Russian-Ukrainian
Legal Group, P.A.
Kiev, Ukraine; Washington, D.C., USA
Chronicle
of Recent Developments in Ukrainian Legislation
SEPTEMBER 2006
Please click on the title of any section to go
directly to this section. In order to
return to the Index, please click on the back arrow on your Toolbar.
Accession to the World Trade Organization / Insurance
Banking
Codes of
Ukraine
Intellectual
Property
Money Laundering
Oil and Gas
Specific
Sectors of Economy / Miscellaneous
|
The “Chronicle of Recent
Developments in Ukrainian Legislation” is a monthly summary of the most
important legislative developments in Ukraine in the area of
business and corporate law, and is prepared, published and distributed by the
Russian-Ukrainian Legal Group as a free service to our clients. The Chronicle
will be distributed only via e-mail, in English and Russian, by the middle of
each month, and will summarize the legislative developments of the previous
month. The Chronicle is prepared in an effort to capture news of greatest
interest to the widest cross-section of our firm’s clientele, without restating
all legislation published and drowning our readers in
too much information. Due to the winnowing process necessary when preparing the
Chronicle, we cannot and do not guarantee that it contains a comprehensive list
of all Ukrainian legislation relevant to your business. Finally, please bear in
mind that this summary does not constitute legal advice; it is an informational
service only. Should you wish to receive
further information or actual legal advice, please do not hesitate email us at chronicle@rulg.com
1) State
Commission of Ukraine for Regulation of the Financial
Services Markets (“Financial Services Commission”) Ordinance No. 6021
“On Approving the Procedure for Registration of Non-Resident Insurers’
Branches” dated 19 July 2006. As we informed in the August 2005
edition of this Chronicle, last year in July, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted
a series of laws required for Ukraine to accede to the World Trade
Organization (“WTO”). Among other laws, Law No. 2774-IV “On Amending the
Law of Ukraine ‘On Insurance’” (“Law No. 2774”) has provided
non-resident insurers with the right to carry out insurance activity in Ukraine
through its permanent representative offices in the form of branches of foreign
insurance companies. In spite of the fact that Law No. 2774 will take effect
only five years after Ukraine’s accession to the WTO, said
Procedure has been developed and approved. The Procedure for entering
information on a permanent representative office of a non-resident insurer into
the Register of non-resident insurers’ branches (“Register”) and
issuance of the branch’s registration certificate has been established. The
Procedure also establishes requirements for non-resident insurers obtaining
registration as well as the list of documents required from an applicant. The
Ordinance will take effect upon entry into force of Law No. 2774.
2) Financial
Services Commission Ordinance No. 6201 “On Approving the Licensing Conditions
for Performing Activity by Non-Resident Insurers’ Branches” dated 7 September 2006. A non-resident insurer’s branch is entitled to carry out insurance
activity only after its information has been entered into the Register and the
affiliate’s registration certificate and license to perform insurance activity
have been obtained. The relevant regulations have been set out in the approved
Licensing Conditions. Having obtained its license, a branch is entitled to
perform insurance activity throughout the entire territory of Ukraine. Each license is issued for the
performance of one specific kind of insurance and also provides the right to
simultaneously carry out reinsurance on this kind of insurance. The list of
documents, which must be filed by an applicant in order to obtain the license,
has been approved. The Ordinance will take effect from the moment Law No. 2774
enters into force.
3) Law of
Ukraine No. 133-V “On Amending Certain Legal Acts of Ukraine on the Forms for
Creating Banks and the Amounts of their Authorized Capital” dated 14 September 2006. According to the amendments, banks in Ukraine may only be set up as open
joint-stock companies or cooperative banks. Those banks, which have already
been created in the form of closed joint-stock companies or limited liability
companies, shall have three years from the moment of entry into force of the
Law to amend their charters to comply with the new requirements. Banks that are
set up after the Law takes effect must have authorized capital in the amount of
not less than 10 million Euro. The Law has not yet been published but will take
effect
after its official publication.
