Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman initiates a special commission to ensure compliance with the requirements of the legislation on business protection and the responsibility of controlling bodies for excessive pressure on entrepreneurs be set up. The Head of Government voiced such an initiative during the Government sitting.

He emphasized that the commission would comprise representatives of business circles in the first place, therefore each case of squeeze on business would be discussed on air.

"During the streamed event we will unravel the scammers in uniforms, who, despite the fact that their offshoots are in the field, parasitize and demand bribes," the Head of Government said.

He stressed that the Government respects investigators inquiring into serious crimes, the National Guard, the combat units, but condemns those who inside the system "besmirch the insignia and claim bribes from entrepreneurs."

"We shall put an end to this," the Head of Government said, "It is crucial to end the anarchy. We will publicly defend our honest businesses. I will retaliate against anyone trying to conceal criminals."

Background

In September of 2017, a large meeting was summoned with the participation of the President of Ukraine, the Prime Minister, MPs and the leadership of the General Prosecutor's Office. One of the initiatives proclaimed during the meeting was the ‘Mask Show Stop’ initiative, designed to put an end to any manifestations of pressure by law enforcement agencies on entrepreneurs. The Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman urged the pressure on honest business, that abides by law in activities, pays taxes, creates product and provides jobs, is unacceptable.

The dialogue continued with the bill on counteraction to pressure on business, developed jointly by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Business Ombudsman Office and other agencies. The draft law was backed with a record number of votes in Parliament - over 300 MPs supported it.

Key innovations of the document are the inadmissibility and invalidity of the evidence obtained during the execution of a search decision made without technical record. Similarly, evidence obtained during a search for which a defender was not allowed are considered incompetent.

Apart from that, the document stipulates for the compulsory audio and video recording of the search. The evidence obtained during the search and not recorded via technical means is considered incompetent and invalid. It is banned to remove the originals of financial and economic documents, computer equipment, servers and mobile phones belonging to business entities. The more so, when criminal proceedings have been terminated it is prohibited to initiate legal proceedings again. At the same time, the bill ensures a reasonable time for criminal proceedings. In particular, when rights are curtailed the persons receive the right to appeal to the court about the inaction of the investigator and make a request to apply reasonable time limits for proceedings.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs obtain the right to have the registration of the criminal case confirmed. It is also crucial that a mechanism for auditing the activities of law enforcement agencies in investigating economic crimes is introduced, as well as the responsibility of law enforcement officers for unlawful actions is increased.