On April 4, 2016 a round table discussion “What is the National Bank of Ukraine for Ukrainian exporters: Partner or Hindrance” was held at UKRINFORM. The main topic was the policy of currency regulation by National Bank of Ukraine, which is considered to be an obstacle for promotion of Ukrainian exports to the EU, using the example of Poland.
Organizers of the round table discussion:
- Ukrainian Business Association in Poland,
- Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce,
- International Society of Polish Entrepreneurs,
- “Business” weekly.
Ukrainian enterprises exporting their products and services to the EU through the establishment of trading houses in the EU, in particular in Poland, recently feel pressure from the specialized units of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Managing partner of the International Legal Center EUCON Yaroslav Romanchuk explained the legal aspects of the situation and the groundlessness of the problem.
The representatives of Ukrainian business in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine submitted to the National Bank of Ukraine coordinated packages of documents in order to obtain individual licenses according to the Instruction on the procedure of issuing individual licenses for investment abroad, approved by the National Bank of Ukraine of 16.03.1999 № 122.
Since November 2015, the Registration and Licensing Department of the National Bank of Ukraine, which is responsible for processing the documents and issuing individual licenses, has been refusing to issue licenses and suspending reviews of the documents. Moreover, investors, who have previously obtained licenses, were sent warning letters regarding the initiation of cancellation of previously issued licenses.
The reason for such actions was non-recognition as official of the documents certifying the establishment of a business partnership in Poland through online registration (using the official Polish tele-information system). In this case, the National Bank of Ukraine believes that paragraph 2 of Article 15 of the Agreement between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil and Criminal Matters of 24 May 1993 can’t be applied.
Ukrainian business representatives explained the situation through specific cases. Details in the video:
As a result of the event, it was decided to sign a collective letter to the Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine with copies to the President of Ukraine, the Chairman of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Business Ombudsman, asking, in particular, to stop unreasonable pressure on Ukrainian exporters and investors, to suspend from duty the Acting Director of the Registration and Licensing Department of the National Bank of Ukraine Oleksandr Kyrychenko and to create a working group on this issue.
Mass media about the event:
Moderator: Volodymyr Chepovyy – editor-in-chief of “Business” weekly.
Participants:
Bartosz Musyalovych – Head of Trade and Investment Promotion Section of the Embassy of Poland in Ukraine
Piotr Tsiarkovski – President of the International Society of Polish Entrepreneurs in Ukraine
Oleg Dubish – Vice President of the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce
Ireneusz Derek – Vice-President of the Ukrainian Business Association in Poland
Yaroslav Romanchuk – Managing Partner of the International Legal Center EUCON
Oleksandr Savchenko – President of the International Institute of Business, Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine (1991-1992)
Vadim Sen – Chairman of the Board at SenV Group (investor)
Sergey Mikulytskyy – Chairman of the Board at TORREX
Oleksandr Stepura – director of Karbon Invest
Oleksandr Hromyko – presedent of the Association of Producers
Oleh Rachuk – President of the Ukrainian Bar Association
Yuriy Prozorov – President of the Ukrainian Society of Financial Analysts
Dmitry Derevyanko – main coordinator of “Business Coalition”
Irina Plotnikova – Executive Director of the Association of Producers
Volodymyr Ratushniak – Chairman of the Ukrainian Bar Association
Ihor Nikolyn – Executive Director of the Association of Industrial Parks
Yuriy Gusiev – column editor at “Business” weekly
Andriy Zablovskyy – Head of the Council of Entrepreneurs Secretariat under the Cabinet of Ministers
Liubov Suknenko – executive director of the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers