Ukraine’s State Regulatory Service has proposed increasing fines for officials guilty of exerting excessive administrative pressure on businesses by at least 100 times, in order to fix "injustice".
In an interview with Ukrinform, the organisation’s head, Oleksiy Kucher, said a draft bill had been drafted that would see fines rise from UAH 170-340 ($4.6- $9.2) to UAH 17,000-34,000 ($461-$922).
Discussions are currently under way regarding the final amount.
"We have an imbalance between responsibility for violations in state-business relations,” Kucher said.
"If entrepreneurs disregard law, they face a fine of hundreds of thousands of hryvnias. If it is an official, then it’s a fine of just UAH 170–340. And this is provided that the court will bring this official to justice.
"We’ve decided to fix this injustice."
The document also proposes to grant the State Regulatory Service the right to impose a fine on an official beyond litigation and, if an official disagrees, they may appeal the move.
"Besides, we have presumption of innocence for a civil servant, and the opposite for businesses. That is, an official issues a fine to a businessman, who must pay it. If they disagree, they are obliged to defend their position in court," he clarified.
Kucher argues that the move is necessary in order for there to be parity of responsibility.
The draft bill is set to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval this year, after which it can go to Parliament.
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Since the full-scale invasion, the State Regulatory Service has saved UAH 18.1 billion for businesses and UAH 284.3 million for the state by refusing to approve draft regulatory acts that failed to comply with Ukrainian legislation.
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