New head of Customs Service and Anti-Monopoly Committee commissioner: decisions by Cabinet and President, plans of the Parliament
20 August 2020
Today in our digest: new appointments by the Government and the President, boost for tourism and culture, agenda of the special parliamentary plenary meeting on August 25.
Andrii Pavlovskyi appointed as new acting head of State Customs Service
Decision-maker: the Cabinet.
Who is affected: Ukrainian citizens, business, importers, exporters, the Ministry of Finance, the Cabinet, and employees of the State Customs Service.
What does it change: the Government dismissed Ihor Muratov as the acting head of the State Customs Service and appointed Andrii Pavlovskyi in his stead.
What is wrong: frequent personnel changes makes the Service unable to implement long-term policies and work systematically. Ihor Muratov, the former acting head of the Service, was appointed on April 24 and by no means had enough time to achieve any significant results.
Olha Muzychenko appointed as Anti-Monopoly Committee state commissioner
Decision-maker: the President.
Who is affected: Ukrainian citizens, the Anti-Monopoly Committee, and the Cabinet.
What does it change: Volodymyr Zelenky appointed Olha Muzychenko as the Anti-Monopoly Committee state commissioner.
What is wrong: the commissioner was appointed under the unconstitutional law. According to the Constitution, the only presidential power over the Anti-Monopoly Committee is to propose a candidate for its head. Upon the submission by the President, such a candidate has to be approved by the Parliament. By his unconstitutional appointments of the Committee staff, Volodymyr Zelensky undermines Committee’s legitimacy, independence, and effectiveness.
Additional information: the Cabinet of Oleksii Honcharuk planned to launch a reform that among other things would have made the Anti-Monopoly Committee less dependent on the President.
Zelensky approved a policy to support protection of cultural heritage, culture, and development of creative industries and tourism
Decision–maker: the President.
Who is affected: local government, local state administrations, the Cabinet, local government, local state administrations, the Cabinet, cultural and creative industries, tourism.
What does it change: the President set a number of tasks:
- the Cabinet has to develop and implement a policy on protecting cultural heritage and boosting Ukrainian cultural potential, improve mechanisms of subsidizing culture, and allocate funds necessary for policy implementation
- local state administrations have to revisit regional development strategies, in particular strategies on culture and tourism
- local government received recommendations to allocate funds from local budgets to implement projects on culture and tourism.
What is wrong:
- the President has no authority to give orders to the Cabinet. The Cabinet is the highest body of executive power and the President has no direct authority over it
- the President has no authority to influence state policies on culture, protection of cultural heritage, development of creative industries, or tourism. Thus, he has no right to give such orders to local state administrations
- the President has no authority to “recommend” anything to local government bodies.
To know more about the impact of state policy on creative industries and tourism during the lockdown, please read our article Hostages of the lockdown and shadow economy: why the Government ignores creative industries.
Agenda of the special parliamentary plenary meeting:
Increase in minimum wages (3963)
Status: the bill will be considered in the first reading, MPs can substantially revise it.
Who is affected: Ukrainian citizens, employees, business, sole proprietors, pensioners, government bodies, and local government.
What does it change:
- minimal wages will be increased by ₴ 277 (from ₴ 4723 to ₴ 5,000)
- the bill proposes to increase both spending and revenue of the government budget. In particular, to gather additional revenue of ₴ 461 million from income tax and cut spending by ₴ 3.4 billion.
What is right: according to the Minister of Finance Serhii Marchenko, the bill will provide the Pension Fund of Ukraine with additional ₴ 1.7 billion and increase revenues of the government and local budgets by ₴ 1.5 billion.
What is wrong:
- increase in salaries will be paid for by government budget, local budgets, and business. Director of the Institute of Social and Economic Transformation Illia Neskhodovskyi predicts that government budget will have to pay additional ₴ 1.5 billion for this increase in minimal wages
- a number of taxes and dues will also be increased: transportation, property, and income taxes, administrative service, court, and tourist fees, customs duty, single social payment etc.
Competition to design Great National Coat of Arms (3994)
Status: resolution is ready to be passed by the Parliament.
Who is affected: Ukrainian citizens, government bodies, and local government.
What does it change: competition for the best design of the Great National Coat of Ukraine has been announced.
Why this is important: the Constitution provisions that the Small State Coat of Arms of Ukraine is the Emblem of the Royal State of Volodymyr the Great (the Trident). The Great State Coat of Arms is not yet designed, there is no law describing it and regulating its use.
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