.
SUMMARY AND KEY TRENDS.
Summing up the results of the week, we note the following:
First, the law on de-oligarchization, adopted this week, continues the government’s trend of “tightening the screws” - the suppression of the main political competitors. Along with this, the law will serve as a tool to redistribute the main economic and media assets in favor of the president's team. In general, the bill does not contain any serious consequences for the oligarchs, except for those representatives of big business who are in open political competition with the Office of the President.
Secondly, the assassination attempt on the first assistant to the president, Sergei Shefir, may serve as another reason for the further advancement of the trend towards “tightening the screws”. The incident strengthens the role of S. Shefir in the president's team.
Thirdly, this week's speech by Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the UN General Assembly session once again demonstrated how the pathetic speeches of the representatives of the domestic authorities are discordant with the real position of Ukraine in the modern system of international relations. In words, we have a lot of pretentious proposals for restructuring the UN and the entire system of international relations, but in fact, there is low interest in Ukraine in the international arena, the view of the main actors in world politics on it as a “problem”, as well as a lack of investment attractiveness.
Fourthly, Ukraine continues to gradually get rid of its social obligations to the population by adopting amendments to labor legislation, namely, the actual replacement of the Labor Code with labor contracts, where any working conditions and any material liability of employees can be spelled out. The social part of the budget for 2022 is stagnating, while spending on power structures traditionally grows.
INTERNAL POLICY.
Briefly:
The law on de-oligarchization, adopted this week, continues the trend of the authorities to “tighten the screws” - the suppression of the main political competitors. Along with this, the law will serve as a tool to redistribute the main economic and media assets in favor of the president's team. In general, the bill does not contain any serious consequences for the oligarchs, except for those representatives of big business who are in open political competition with the Office of the President.
Along with this, another reason for the further advancement of the trend for “tightening the screws” may be the assassination attempt on the first assistant to the president, Sergei Shefir. The incident strengthens the role of S. Shefir in the president's team.
1. In the second reading, the law No. 5599 on de-oligarchization was adopted.
On September 23, parliament adopted the presidential bill No. 5599 "On the prevention of threats to national security associated with the excessive influence of persons with significant economic or political weight in public life (oligarchs)" in the second reading and in general. 279 parliamentarians voted for. "Servant of the people" - 229, "For the future" - 18 "Trust" - 15, "Golos" - 11. People's deputies from "Eurosolidarity" - 23 and "OPZZh" - 20 were mainly opposed. 1.3 thousand amendments. However, in the second reading, the document was considered under an accelerated procedure.
As we wrote earlier, the criteria for defining "oligarchs" are presented in the law rather vaguely and can be applied selectively. As a result, the norms of the law can be challenged in courts. According to the document, a person belongs to oligarchs if at least 3 of 4 criteria meet: participation in political life, significant influence on the media, control or ownership of a monopoly, assets worth about 2.3 billion hryvnia. Oligarchs from the register will be required to submit an electronic declaration on an equal basis with officials. Also, oligarchs and civil servants will have to report on contacts with each other.
For a person to be struck off the register, he must stop falling under at least two signs of an oligarch. If the oligarch withdraws the criteria, he submits an application to the NSDC, which may be followed by exclusion from the register. This state of affairs will force big business to make various behind-the-scenes agreements with the authorities in order not to be included in this list.
In general, the law on de-oligarchization continues the trend of the authorities to “tighten the screws” - to suppress the main political competitors. Along with this, the law will serve as a tool for the redistribution of the main economic and media assets in favor of the president's team. The bill does not contain serious consequences for the oligarchs. Especially for those representatives of big business who will be loyal to Bankova. Rather, it acts as a means of discrediting influential persons who do not participate in political processes on the side of the current government. The law does not contain any mechanisms for the confiscation of their property or bringing them to legal responsibility.
In essence, this law is about the interception of financial flows, control over the media and political parties by the NSDC / OP team. That is, about reducing political competition, restricting freedom of speech in Ukraine. From a legal point of view, the law is "dead" - its provisions in the legal field will remain, in the main, a declaration.
