You are reading Legal Corner for August 2024. If you are looking for legal updates from July of 2024, follow this link.

On 20 August, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted Law of Ukraine № 3894-IX “On the protection of the constitutional order in the field of religious organisations”.

According to this Law, the activities of foreign religious organisations are prohibited on the territory of Ukraine if they simultaneously meet the following criteria:

• They are in a state that is recognised as having committed or is committing armed aggression against Ukraine and / or temporarily occupying a part of the territory of Ukraine.
• They directly or indirectly (including through public statements by leaders or other governing bodies) support armed aggression against Ukraine.

The Russian Orthodox Church is prohibited from operating in Ukraine. The National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine will apply restrictive measures to foreign religious organisations whose activities in Ukraine are prohibited by Article 3 of this Law, by the procedure established by the Law of Ukraine ‘On sanctions’. The Law also amended Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On lease of state and municipal property’, which prohibits the transfer of municipal property for free use or loan or lease to a foreign religious organisation whose activities are prohibited in Ukraine and to legal entities owned or participated in by such a foreign religious organisation.

The law comes into force on 23 September 2024.

On 10 August, the Law of Ukraine № 3870-IX ‘On amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On local self-government in Ukraine” on improving the legal regulation of the institute of starostas and its activities under martial law” of 17 July 2024 came into force.

This Law improved the procedure for appointing starostas and establishing starosta districts. So now, under martial law:

• there is no public discussion of the starosta's candidacy;
• the starosta is approved by the local council for the term of its powers on the proposal of the village, settlement or city mayor at an open meeting;
• the candidacy of starosta may be submitted to the local council by at least half of the deputies from the total membership of the respective council, if the council does not support two candidates for starosta proposed by the village, settlement or city head;
• a village, settlement or city head may appoint a starosta unilaterally if the local council fails to support three starosta candidates in a row, or if the local council sessions are not held for more than 3 months without valid reasons;

In exceptional cases (their exhaustive list is specified in subparagraph 6 of paragraph 11-3 of Section V ‘Final and Transitional Provisions’ of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Local Self-Government in Ukraine’), a village, settlement or city head appoints a temporary acting starosta for the period of the existing starosta's absence.

On 30 August, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (CMU) adopted Resolution № 989 “On amendments to the Procedure for providing accommodation assistance to internally displaced persons”.

This Resolution extended the payment of the above-mentioned assistance until February 2025, but narrowed the circle of persons included in the family of an internally displaced person (IDP) by the following categories of persons:

• those who do not live with the recipients and are not related to them by common life, which is confirmed by documents, or pay alimony;
• missing persons/holders of captivity or abroad/deported from Ukraine;
• those who are in the temporarily occupied territories;
• those called up for military service during mobilisation, for a special period by the Law of Ukraine “On mobilisation preparation and mobilisation”; and
• those who are directly involved in the implementation of measures to ensure national security and defence, repulsion of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations.

Thus, in case of a decrease in the number of family members receiving the accommodation allowance for IDPs, the amount will be recalculated starting from the month in which the relevant information was received by the social protection authority or an application was submitted by the authorised representative of such a family. Such an application can be submitted by postal means or electronic means with an electronic signature. However, if there have been no changes in the family composition, no additional application is required to continue receiving such assistance.

On 30 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 990 “On amendments to the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine № 1178 dated 12 October 2022 and № 284 dated 12 March 2024”.

This act amended the following CMU Resolutions:

• № 1178 “On approval of the particularities of public procurement of goods, works and services for customers provided for by the Law of Ukraine ‘On public procurement’ for the period of the legal regime of martial law in Ukraine and within 90 days from the date of its termination or cancellation” of 12 October 2022;
• № 284 “On approval of the Procedure for use of funds provided for in the state budget for compensating expenses for humanitarian demining of agricultural land” of 12 March 2024.

This Resolution expanded the list of documents that serve as the basis for compensating agricultural producers for humanitarian demining of agricultural land plots, to restore agricultural production on such plots.

