Around 1,000 individual entrepreneurs gathered in Kyiv’s Independence Square on June 29 to hold a symbolic “funeral for small business”. Protesters demanded for parliament to protect the country’s simplified tax regime enjoyed by solo entrepreneurs, contract workers and freelancers.
Activists carried fake coffins, funeral sprays and black ribbons. Police tried to seize some of these props, leading to clashes with the protesters.
After the rally in Independence Square, protesters headed to the European Square and made stops near the President’s Office and the Verkhovna Rada.
Individual entrepreneurs have protested since the fall, opposing quarantine restrictions and mandatory cash registers for businesses. The government says the registers will reduce tax evasion while protesters say that it will put an unfair burden on small entrepreneurs.
