09 January 2025
Ukraine’s Parliament passes the Bill cancelling the archaic Commercial Code of Ukraine that has created difficulties for business
On 9 January 2025, Ukraine’s Parliament approved Bill No. 6013 “On the Specific Aspects of Business Regulation of Certain Companies and Their Associations During the Transition Period” (the Bill). The Bill is now awaiting the President’s signature.
The Bill:
- invalidates the Commercial Code that has caused many problems for businesses, for example:
- too many rules for signing business contracts, even when businesses should have freedom in how they agree;
- inconsistent rules about companies’ forms in the Civil Code, the Commercial Code and special laws;
- difficulty knowing which rules from the Commercial Code or Civil Code to follow.
- amends the Civil Code and a series of special laws to align them with the Civil Code.
According to the explanatory note, the Bill provides for:
- a seven-year transitional period to gradually replace “enterprises” with business entities;
- improvement of corporate governance;
- new ways to manage and control state and municipal property;
- replacing the rights of economic and operational management with mechanisms for the use (lease) and management of third-party property;
- fixing conflicts between the Civil Code and other laws.
In public sources, there are occasional concerns that the Bill may lead to a large redistribution of state property in a non-privatisation way.
For more information, please contact Victoria Ivasechko.
