The Business Ombudsman in Ukraine establishes new standards of cooperation between the state and business, promoting the development of the private sector. Its operation shows an example for the countries of Eastern Europe and Asia in creating a transparent and favorable business climate.
“Support from EBRD and OECD – OCDE played an important role in the formation of this institution, which provides additional opportunities for sustainable development and support of entrepreneurship,” said the Deputy Business Ombudsman of Ukraine Tetiana Korotka. BOC joined in conducting and presenting the OECD study on business ombudsman institutions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The study covered the experience of five countries: Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
The OECD focused on key elements of the work of business ombudsman institutions, including their mission and mandate, human and financial resources, and processes for dealing with individual complaints. The study, in addition, pays special attention to the approaches of institutions to solving systemic business problems. It also outlines the roles of institutions in promoting the ideas of virtuous business to create a favorable business climate.
It was important that OECD study mentioned a successful model of the Ukrainian Business Ombudsman Council in the anti-corruption infrastructure of Eastern European countries. Our Institution has been working over 9 years and during the entire period of work it managed to protect the legal rights of over 8k entrepreneurs and save more than UAH 25.8 bn for business.
BOC enthusiastically shares the best practices in business protection with partners, which was what the Deputy Business Ombudsman Tetiana Korotka devoted her speech to during the presentation of the research results.
The OECD study is a significant step in understanding and improving business protection mechanisms and, undoubtedly, like the example of the BOC itself, will become a valuable resource for the further development of business ombudsman institutions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
