The President of Ukraine signed the Draft Law No. 8138 on state support for investment projects with considerable investments in Ukraine. The provision on the Business Ombudsman as an advocate for the rights of entrepreneurs and a mediator in business disputes with the state has finally been integrated into the law.
The Business Ombudsman Council has been operating in Ukraine for already eight years. During this time, the deputies worked out several versions of the Draft Law on the Business Ombudsman Institution. After all, it was necessary to regulate the Business Ombudsman activities at the state level for the institution’s sustainability, strengthening its status as well as expanding opportunities to protect business.
In the long run, with the adoption of the law on investment “nannies”, the Business Ombudsman status enshrinement at the legislative level long-awaited by all the stakeholders finally came to life.
Inclusion of the provision on the Business Ombudsman in the investment “nannies” law is a positive signal for both domestic and foreign investors in the context of not only creating more favorable business conditions, but also post-war reconstruction, which the Business Ombudsman Council has already joined.
Enshrining in the law was initiated by the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Economic Development, particularly its Head Dmytro Natalukha, Deputy Head Dmytro Kysylevskyi, and Head of the Subcommittee on Interaction Between the State, Business and Investments Ihor Marchuk.
We would like to remind you the Business Ombudsman Council is an independent institution of alternative dispute resolution between business and state bodies helping companies counteract possible abuses by state bodies and resolving companies’ problems at the pre-trial stage. The Council’s services are free of charge. The institution considers complaints from businesses of any size, form and origin of capital. During the entire period of operations, the Council received over 10,000 complaints, of which it closed 8,000 cases and saved more than UAH 24 bn for business.
BOC gives a professional legal assessment of a particular situation and, in the event of a violation of the legal rights of a business by a state body, initiates mediation to seek understanding and restore justice. You can file a complaint here.
BOC is financed from Ukraine Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth Multi-Donor Account (MDA) managed by the EBRD. Thirteen countries and the European Union are MDA contributors. For more information about BOC, please visit our website at: www.boi.org.ua.
