Better legislation — less corruption? What tax alignment with the EU means for Ukraine

The Centre for Economic Strategy invites you to a public discussion on Ukraine’s tax alignment with the European Union. We will discuss how European rules can help reduce the scope for corruption, excessive red tape, and discretionary interference in business operations.

The event will take place on 4 June at 14:00 (Kyiv time) on Zoom. Please fill out the registration form at the bottom of the page to receive the event link.

Ukraine is gradually adapting its tax legislation to EU law. Important changes have already been made in the areas of VAT, excise duties, direct taxation, international information exchange, and institutional capacity. However, this process is still far from complete.

Complex and contradictory legislation inherently creates corruption risks. The more ambiguous the procedures and the greater the reliance on manual control, the more opportunities there are for putting pressure on businesses, selective enforcement, and shadow practices.

Therefore, it is important to view tax alignment with the EU as more than just a set of new obligations for Ukraine. It is also an opportunity to adopt solutions from European experience that simplify tax administration, reduce over-regulation, and make the rules more predictable for businesses. At the event, we will present:

• the link between the quality of legislation and the level of corruption;
• the current state of harmonisation of Ukrainian tax law with EU law;
• specific recommendations on how to accelerate this process, both in terms of administration and deregulation.

Participants:

• Viktor Ovcharenko, Director of the Tax Policy Department at the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine (updated: Mr. Ovcharenko will speak instead of Deputy Minister of Finance Svitlana Vorobei);
• Ivan Mikloš, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Slovak Republic (2002–2006 and 2010–2012), Member of the Supervisory Board of the Centre for Economic Strategy;
• Bohdan Slutskyi, Economist at the Centre for Economic Strategy;
• Oleh Tsybulia, Head of the Legal Department at the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine;
• Kateryna Kolos, Senior Inspector at the Business Ombudsman Council.

Moderator: Iana Okhrimenko, Senior Economist at the Centre for Economic Strategy.

This project is supported by the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI) — the leading anti-corruption support programme in Ukraine, funded by the European Union, UK International Development, co-funded and implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the official position of the EUACI, Denmark, the EU, and UK.