Codes of Ukraine
4) Bill of Ukraine No. 2225 “On Amending the Civil
Code of Ukraine (Concerning Notarization and
Registration of Building Rental Contracts)” dated 27 September 2006. According to the proposed amendments, real estate rent contracts, if
concluded for a term of three years or more, will be subject to notarization
and state registration. This is a relaxation of the rule currently in force
under the Civil Code, which says that rent contracts concluded for a term of as
little as one year or more must be notarized and registered. If adopted and
signed by the President, the Law will take effect once it is officially
published.
5) Law of Ukraine No. 143-V “On State Regulation
of Activity in the Sphere of Technology Transfer” dated 14 September 2006. Technology transfer is a transfer of technology on the basis of a
contract between individuals and/or legal entities, which contract establishes, changes or terminates the property rights and
obligations concerning certain technologies and/or their components. Objects of
technology can include scientific and scientific-and-technical products and
objects of intellectual property rights (in particular, inventions, useful
models, products of a scientific or technical nature, software programs,
commercial secrets, know-how and any combination thereof), which describe the
list, term, procedure and sequence of operations, a production process and/or
the sale and storage of products. The Law stipulates the establishment of a special
state agency, which will be responsible for controlling and coordinating
actions connected with acquiring and transferring rights in technologies and/or
their objects. The following forms of state regulations have been established:
(1) state expert examinations of technologies; (2) state registration of
contracts on technology transfer; (3) patent and market investigations; and (4)
accreditation individuals and legal entities, authorizing them to perform
intermediary activity in said sphere. With the exception of several articles
that take effect later, the Law will take effect once it is officially
published.
6) National
Bank of Ukraine Resolution No. 329 “On Amending
Certain National Bank of Ukraine Regulations” dated 21 August 2006. The Resolution stipulates that a
Price Evaluation Statement of the State Research-and-Information Center for Monitoring the External
Goods Market on the compliance of contract prices with market conditions is
required whenever the total value of a non-resident’s services (i.e. the amount
of a service contract) exceeds 100,000 Euro. Previously, such a Statement was
required whenever the value of a service contract exceeded 50,000 Euro. The
Resolution also stipulates certain cases when a Statement is not required. The
Resolution took effect on 30 September 2006.
7) National
Commission of Ukraine for Regulation of the Electric Power Industry Resolution
No. 1182 “On Approving the Procedure for Establishing Requirements for
Licensees, which Distribute Natural and Oil Gas through Major Pipelines or
Transport Oil and Oil Products through Major Pipelines, Concerning the
Performance of Types of Activity other than those Licensed” dated 11 September
2006. The Procedure's requirements apply to licensees, which perform said
types of activity and which intend to carry out other types of activity not
connected with the licensed activity. Such licensees must file the documents
indicated in the Procedure with the National Commission for Regulation of the
Electric Power Industry not later than one month prior to the intended
initiation of the new type of activity. The Resolution took effect on 8 October 2006.
8) Law of Ukraine No. 141-V “On Amending Certain Laws
of Ukraine Concerning the Prevention of
Using Counterfeit Pesticides and Agrochemicals” dated 14 September 2006. The new term – “counterfeit pesticides and agrochemicals” – has been
introduced. It means products, which do not comply with the established
requirements specified for pesticides and agrochemicals, including requirements
for marking and packaging, placing information about the product on its
packaging etc., and/or products, on the packaging of which a registered mark
for goods and services is used in violation of its owner’s rights.
Persons/entities using deliberately counterfeited pesticides and agrochemicals
will bear responsibility as set forth in the effective legislation. The Law
took effect on 4 October 2006.
9) Law of Ukraine No. 142-V “On Baby Formula”
dated 14 September 2006. The Law establishes basic
requirements for producing and selling baby formula as well as for the raw
materials intended for its production. It also establishes the list of
information that must be indicated on the labels of such products. With the
exception of several articles that take effect later, the Law will take effect
on 1 January 2007.