#12 December 2016

In focus – Energy

Throughout the last three years an array of painful economic shortcomings has eventually become an integral part of our everyday lives. Notwithstanding the scale of the recession, Ukraine reached important milestones in state energy policy by changing its production and consumption paradigms. Reform of the energy sector is being pushed from outside by binding commitments with the EU and the European Energy Community.

 

With the support of Tax Regulation

Given the rise in the exchange rate in recent years, the number of taxpayers engaged in foreign economic operations, which are controlled in terms of transfer pricing, is growing steadily. Based on the information of the DFSU, about 3,000 companies submitted a report on controlled transactions for 2015. At the same time, quite a number of companies currently find themselves under inspection procedures related to establishment of facts of failure to submit reports and quite often company officials are not ready to accept information on the amount of fines established for violations of legislation in the field of transfer pricing.

 

Expert Opinion

Ukraine: Energy Community Implementation Report

Yàrîslav À. Petrov, Îlånà Ð. Sichkîvskà

On 1 September 2016 the Energy Community Secretariat published its Annual Implementation Report (the Report) that outlines the progress made by the Energy Community Contracting Parties, including Ukraine, in implementing the acquis communautaire under the Energy Community Treaty. The Report covers the period from September 2015 to September 2016. It includes sections on electricity, gas, oil, national regulatory authorities, renewable energy, energy efficiency, environment, competition and statistics in the Contracting Parties. The Report includes a separate chapter on Ukraine…

In Re

Developments in Ukraine’s Legal Framework for Oil and Gas Transit via Pipelines

Taràs V. Dumych

This article is a continuation of the study and article on a related topic first published in the August 2005 issue of the Ukrainian Journal of Business Law. A decade later, both the Ukrainian legal framework for oil and gas transit via pipelines as well as business practices and international relations in this sector have undergone considerable developments.

Energy Services. Prospects for the New Market in Ukraine

Serhiy O. Silchenko, Ivan O. Bondarchuk

It’s no secret that Ukraine consumes from 3 to 3.5 times as much energy per USD 1 GDP as the European Union. This means that under normal circumstances our economy can’t compete in open markets. That is why encouragement to become energy efficiency has been a top priority for the Ukrainian government these last two years.

 

Alternative Energy in Ukraine

Igor V. Dykunskyy, Àndrii V. Zharikov

Alternative energy in Ukraine is considered by many as one of the most fast-growing and attractive industries for investment. This is explained by the fact of favourable geographical conditions in Ukraine, introduction of a new policy by the government aimed at reducing use of traditional fossil fuels as well as gradual increase of price for communal services, such as electricity and heating, and favourable legal framework. The latter is discussed in detail in this article.

 

News

Deals

AVELLUM advised on cross-border intra-group transfer of UniCredit’s CEE Business

Sayenko Kharenko advised Shanghai Giant Network Technology Co.

Dentons advised Adecco Group

Sayenko Kharenko advised Oschadbank

AVELLUM advised UniCredit Group

Cases

Bank Veles makes court cancel license revocation

Metinvest wins suit against ISD metallurgical complexes

Antonov lodges protest against Ministry of Defense of RF

Court arrested trade center Gulliver over bank loans

 

Law Digest

Consumer Credit Act adopted in second reading

New rules for state registration

NBU eases some restrictions on foreign exchange market

Draft

On Mediation Draft Act

Government reform of wage system

Protecting the rights of defrauded bank depositors

Biznews

M&A

Symantec consolidates with LifeLock in deal worth USD 2.3 billion

Nokia closed on purchase of Alcatel-Lucent

Broadcom takes over Brocade for USD 5.9 billion

Oracle buys cloud services developer

Facebook buys back own shares for USD 6 billion

Tax

Ukraine to join BEPS Plan in January

IP Protection

Ex.ua and Fs.to close

Finance

Improved mechanism for funding national film production

International Aid

Germany provides Ukraine with EUR 72 million aid

EU allocates additional EUR 54 million for reforms in Ukraine

 

 

Chamber News

Chamber Members met with the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie L. Yovanovitch

On 1 November 2016 members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine (Chamber) had the chance to meet newly-appointed U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. The event was a perfect opportunity for the Ukrainian business community to welcome the Ambassador and learn more about her views and perspectives.

 

UBA News

Tomorrow’s Lawyer Program presented in Kiev

Tomorrow’s Lawyer, the first nationwide training program for lawyers aimed at improving the quality of legal services, effective implementation of reforms in the justice sector and shaping the legal community in Ukraine, was officially presented on 10 November.

The program will be implemented by the Ukrainian Bar Association and Bar Association for Legal Aid Providers (BALAP) supported by the Quality and Accessible Legal Aid in Ukraine (QALA) Project funded by the Government of Canada, implemented by the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) in cooperation with the Coordination Center for Legal Aid Provision.

Modern trends in business deoffshorization

On 24 November the UBA Committee on Tax and Customs Law organized its regular meeting, which on this occasion was dedicated to modern trends in business deoffshorization.

Ivanna Pylypyuk, managing partner of International Consulting Group, explained to the audience the meaning of “agents of influence” and how organizations like G20, OECD, FATF affect the policy, trends and standards of work. The first trend in business is deoffshorization. According to the speaker, deoffshorization is a system of actions aimed at increase attention to the payment of taxes. Describing the next trends, she mentioned transparency and control over income and expenses.

Cover Story

Bespoke Law

Balancing the geopolitical state of play, political ambitions and economic realities, national energy policy is, perhaps, the most sensitive subject of the overall reforms circle. It’s becoming obvious that the sector could be re-launched by capital intensive investments. Minding its interests, the state has the fundamental task to restore trust in it as a reliable partner and suggest good incentives for investors. Albert Sych, EY partner, law leader for Ukraine, who was a trusted advisor of the first huge foreign inbound investments, has given a fair explanation of the business mindset of industry majors.

Argument

Legal Framework for Renewables: Fragile Background or Sound Bedrock?

Iurii V. Rybak, Volodymyr V. Yaremkî

For the past decade, the renewable energy sector has firmly become one of the most fast-growing and attractive spheres for investment projects around the globe. Even having a long pay-off period, renewable energy sources have shown their immeasurable potential to growth along with promising lucrative level of returns for the investors. Simultaneously, given the significance of initial capital contribution accompanied by low energy prices, governments were struggling to encourage foreign investment into renewable energy sphere by enacting a variety of support schemes, subsidies and economic incentives for the investors. To that matter the “feed-in tariffs”, special taxation and customs duties regimes, green bonds and government-funded loans with low interest rates have been enshrined in internal laws of states in order to maintain the confidence of the investors in their fulfillment.

 

Crux

Legislative Update

Over the last month many legislative initiatives were submitted to parliamentary committees for consideration. Our traditional commentary section looks at some of the latest legislative changes and a large number of proposed draft acts that require thorough analysis, in particular, No. 5105 On Amendments to the Act on Investment Activity; No.5130 which should reform the existing system of labor remuneration; No.5368 On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine for Enhancement of the Investment Climate in Ukraine; No.3665 On Mediation; No.3849 On Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Facilitating the Exploration and Production of Oil and Gas in Ukraine. The UJBL editorial team has enlisted the help of experts to comment upon some of them.

 

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