Business in Ukraine is already desperate and ready to speak publicly about the pressure on entrepreneurs by the tax authorities and security forces. In order for the situation to change, the government must be more open. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Anatoliy Amelin, a member of the Board of The Aspen Institute Kyiv, Director of Economic Programs at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future.
"Yes, business today is in an extremely difficult situation, both because of the war and because of pressure. We remember the case of Mazepa , we remember that the Manifesto 42 initiative appeared for a reason, because business is under great pressure. This includes law enforcement officers demanding corrupt rents, and the tax authorities blocking tax invoices, not refunding VAT, and creating many obstacles to doing business. And at the same time, business helps the army, saves jobs, and pays taxes," Amelin said.
He added that pressure on business poses serious risks, as 70% of employed Ukrainians work in the private sector.
"And this leads to the fact that business is ready to publicly defend its rights rather than remain silent," Amelin added.
The expert emphasized that the dissatisfaction of entrepreneurs is growing, and businesses have nothing to lose.
"Many businesses have lost production, their capabilities, working capital - almost everything. And the government is not helping, but only creating problems, so businesses are desperate and are ready to call the security forces an internal enemy that helps the external enemy," Amelin said.
In his opinion, the government should be more open to dialogue with business, and it should pay more attention to regional associations of entrepreneurs and help them. Amelin recalled that at the end of January, Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko met with business representatives, where, according to him, entrepreneurs voiced 13 main demands.
At the same time, Amelin doubts that the Presidential Business Support Council will be able to dramatically change the situation with pressure on business, as the list of issues it plans to address is too narrow.
"What was announced by Zelenskyy is a change in the law on BES and a short three-month moratorium on inspections, that's all. And this is not enough, so this initiative is good, but I believe it will not change the situation, and there will be many cases like the one with Mazepa. In two months, the moratorium will end, and believe me, you will see dozens more Mazepas, and the security forces will move very quickly so that no one has time to complain publicly," Amelin said.
Recall
Co-founder of Concord Bank Olena Sosiedka said that she is ready to publicly tell how the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, Danylo Hetmantsev, destroyed her bank and called on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to protect Ukrainian business from Hetmantsev's arbitrariness.
She also suggested that Hetmantsev invite her to a meeting of the parliamentary committee and personally ask her about anything he was interested in.
In addition, Sosiedka said she was ready to speak publicly about how Hetmantsev destroyed Concord Bank at a meeting of the Presidential Council for Business Support. She asks council members Vyacheslav Klymov, Artem Borodatiuk, Oleh Horokhovsky, Kostyantyn Yefymenko, Taras Kitsmey, Oleksandr Konotopsky and Dmytro Oliynyk, as well as Yulia Svyrydenko to invite her to the meeting.