The day after the adoption of the law, the head of the Golos faction, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, announced that the bill on oligarchs would be re-voted, "since a legal collision arose." Three (396, 398, 406) amendments were taken into account in the law, which contradict each other. Amendment 398 of the Head of the Verkhovna Rada, Dmitry Razumkov, provides that the head of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPK) will enter the person in the register of oligarchs at the request of a special commission. Amendments 396 and 406 indicate that the NSDC will deal with this issue. Here it can be noted that the speaker is once again acting contrary to the line of Bankova, according to which the NSDC should act as the main regulator of all issues. In fact, D. Razumkov is strengthening his position by involving Western partners in the process. Now, given the existence of mutually exclusive amendments, the procedure for the entry into force of the law will be delayed in time.
2. Adopted a law on preventing and combating anti-Semitism in Ukraine.
On September 22, the parliament adopted draft law No. 5109 "On Preventing and Countering Anti-Semitism in Ukraine." 283 people's deputies voted for the document, 40 abstained - 33 did not vote. 6 deputies voted against; one from the party "European Solidarity" - Vladimir Vyatrovich and 5 deputies from the party "Golos". It is significant that no one voted for this bill from these parties.
People's Deputy from European Solidarity and former director of the Institute of National Remembrance Volodymyr Vyatrovich, People's Deputy Irina Gerashchenko and People's Deputy from Golos Solomiya Bobrovskaya criticized the law, insisting that its adoption would allow Russia to use the topic of anti-Semitism in its propaganda against Ukraine.
It is possible that opponents of the law fear that now, under this law, they may prosecute supporters of honoring the OUN-UPA.
In this regard, the actions of some representatives of the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly provoked the outrage of the ambassadors of Israel and Poland in Ukraine. Which in January 2020 issued a joint statement and called the celebration of the supporters of ethnic cleansing offensive.
Probably, one of the ways for the authorities to distance themselves from such accusations of foreign colleagues is the law on preventing and combating anti-Semitism. Along with this, the document is used as a PR tool on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Babi Yar tragedy, when on September 29-30, 1941, almost 34 thousand Jews and representatives of other nationalities were shot on the outskirts of Kiev.
Many researchers, in particular, Canadian historian of Ukrainian origin John-Paul Khimka and professor of history at Lund University Per Anders Rudling believe that both wings of the OUN under the leadership of Stepan Bandera and Andrey Melnik supported the massacres of Jews, Poles, Russians and were involved in the Holocaust.
Now, in the adopted document "On Preventing and Countering Anti-Semitism in Ukraine", the definition of anti-Semitism as "attitude towards persons of Jewish origin expressed in hatred towards them" is approved, which is based on the working definition of anti-Semitism formulated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and recommended by the European parliament for use in EU member states.
It should be noted that the adoption of this law is unlikely to somehow affect the curbing of manifestations of anti-Semitism in practice. The legal framework for punishing such crimes existed before. Thus, Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Violation of the equality of citizens depending on their race, nationality, religious beliefs, disability and other grounds” allows criminal prosecution, including for manifestations of anti-Semitism. The issue of its application or not application in the case of each separately taken offense is exclusively a matter of political will, and not “imperfection of the legislative base”.
In this regard, the adoption of a separate law on punishment for anti-Semitism should be perceived, first of all, as a PR move by the authorities, aimed at covering up real problems in this area on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the tragic events in Babi Yar.
3. The assassination attempt on the first assistant to the president, Sergei Shefir. Possible consequences.
On September 22, near Kiev, an attempt was made on the life of the assistant to the President of Ukraine, Serhiy Shefir. His car was fired upon from a machine gun. The assistant himself was not injured, the driver was injured.
The police are considering three main versions of the attempt: in connection with Shefir's state activities, to put pressure on the top leadership of Ukraine, to destabilize the political situation in the country. Including the version about the involvement of foreign special services is being considered.
