The business environment in Ukraine has unique features that need to be known and understood to invest and conduct business effectively.
These features include factors that are unusual and incomprehensible for foreign companies, including the peculiarities of Ukrainian legislation (the legal system left over from the USSR, with innovations of modern Ukrainian legislators and with partial implementation of European standards), strictly “regulated” and clumsy state apparatus as well as the complex and specific mentality of people, private companies, and even government bodies.
Provided the common observations, it is possible to suggest the following.
Thus, the main principle of the work of state legislative bodies is to create maximum control over business, a large tax burden, and a complex web of laws, the implementation of which is often impossible from an economic point of view.
The main principle of the state executive authorities' operation is not to prevent violations and provide assistance to businesses but to make numbers for identifying violators and collecting taxes, even if this occurs to the detriment of business and is contrary to the law.
The main principle of the work of state judicial authorities is the protection of the state, the formation of a pool of standard court decisions in favor of the state, and complete indifference to human rights and private business, even if this occurs to the detriment of business.
At the same time, the factors of personal relationships and the material interest of government officials when resolving business conflicts are among the most frustrating and counteracting factors to business.
However, even though the state system is extremely disloyal to businesses and people, businesses in Ukraine can operate quite successfully.
This is explained by the fact that despite the almost unlimited powers of state authorities, the complex web of Ukrainian laws has created many legal conditions that are also difficult for state executive authorities to fulfill.
Additionally, the state system has become incredibly clumsy, incompetent, and unable to analyze complex economic schemes and large volumes of information.
In this regard, large businesses with billions of dollars in investments will in any case generate income in Ukraine, even with incorrect legal and economic regulation. However, its losses can amount to up to 70% of the total income, which has been repeatedly observed in the activities of large foreign companies in Ukraine (which foreign investors often did not even realize).
In turn, to work effectively in the conditions of a complex labyrinth of laws, a disloyal state apparatus, and heavy tax pressure in Ukraine, it is necessary to have a clear legal and tax strategy for doing business - that is, it is essential to create a model of doing business in Ukraine taking into account the characteristics of your company and based on an effective legal system of corporate, economic, and labor relations.
At the same time, one of the most important elements of business activity is the confidentiality and security of data, which include:
― intellectual property of the company, which is its business secret and forms the basis of its business processes;
― data that is a business secret, which is exchanged between the parties to the contract during its conclusion and performance;
― confidential information of the company, which is not a business secret, but is not subject to disclosure, since it affects the security of the company's activities;
― personal data of the founders and employees of the company;
― personal data of clients, etc.
In this regard, it is highly important to know and understand modern requirements for confidentiality and data protection, which are formed based on the following elements:
― international law and national legislation;
― non-disclosure agreements;
― the company's policies (for example, clear desk, clear screen, anonymization policies, and many others) related to the organization of its activities and meeting the requirements of ISO / IEC 27001, the terms of the Directive on the security of network and information systems (NIS), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union, and the provisions of the Directive on privacy and electronic communications of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union 2002/58/EC of 12 July 2002, and more.
We can confidently declare that the lawyers and attorneys of the FOX group have extensive knowledge and profound experience (since 1995) in the field of corporate transactions, protection of commercial information and intellectual property, due diligence, contract law, government activities, and litigation as well as in the development, organization, and investment in businesses in such areas as:
― computer and Internet technologies,
― banking activities,
― production of industrial products,
― medical activity,
― construction and real estate,
― foreign economic activity,
― space activity,
― agriculture,
and beyond.
We will provide highly qualified advice to private companies and individuals, and also provide effective support for your activities in Ukraine