Business

Protecting white business from pressure: what the NSDC’s decision on economic security means

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stepped up measures taken by the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) to ensure economic resilience during martial law. These initiatives are aimed at supporting both national entrepreneurs and state institutions in addressing complex economic challenges, according to

President Zelenskyy emphasised the creation of the Entrepreneurship Support Council, which will include leading business representatives from various sectors. This should ensure a diversity of views and approaches.

“Businesses that work for millions of people. Technology business, finance, services and other industries. Different industries, so that there are different views,”

– the Head of State said.

He also noted that the key goal is to strengthen the Ukrainian economy and society, as well as to guarantee transparency and legality of law enforcement agencies. He expressed the government’s intention to amend legislation aimed at protecting white businesses from undue pressure.

At the same time, the President clarified that everyone has the same task – to strengthen the Ukrainian economy and our society.

“It is important that every business in Ukraine fulfils its part of the agreement: the business pays taxes, operates legally, in the black, respects its employees and definitely does not work with Russia. We all work only for the Ukrainian victory!”

– the President said.

Also, the President’s website published Decree No. 21/2024 of 23 January “On urgent measures to ensure economic security for the period of martial law”. This decree enacted the relevant decision of the National Security and Defence Council.

The main points of the NSDC decision “On urgent measures to ensure economic security for the period of martial law”

The NSDC decision recommends that the President of Ukraine establish a Council for Support of Entrepreneurship under martial law.

Another item instructs the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to immediately submit to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine draft laws amending the following:

• The Law of Ukraine “On the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine” to strengthen the mechanisms of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine;
• The Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, the Laws of Ukraine “On Operational and Investigative Activity”, “On the Basic Principles of State Financial Control in Ukraine”, “On the Organisational and Legal Framework for Combating Organised Crime” to establish additional guarantees for the protection of legitimate business interests in criminal proceedings and to ensure consolidation of the powers of law enforcement agencies to counter offences that infringe on the state economy in a single body – the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine
• The Law of Ukraine “On Defence Procurement” to regulate the profit margin for public contracts that were/are being executed during the martial law regime.

In addition, the government should audit the system of monitoring risks and criteria for blocking tax invoices, as well as procedures and criteria for unblocking them.

The NSDC recommends that the Prosecutor General’s Office, the State Bureau of Investigation, the National Police of Ukraine, the Bureau of Economic Security, and the Security Service of Ukraine conduct an audit of the restrictive measures taken in criminal proceedings against business entities within three months to determine the feasibility of their further application, as well as the relevance of information about them in public electronic registers.

These bodies were also recommended to refrain from conducting procedural actions in criminal proceedings for three months if this could block the business activities of business entities.

The Office of the Prosecutor General, together with the SBU, the SBI, the National Police and the BES, is recommended to immediately audit registered criminal proceedings, the investigation of which concerns criminal offences that infringe on the functioning of the state economy. And based on the results of such an audit, “to develop effective mechanisms to protect businesses from possible abuse by law enforcement agencies, in particular during certain investigative (search) and other procedural actions that restrict the rights or legitimate interests of the relevant business entities”.

In addition, the NSDC recommends that the Prosecutor General’s Office, together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Justice, develop an analytical module for the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations (it should provide for public access to analytical summary data on the activities of law enforcement agencies) and an online complaint module for entrepreneurs.