Draft bill #10373 of December 25, 2023 

Sponsor: the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine 

Status: sent for review to the Law Enforcement Committee of the Verkhovna Rada 

Who is affected: lobbyists, their clients, and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) 

Summary: 

  • a new type of administrative penalty will be introduced: prohibition to conduct lobbying 
  • administrative penalties will be applied for lobbying without registration and violations of legislation on lobbying and conflict of interests. In particular: 
    • lobbying without registration in the Transparency Registry — a fine from 850 to 1700 UAH 
    • failure to submit or late submission of a report by a lobbyist — a fine from 850 to 1700 UAH 
    • deliberate submission of false information by a lobbyist to the Transparency Registry — a fine from 1700 to 5100 UAH 
    • lobbying in the interest of a person who has no legal right to be a beneficiary or entering into a service agreement by a lobbyist with a person who has no legal right to be a client — a fine from 17000 to 34000 UAH with a prohibition to conduct lobbying for one year 
    • committing actions or making decisions while conducting lobbying and disregarding conflict of interests — a fine from 5100 to 8500 UAH 
    • administrative protocols concerning these offenses will issued by officials of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention. 

What is right: 

  • lobbyists who violate legislation on lobbying will be held accountable. 

What is wrong: 

  • fines proposed for violations of legislation on lobbying are disproportionately small. 

Alternative solution:  

  • to increase the fines for violations to a level proportional to the damage that may be caused by these violations. 

Background information: 

On November 8, 2023, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, while presenting the report on EU expansion, recommended the European Council to start negotiations with Ukraine. In the report, the Commission recommended Ukraine to pass a law on lobbying. The NACP conducted a public discussion about the draft bill on the integrity of lobbying and advocacy. After the civil society gave feedback regarding it, the Cabinet revised the document. 

Additional information: 

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