20 lawyers and legal experts from UK and Ukraine attended the meeting in the heart of the City of London. The event was a unique opportunity to ask questions and discuss burning issues with the Minister.
Introductions were made by Nataliya Korotka, BULA board member, director of Golden Link London. She stressed the importance of cooperation between Ukraine and Britain, especially collaboration and exchange of experiences among legal professionals. To enhance this cooperation BULA, which was re-launched in February 2015, plans to organise various activities for its members, such as round tables, workshops and training. She invited all interested legal professionals to join BULA and become members (please contact [email protected] for more details).
Igor Shevchenko gave a brief overview of the Ministry initiatives (read more on his remarks in the article “29 Years after Chornobyl. Ihor Shevchenko, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources gives a talk at the Ukrainian Institute in London, 28-04-2015”).
The Q&A session was focused on the practicalities of running a business in Ukraine:
- licensing, changes in legislation and practices, including revocation of licenses for those who obtained them illegally;
- new Law on Amber that will deal with the problem of illegal digging;
- green tariff (subsidies) for solar energy was substantially changed recently; waste management will be supported but not via state subsidies (due to lack of budget funds);
- extractive industries: budgetary law will be changed to make those industries more attractive for investors
- waste management system: strategy is being drafted; by the end of the year the draft law should be ready (one of the Ministry’s current priorities);
- implementation of Carpathian Convention (agreement between Ukraine and its neighbors): three national parks were selected for the first stage of the programme (border negotiations, marketing, support of tourism, building infrastructure)
The event was hosted by the Law Firm Clyde & Co.
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