Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s government plans to reduce the number of supervisory bodies that oversee businesses from 56 to 28, limit the number of their functions from 1,032 to 680, and move towards full adoption of European regulatory standards.
Next year, Ukraine will adopt 1,500 national standards, finally replacing outdated Soviet standards and increasing harmonization with the EU. The new government plans to reduce the cost of the public sector by 10 percent of GDP.
Some of the planned pro-business initiatives include reducing the number of taxes from 22 to 9, consolidating accounting and tax obligations, reducing the tax burden for small and medium-sized enterprises, and taking steps to introduce “tax compromise” and remove monopolies from the economy.
In the coming years, the government plans to sign free-trade agreements with Canada, Turkey, Israel, and various countries in the Persian Gulf and West Africa.
In order to fight corruption, Ukraine will establish the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, with the goal of education and deterrence, and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which will act as a law-enforcement agency.
In 2015, the cabinet plans to establish the National Police Force, as part of the effort to reform the Interior Ministry, and the State Bureau of Investigation, as part of the public prosecutor’s office reform. The number of civil servants will be reduced by 10 percent with a corresponding increase in wages. Candidates for positions as public officials will go through a rigorous selection process and pass a lustration review.
Natalie Jaresko is the minister of finance of Ukraine.
