The division of business into categories based on artificial criteria is the basis for corruption, as it allows some companies, including those with Russian roots, to avoid the attention of law enforcement agencies. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Anatoliy Amelin, executive director and co-founder of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future think tank.
We have somebody, and I don't want to use bad words here, who came up with something, included it in the bill, somehow did it without asking anyone, without calculating it, without assessing the consequences, and it works, and this applies to every Ukrainian business today. And we see the result. Normal Ukrainian reputable companies are not in this club, while companies with Russian roots are present. And here the question arises: Was this created for them? Because this could be a special operation or sabotage that shields a company with Russian roots from the attention of law enforcement. This is the first question that arises
The expert explained that enterprises with Russian roots were able to get into the White Business Club because artificial selection criteria were created, and there was a corruption component, and inclusion in the list was controlled. "The very segregation of business, artificially, by officials, according to artificial criteria, is already a basis for corruption. We can see that companies with Russian roots managed to get on the list either through artificial interference, or for a bribe, or for some personal relationships, so these companies have been granted an indulgence and cannot be visited by law enforcement," the expert said.
According to Amelin, the criteria for selecting businesses are artificial, as companies operate in different conditions and sectors. "When a company invests, it pays less taxes because it has no profits. Many companies lost assets during the war. They lost people, lost opportunities. More than 5 million Ukrainians left, consumption fell. Therefore, these criteria (for selection - ed.) are artificial, they are not supported by any calculations," Amelin emphasized.
He added that such changes should not be introduced without a preliminary assessment by think tanks, miscalculations of their impact, and public discussions with the expert community and business.
Amelin compared the White Business Club created by Hetmantsev to a concentration camp. "It's segregation, you know, like in a concentration camp. You go for harder jobs, and you are more favored by our taxpayers..." - he said.
The expert is convinced that the White Business Club should be abolished. "This law should be repealed, and Ukraine should have rules that encourage businesses to work in the white," Amelin emphasized.
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At the end of last year, the White Business Club was launched in Ukraine on the initiative of Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy. Almost 8 thousand companies were included in the list of "chosen ones", which was formed by former acting deputy head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine Yevhen Sokur, who was called Hetmantsev's right hand in the tax service.
"The White Business Club, as Hetmantsev has repeatedly declared, was created for honest and conscientious business and should protect entrepreneurs from excessive attention from the tax authorities. In other words, the list of selected businesses was supposed to include businesses that meet the standards of transparent business conduct in Ukraine, demonstrate openness, pay taxes in good faith, submit reports and have no ties to Russia. However, according to analysts of the platform "Opendatabot", the list of selected companies included not just dubious companies, but also companies with ties to sanctioned persons and Russia.
"At the time of the full-scale invasion, 24 companies from the club had Russian owners. Currently, there is no official Russian trace in any of these businesses. We would like to remind you that since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has had a moratorium on changing the registration data of companies with Russian owners, except for a few cases clearly defined by law," the statement said.
It is noted that Opendatabot has sent an appeal to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine to verify registration changes in such businesses.
"Opendatabot analyzed the companies included in the trusted list of the State Tax Service and identified representatives of companies that are related to the sanctioned persons through joint business. For example, two companies belong to the Kozak brothers' group, whose owners are connected to Viktor Medvedchuk's group. The list also includes businesses that have ties to Alef Corporation, owned by the sanctioned Vadym Yermolaiev, and Burisma Group, whose owner is in the Corruption Register, etc." the analysts added.
It is worth noting that before becoming an MP, Hetmantsev worked for 8 years as an assistant and was apparently a close and trusted person of the fugitive ex-MP Volodymyr Sivkovych, who is suspected of treason and longtime work for the Russian FSB.
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Experts and the business community emphasize that Hetmantsev's initiative to create such a club of the elite is discriminatory and violates the Constitution of Ukraine. Anatoliy Amelin, executive director and co-founder of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future think tank, believes that this creates an opportunity to divide entrepreneurs into those who are politically unwanted and those who are acceptable to the authorities.
"This is discrimination, this is discretion and this is a violation of the Constitution. According to the Constitution, everyone is equal before the law. This law creates conditions under which someone has preferences and a model that determines whether a company should be included in the White Business Club or not - they determine their performance there is better than the market average. But this is the market, this is a free economy - someone works better, someone works worse, and the idea itself is unconstitutional," he said .
Business ombudsman Roman Vashchuk also criticized the White Business Club. In particular, he noted that it would create a reservation for the elite instead of leveling the playing field for all businesses.