The President's Office said that the attack on Shefir could be qualified as an attempted murder of a key member of the team in connection with the fight against the oligarchs. Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not know who is behind the assassination attempt on his first assistant Sergei Shefir, but in his video message from New York he promised a "strong response."
The incident itself caused many questions and speculation from the public. Basically, all the versions put forward in the media and on social networks can be reduced to three main ones.
According to the first version, people from the president's team tried to kill Shefir. In particular, the media called the name of the head of the office of the Ukrainian president, Andriy Yermak. According to journalists, there is a struggle between them for influence on V. Zelensky. The second version is related to the fact that S. Shefir is V. Zelensky's financial attorney. In addition, S. Shefir is a mediator in negotiations between the oligarchs and Zelensky. In the light of his activities, it can be assumed that the assassination attempt was a warning or revenge for the business taken from someone. Supporters of the third version say that there was no assassination attempt, but was simply a staging in order to create a loud informational occasion.
In any case, the very fact of the assassination attempt on the presidential aide will positively affect the ratings of Zelensky's team and give another reason for the authorities to "tighten the screws." Because now they are confronted not only by “opponents'', but by “terrorists”, against whom it is necessary to act especially harshly. Along with this, unpopular / controversial decisions will be pushed to strengthen the role of the NSDC, new sanctions, "work" on the media, and so on.
In addition, the incident strengthens the role of S. Shefir in the president's team. There are versions that there are serious problems between him and the leadership of the OP, and S. Shefir allegedly even intended to resign. Now it will be simply indecent to dismiss him as a victim of an assassination attempt in the near future.
4. Sociology. Presidential and parliamentary ratings.
On September 23, the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) published the presidential and parliamentary ratings.
We drew attention to the fact that KIIS in dynamics compares the new presidential rating with data that have not been published earlier, namely from June 1-7, 2021.
In parallel, we compared the new presidential rating with the rating that was published by the KIIS last from May 27 to June 1, 2021.
In this case, the dynamics of the ratings is somewhat different.
We also compared the values of the new parliamentary rating of KIIS with the rating that was published last from July 24 to August 1.
The following continues to lead in the presidential rating:
V. Zelensky - 33.3% of the respondents. In comparison with the data provided by KIIS for June 1-7, 2021, the president's rating increased by + 2.7%. Compared to published data + 6%. This is followed by:
P. Poroshenko - 16.8% (-0.6%). Compared to published data + 2.2%.
Yulia Tymoshenko - 10.3% (-2.4%). Compared to published data (-1.6%).
Yuri Boyko - 9.5% (-1.1%). Compared to published data + 0.3%.
I. Smeshko - 8.7% (+ 0.6%). Compared to published data (-0.8%).
E. Muraev - 6.4% (+ 0.9%). Compared to published data + 0.7%.
The leader in the parliamentary rating is:
"Servant of the people" - 20.0%. In comparison with the data provided by KIIS for June 1-7, 2021. the party's rating did not change significantly (-0.3%). In comparison with the published data, the dynamics are practically the same. It should be noted that the Servant of the People rating is stable and has not actually changed since the second half of April. This is followed by:
European Solidarity - 17.4% (-1.1%). Compared to published data (+ 3.2%).
“HLE” - 11.6% (-0.3%). Compared to published data (-6.7%).
"Fatherland" - 10.8% (-1.2%). Compared to published data (-5.2%).
“Strength and Honor” -7.8% (+ 0.6%). Compared to published data (+ 1.5%).
"Opposition bloc" -5.5% (+ 1.3%). No data was released in the previous survey.
O. Lyashko's radical party - 5% (+ 0.8%). Compared to published data (+ 1%).
"Ukrainian strategy of Groisman" - 5% (+ 0.8%). Compared to published data (+ 03%).
The results of the KIIS poll indicate that V. Zelensky is still holding the lead in the presidential race. At the same time, Servant of the People's ratings remain stable and have not shown much growth since the second half of April 2021.
