17/08/2010 by admin.

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych believes that Ukraine needs to draw a lesson from this summer’s abnormal heat and take measures to prevent possible natural disasters in the future.  “This year we should foresee everything, and buy the necessary equipment to overcome the effects of natural disasters, including fires, in 2011 and 2012,” he said during a conference call with heads of regional state administrations in Kyiv on Monday.

At the same time, Yanukovych said that Ukraine should learn not only from its own experience, but also from that of its neighbors. He noted the need for preventive measures. Commenting on the situation in the country, the president said: “We were sitting on a powder keg.”

Yanukovych instructed Vice Premier Andri y Kliuyev, who heads the operational headquarters for fire fighting in Ukraine, to prepare relevant proposals and discuss them at a government meeting.  The president also said he was willing to help prepare and implement such proposals.

Fantastic news!!!  So what happened to emergency planning this year? Where did the money go?Developers are always being forced to make payments for “fire fighting equipment” every time they want to build something that does not comply with the Ukrainian norms (yet would exceed regulations elsewhere). Where are all these shiny fire engines? A new black Mercedes for the CFO does not count by the way.

And whilst we are talking about forward planning… is the Mayor of Kiev going to be forced to replace the snow clearing machines he sold prior to last years Winter before the snow starts this year?

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02/07/2010 by admin.

Although most of us know that many of the casinos never actually closed (particularly in the regions distant from Kiev) the current legislation means that at the moment all gambling is banned.

This may change soon however, with a draft bill under consideration that would allow casinos in 5 star hotels (of 60+ rooms) and in specially designated zones. These are the same zones that were promised over a year ago - remember?

The license fee per casino will be a $5 million payable per quarter over 7 years so around $60,000 per month. No other fees or taxes will be paid (officially anyway - lol)

Quite whether anyone will decide to open new casinos on the back of this is anyone’s guess but the existing closed casinos that fit the criteria will certainly stand to make a bucket load of cash.

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22/05/2009 by admin.

On 6 May 2009, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine amended the “Rules for Entry of Foreigners and Apatrides into Ukraine, Their Transit Through and Exit From Ukraine”, which were approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 1074, dated 29 December 1995 (the “Rules”).  Those amendments (the “Amendments”) became effective as of 15 May 2009.   

1.                 Not More than 90 Days Stay within 180 DaysAccording to the new wording of Article 19 of the Rules, except for holders of certain limited types of visas (e.g., student visas, work visas), foreigners may stay in Ukraine only as follows: (1) a foreigner from a country, the citizens of which need a visa, may stay for the term of the validity of his/her visa, but for not more than for 90 days within 180 days counting from the date of the first entry; and (2) a foreigner from a country, the citizens of which do not need a visa, may stay for up to 90 days within 180 days counting from the date of his/her first entry, unless otherwise stipulated by a bilateral agreement to which Ukraine is a party.  This limitation applies even if the visa (i.e., a business visa, a private visa, etc.), which has been issued to the foreigner, is valid for 6-months, 1-year, or longer. This limit also applies to citizens, i.e., both tourists, private and business visitors, etc., of the EU, Japan, the USA, and all other countries, for which the requirement for a visa has been waived (since 2005)  for visits  of less than 90 days.  Therefore, it will not be possible any longer to enter Ukraine for 89 days, to exit for a brief period, and, in a couple of days, to re-enter for the next 89 days. If a foreigner needs to spend more than 90 days within the above-mentioned 180 days period, then an application for an extension must be filed within the appropriate division of the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior at least 3 business days before the expiration of the 90 days.  If such extension is granted, it will be valid only for a continuous stay in the country (i.e., until the expiration of the term of the individual’s visa or of another allowed period, as the case may be), but not for re-entry into Ukraine.  If the extension is not granted, then the foreigner must leave the country before the 90-days period comes to an end. 

2.                 Alert to Citizens of WTO Member CountriesThe Amendments have abolished the third item in Article 19 of the Rules, which previously allowed citizens of WTO member countries to spend up to 180 days within a year in Ukraine.  According to oral information from a responsible officer of the State Borderguards Service, those foreigners from WTO member countries, who have already spent more than 90 days in Ukraine starting from 1 January 2009 (in reliance on the now-abolished third item of Article 19 of the Rules), will not be exempted from the abovementioned limitations, and the records indicating the duration of their stays in Ukraine will not be reset.

3.                 Alert to Foreign Employees of Representative OfficesForeigners, who are employees of Ukrainian legal entities, are eligible to obtain Ukrainian work permits, work visas, and temporary residence permits.  The combination of these three documents will allow them to enter/exit Ukraine as many times and at such times as may be necessary within the term of validity of their work permits.  In contrast, foreigners, who are employed by Ukrainian representative offices of foreign companies, are not eligible for a Ukrainian work permit, in the oral opinion expressed by a responsible officer of the Kyiv City Employment Center (which opinion is not necessarily grounded on any specific Ukrainian legislation and, as such, is subject to challenge before the Ukrainian courts). As a result, a foreigner employed by a representative office will not be able to obtain a work visa and a temporary residency permit, for which a work permit is a prerequisite, at least not unless and until a Ukrainian court will rule that such foreigner  is eligible for a Ukrainian work permit.  As a result, such foreign employees of representative offices will not be exempted from the abovementioned restriction on the number of days that they can spend in Ukraine, but rather will be allowed only to stay 90 days within 180 days. 

4.                 Consequences of Spending More Than 90 Days in UkraineAs we have noted in our earlier Legal Alerts, the State Borderguard Service has launched a computerized system for recording each foreigner’s entries into and exits from Ukraine.  This system automatically marks the commencement of the 180 day period upon a foreigner’s entry into Ukraine and calculates the number of days spent by the foreigner in Ukraine.  Both the date of entry and the date of exit count towards the number of days spent in Ukraine.  If a foreigner  spends more than 90 days  within 180 days (without obtaining an extension of stay mentioned above), then such foreigner may  be subject to a fine of between UAH340 and UAH680 and, in addition, may be banned from entering Ukraine for a period of between 6 months and 5 years.   If a foreigner exhausts the 90 days within a 180 day limit of stay, such foreigner will not be permitted to re-enter the country until the 180 day limit expires. Thus, all foreigners, who do not have temporary residence permits (or permanent residence permits), should very carefully calculate the number of days which they spend in Ukraine and plan their visit(s) and the duration of their stay(s) in the country accordingly.

Many thanks to http://odessablog.wordpress.com/ from whence I lifted the above

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