Ukrainian president signs law reducing pressure on businesses

The Ukrainian parliament approved the law on September 18.

The document, in particular, decriminalizes fictitious business. The adopted law excludes Article 205 from the Criminal Code, according to which criminal penalties were imposed for the creation or acquisition of business entities for the purpose of covering illegal activities or carrying out prohibited activities.

Fictitious entrepreneurship was punishable by a fine of 30,000 to 60,000 non-taxable minimum incomes, i.e. from UAH 510,000 to UAH 1.02 million, a six-month arrest or up to two years in prison. An offense committed again was punishable by a fine of 50,000 to 100,000 non-taxable minimum incomes (from UAH 850,000 to UAH 1.7 million).

The law also provides for an increase in the amount of actual non-receipt of taxes, fees and other mandatory payments to the budget to establish the presence of signs of criminal offenses under Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The law was drafted by a group of people's deputies from the Servant of the People faction. The president defined it as urgent.

This law enters into force the next day after its publication in the next issue of the parliament's Holos Ukrainy newspaper.

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