Attention is drawn to the sharp and significant drop in the ratings of "OPZZH" (-6.7%) and "Batkivshchyna" (-5.2%). In early August it was 18.3% and 16%, respectively. At the same time, in the dynamics that the KIIS cites for some reason since June 2021 (the last rating of the parties was published at the beginning of August 2021), this gap cannot be traced.
FOREIGN POLICY.
Briefly:
Vladimir Zelensky's speech this week at the UN General Assembly session once again demonstrated how the pathetic speeches of the representatives of the domestic authorities are discordant with the real position of Ukraine in the modern system of international relations. In words, we have a lot of pretentious proposals for restructuring the UN and the entire system of international relations, but in fact, there is low interest in Ukraine in the international arena, the view of the main actors in world politics on it as a “problem”, as well as a lack of investment attractiveness.
The disclosure of some details of the murder of the Iranian physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh by the Israeli intelligence service, as well as the fact that Donald Trump personally sanctioned him, once again demonstrated the power and influence of the American and pro-American liberal media on world politics. If something like that became known about the president of another country (be it the Russian Federation, China, Iran, etc.), the media community would have gone to him in a real "war". And when such orders are given by an American leader, in the "mainstream" media it is presented as something "due." Over time, the US dominance in the global media space will collapse, following its military and economic dominance.
1. Speech by Vladimir Zelensky at the session of the UN General Assembly.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy again made a voyage abroad this week. This time - in order to speak at the session of the UN General Assembly on September 22.
And although his trip was unexpectedly overshadowed by the news of the assassination attempt on his closest associate and adviser, the first deputy head of the President's Office, Serhiy Shefir, the president did not return to Ukraine on an emergency basis.
At the beginning of his speech at the General Assembly, the Ukrainian president traditionally recalled that Ukraine is one of the founding states of the organization, but today the founders of the UN would be shocked to see the words "to ensure the rights of all peoples" in the theme of the General Assembly. "They would say: what have you been doing all these 75 years?" - stressed the President of Ukraine.
"The answer was given by COVID-19. We played a game of equality and unity, where it is one thing to share common goals, the other is to share vaccines ... We are all human, we are all in the same boat, but the first class passengers will receive lifeboats first." , - said Zelensky.
According to Zelensky, the world "failed the test of unity" on the 20th anniversary of the UN Durban Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Now, according to him, drugs have become a weapon of discrimination.
"The guarantees that there will be no new viruses in the world are as 'strong' as the security guarantees of the Budapest Memorandum," Zelensky said.
He stressed that Ukraine has never "fallen asleep", because it is difficult to do it to the sound of gunfire and explosions in Donbas for the eighth year in a row. Almost 15,000 people have died in the armed conflict. “This is the price of freedom and independence,” the president said.
He suggested that in order to "revive the UN", it should become more mobile, the members of the organization should meet there, "where you can really hear, see the problems." There are thousands of hot spots in the world, Zelensky said.
"If everyone who has influence sincerely supported the peace-loving efforts of the world community, rockets would not explode on Afghan soil today, automatic rounds would not terrorize the civilian population," Zelensky quoted the first president of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk.
He said that Ukraine has demonstrated its loyalty to the basic principles of the UN by evacuating almost 700 citizens of different countries from Afghanistan. True, the president chose to remain silent about the scandalous story with the sale of the Ukrainian evacuation flight to wealthy Afghans …
According to him, the same dedication to principles was demonstrated by 46 states that took part in the Crimean platform. "And the fact that the UN ignored the platform for solving the problems of international law and occupation is some new principles that have not been approved by anyone. And if we want to revive the UN, let's remember that there are no chosen ones who cannot be offended," he stressed. Zelensky.
He invited all UN countries to join the joint declaration of the participants of the Crimean platform, quote "condemning the occupation and showing that you are against the forceful change of borders in the world."
Zelensky stressed that today no one in the world can feel safe, no one "can hide behind international law like a stone wall."
Then he quoted in Russian an excerpt from the famous "Munich speech" of Vladimir Putin that ignoring international law could lead to the collapse of the entire architecture of international relations.
According to Zelenskiy, the leaders of states lack courage because they act not as leaders, but as politicians who leave a path of escape for themselves.
He expressed confidence that the Crimean platform should work under the auspices of the UN, "and if every nation has an effective platform approved by the UN and will solve problems 24/7, it will revive the UN."
According to the Ukrainian president, the founders of the UN could not have imagined that the mechanism of the veto in the UN Security Council "will become an instrument when one can blackmail everyone."
The above speech by V. Zelensky at the UN General Assembly session clearly demonstrates the contrast between the painfully overstated self-esteem of the Ukrainian authorities and the real place of our country in the modern system of international relations.
During the speech of Vladimir Zelensky, only a few dozen people were present in the hall. This perfectly demonstrates that the ambitious ideas of the Ukrainian leadership concerning, no less than how "to reorganize the UN, and with it the whole world", are of little interest. This is because today's Ukraine is an economically and politically weak state that has completely lost its investment attractiveness. The world looks at it as a problem that one wants to brush aside. And the president at this time makes pretentious speeches.
If not for the assassination attempt on Sergei Shefir, which interrupted all other topics in the Ukrainian information space for several days, the PR specialists of the President's Office would feed the electorate for a couple of weeks with fables about the "dizzying success of Zelensky's visit to the UN General Assembly session."
2. Aggravation of the migration crisis on the eastern borders of the EU.
In Europe, a month after the inglorious end of the American military presence in Afghanistan, there is talk of a new migration crisis.
As CNN writes, four people have died on the Polish-Belarusian border in recent days amid accusations that the Belarusian government is sending migrants to the eastern border of the European Union in response to Western sanctions.
According to the Polish authorities, three people were found dead on the Polish side of the border after hypothermia. The fourth person was found dead in Belarus, one meter from the border, according to the Belarusian state news agency Belta.
In recent weeks, more and more migrants have been illegally crossing the Polish border from Belarus. According to the Polish Interior Ministry, in August alone, 3,000 people - many from Afghanistan and Iraq - attempted to illegally enter Poland.
At a press conference on Monday, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said one of the victims discovered on Sunday was an Iraqi citizen who died near the Lithuanian border in the village of Frutski, Poland.
Kaminski said the Iraqi citizen and two other victims found in Poland were taken to the Polish border by Belarusian border guards before the Polish border authorities told them that crossing them was illegal.
This is not the first time Poland has accused Belarus of sending migrants to its border. In an August joint statement, the prime ministers of Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, which also border Belarus, accused President Alexander Lukashenko of systematically organizing the ongoing refugee crisis, "illegal" sending refugees and migrants to the EU's external border, which they described as a "hybrid attack "against the whole block.
The leaders said they will accept all refugees crossing the border, but will demand from the EU "possible new restrictive measures to prevent further illegal immigration."
However, Poland in Europe has been heavily criticized for its attitude towards migrants. The country began to build a barbed wire fence to restrict illegal migration, and Polish President Andrzej Duda declared a 30-day state of emergency on the border with Belarus in early September. Such a tough attitude towards unwanted “guests from southern countries” irritates the Brussels bureaucracy, as it goes against the dogmas of liberal ideology.
Commenting on this situation, it should be noted that if Poland and the Baltic countries had not tried to organize a coup d'etat in neighboring Belarus last year, the Lukashenka regime would have become their wall on the path of Afghan refugees. However, Warsaw and Vilnius decided to show geopolitical ambitions, as a result of which they got problems at the border and a new reason for condemnation from the liberal European bureaucracy.
3. The UN expressed concern about Ukraine's sanctions against opposition media.
On September 23, it became known that the UN Human Rights Mission is concerned about sanctions in Ukraine against the opposition media. As the head of the mission, Matilda Bogner, said at her briefing, they were not accepted by independent authorities.
Further quote:
“The office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is concerned that these decisions do not meet international standards on the right to freedom of expression, since they were not adopted by independent authorities and failed to prove the proportionality of these restrictions.”
The media and their supporters who fell under the sanctions of the NSDC hastened to disseminate this news, positioning it as “growing condemnation of the repressive methods of work of the current Ukrainian government by international institutions”.
However, in this case we are only dealing with “expressions of concern”, which will not have any real consequences. The UN Human Rights Mission has no leverage over the Ukrainian government. The leaders of the United States, Britain, as well as the International Monetary Fund have those, but their policy of Kiev to suppress the opposition media is quite satisfactory.
ECONOMY
Briefly:
Ukraine continues to gradually get rid of its social obligations to the population by adopting changes to labor legislation, namely, the actual replacement of the Labor Code with labor contracts, where any working conditions and any material liability of employees can be spelled out. The social part of the budget for 2022 is stagnating, while spending on power structures traditionally grows.
The IMF monitors the state of the NBU and anti-corruption bodies, recalling the immunity of these structures from interference by the Ukrainian authorities.
1. Rada adopted amendments to labor legislation.
On September 21, the parliament approved in the first reading the bill # 5388, or, as it was dubbed in the profile environment, "the law on quick dismissals."
The main innovation - the Labor Code, in fact, is being replaced by labor contracts. They will begin to prescribe everything - from the mode of work and the grounds for dismissals to weekends and holidays.
Individual labor contracts with conditions are still in place. But, as Natalia Zemlyanskaya, the leader of the trade union of industrial workers, entrepreneurs and labor migrants, says, if the points spelled out in them worsen the working conditions of a person, in comparison with those spelled out in the Labor Code, such an agreement may be invalidated. Labor contracts were allowed to be made short-term - up to five years, which will significantly simplify layoffs and allow employers to constantly keep staff in a "suspended" state. For example, they want to remove the provision that dismissals must be coordinated with the trade unions from the current legislation.
The hired personnel were allowed to hang material liability in unlimited amounts. Now only the amount of the average earnings can be collected from the employee, but, according to the new project, the amount can be any. The existence of such contracts is also provided for in the current Labor Code, but labor laws still have greater force than the clauses of individual labor agreements.
2. News of Ukraine's relations with the IMF.
On September 22, Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko met with the head of the IMF European Department, Ivanna Gollar. They discussed the implementation of structural "beacons" within the framework of the cooperation program and issues that still remain, in particular, ensuring the independence of the NBU and anti-corruption bodies. The IMF does not hide its interest in very specific things - its influence on the NBU and anti-corruption bodies (NABU, SAP, and so on). Thus, the IMF influences the macroeconomic performance of Ukraine and the controllability of the Ukrainian ruling class - two tools that ensure the inability of the Ukrainian ruling class to resist. On September 23, despite the open interest of the IMF in the adoption of the "tax" bill 5600, he was excluded from the agenda in the Verkhovna Rada.
On the same day, Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko said in an interview with Interfax Ukraine that the Ministry of Finance had converted 1 billion SDRs out of 1.9 billion SDRs received as part of the IMF distribution into dollars and euros in order to redeem Eurobonds on September 29 The $ 1 billion Eurobonds, which are expected to be redeemed in September, were issued 5 years ago under US guarantees. Commenting on the proceeds from the IMF of $ 2.9 billion included in the draft state budget for 2022 to finance the deficit, he noted that this amount includes tranches under the current stand by program, which the government expects to continue.
Ukraine is using the IMF's coronavirus tranche to pay off 5-year-old debts. In this paradigm, there can be no question of investing such funds in the construction of large enterprises that would produce products with high added value. Ukraine will continue to use new loans to repay old ones.
3. News of the 2022 budget.
On September 15, the Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko presented the draft budget for 2022. It does not include investment in the construction of new large enterprises for the production of products with high added value. The increase in the minimum wage is provided for 200 hryvnia. The living wage remained unchanged. The dollar exchange rate is expected at 28.6 hryvnia. Expenditures for security officials are predictably growing. As of September 24, it is unclear in which version the bill 5600 will vote in the second reading, because on September 23 it was removed from the agenda of the Verkhovna Rada.
4. News from Naftogaz, Bureau of Economic Security, UZ and Centrenergo.
On September 21, a message about changes in the composition of the supervisory board of the enterprise appeared on the website of Ukrzaliznytsia. The Cabinet of Ministers did not renew contracts with the head of the supervisory board of Ukrzaliznytsia Shevka Ajuner and members of the council Sergei Leshchenko, Andreas Mathieu and Oleg Zhuravlev. The decision to terminate their powers was made by the Cabinet of Ministers on the basis of its order in June 2021, according to which the powers of the listed members of the Supervisory Board were extended for a period not exceeding 3 months from the date of entry into force of the order. The next day, Sergei Leshchensko was resumed as a member of the supervisory board.
On September 22, the Verkhovna Rada at a meeting supported the amendment to the law of Ukraine "On the Bureau of Economic Security" and postponed the deadline for launching the body by 2 months - until the end of November. Difficulties may be associated with organizational difficulties, since the launch of the BEB implies the elimination of the tax police and the SFS. Unlike the 2015 police reform, the reform of the SFS and the tax police is not ideological, but purely financial. These two structures continued to function after 2014, but the BEB is needed to strengthen the course for total fiscalization.
On September 22, the Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Oleg Nemchinov, at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, said that five state thermal power plants and central plants would become part of the authorized capital of Naftogaz by May 1, 2022. The order was given to the Ministry of Economy in cooperation with the State Property Fund and NJSC Naftogaz. We are talking about the Kherson and Dneprovskaya TPPs, as well as the Kryvyi Rih, Odessa, Nikolaevskaya TPPs and the Severodonetskaya TPP.
The TPP was excluded from the list of objects of large-scale privatization, but at the same time, in the future, the management structure of NJSC Naftogaz will continue to be reformed within the framework of the OECD corporate governance principles.
On September 22, the Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting adopted an order to conduct an audit by the State Audit Service in Naftogaz and the group's enterprises for 2017-2021. Within and around Naftogaz, a multilevel activity is underway to reformat the architecture of power over the enterprise. On September 21, Naftogaz Chief Executive Officer Otto Waterlander confirmed that he had written a letter to the company's Supervisory Board, in which he noted that he “no longer feels that he can work effectively” and intends to leave the company.
On September 16, the shareholders of PJSC "Centrenergo" at an extraordinary meeting elected a new composition of the Supervisory Board. In particular, the shareholders terminated the powers of the deputy head of the supervisory board Olesya Shevchuk and members of Polina Andrienko, Mikhail Gorban and Mikhail Stoletny. At the same time, Denis Kudin was re-elected as a member of the Supervisory Board (the representative of the shareholder - the State Property Fund, since May 2021 - the first deputy head of the SPF). The supervisory board also includes Andrei Gota, Alexander Muzhel, Valery Shchekaturov and Valery Bezlepkin. It is noted that Gotu was elected as a representative of the shareholder. Since December 2020, he has worked in the Office of the President as the Chief of the Cabinet of the Head of the Office of the President.
5. News of the "tax amnesty" and statements by Daniil Getmantsev.
On September 21, the Chairman of the Tax Committee, Danil Getmantsev, in an interview with Hromadske, once again stressed that the tax amnesty is designed to “shade” capital with unexplained origin.
Therefore, the authorities are not going to demand any proof of the origin of the funds from the participants in the amnesty. By these means, the person is released from any liability for violation of the law. The IRS cannot reassess. The government offers the maximum amount of "carrots" to lure people to participate in the tax amnesty, because there will be no turning back. As of September 21, within the framework of the "tax amnesty", more than 30 million hryvnias of assets have already been submitted for declaration, payments of which have been received for 1.5 million hryvnias.
Edited by:
Ruslan Bortnik,
Daniil Bogatyrev.
Authors:
Daniil Bogatyrev,
Oksana Krasovskaya,
Andrey Timchenko.