On 27 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 987 «Some issues of ensuring the negotiation process on Ukraine's accession to the European Union». According to this Government Resolution:

• established the Interagency Working Group on the issues of ensuring the negotiation process on Ukraine's accession to the European Union and the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to the EU law;
• the ‘Regulation on the Interagency Working Group on Ensuring the Negotiation Process on Ukraine's Accession to the European Union and Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to the Law of the European Union’ was approved;
• a staff of 36 working groups was formed to prepare Ukraine's negotiating positions during the negotiations with the European Union on the conclusion of the Agreement on Ukraine's accession to the European Union under the relevant sections of the EU negotiating framework. In particular, the working group on regional policy and coordination of structural instruments.

On 23 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 975 “On amendments to Resolution No. 1477 of 30 December 2022 ‘On approval of the Procedure and Conditions for providing in 2024 an additional subsidy from the state budget to local budgets for the exercise of powers of local self-government bodies in the de-occupied, temporarily occupied and other territories of Ukraine affected by the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation’”.

This Resolution approved the distribution of an additional subsidy from the state budget for 2024 of almost UAH 350 million.

On 23 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 968 “On amendments to certain Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to reduce the circulation of paper documents for providing certain types of state social support”.

This Resolution amended several Government acts regulating the procedure for providing various types of state social assistance, according to which:

• All these social benefits will now be granted by the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On administrative procedure”.
• Applications for such social benefits will be accepted only if they are sent by post or in electronic form through the official website of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, through the information systems of executive authorities and local self-government bodies integrated with it or the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services.

If the applicant is required to submit documents contained in information and communication systems (or if such documents can be obtained or confirmed through electronic information interaction with information and communication systems and public electronic registers of public authorities), such documents are not submitted by the applicant, and the application shall contain the information necessary to verify such applicant and obtain data from the relevant registers and provide him/her with the relevant state social assistance.

On 23 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 967 “On amendments to Resolution No. 413 dated 17 June 2015 ‘On the Procedure for notifying the State Tax Service and its territorial bodies of employment of an employee/conclusion of a gig-contract’”.

This Resolution amended the abovementioned Procedure and approved a new version of the notification form on hiring and termination of an employment contract with an employee.

On 23 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 964 “On amendments to certain Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in the field of waste management”.

This Resolution amended the following acts of the Government:

• “The Procedure for dismantling objects damaged or destroyed as a result of emergencies, military operations or terrorist acts”, approved by CMU Resolution No. 474 of 19 April 2022;
• “The Procedure for the management of waste generated in connection with damage (destruction) of buildings and structures as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, sabotage or works to eliminate their consequences”, approved by CMU Resolution of 27 September 2022 № 1073;
• “The Procedure for household waste management in special conditions”, approved by CMU Resolution № 625 of 19 June 2023;
• “The Procedure for classifying substances or items as by-products”, approved by CMU Resolution of № 1214 of 17 November 2023;
• “The Procedure for issuing, refusing to issue, and cancelling permits for waste treatment operations”, approved by CMU Resolution № 1328 of 19 December 2023.

On 23 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 957 “On amendments to Resolution № 812 dated 19 July 2022 ‘On approval of the Regulation on imposing special obligations on natural gas market participants to ensure public interest in the functioning of the natural gas market regarding the particularities of natural gas supply to heat producers and budgetary institutions’”. This Resolution extends the current special preferential gas price for heat producers and household consumers until 30 April 2025.

On 20 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 954 “Some issues of distributing additional subsidies from the state budget to local budgets for the exercise of powers of local self-government bodies in the de-occupied, temporarily occupied and other territories of Ukraine affected by the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation for 2024”.

This Resolution approved the allocation of an additional subsidy totalling over UAH 5 billion from the state budget to the budgets of certain municipalities in eight regions: Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv.

On 20 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 952 “On implementing a pilot project on providing state financial assistance to buyers of Ukrainian goods and services within the framework of the all-Ukrainian economic platform ‘Made in Ukraine’”.

This Resolution launched the implementation of the pilot, and approved both the Procedure for implementing it, and the Procedure for using funds in the state budget to support domestic demand for domestic goods and services. To participate in this project, Ukrainian producers and sellers must meet the established requirements and apply to join the experiment via the ‘Diia Portal’.

The cashback will be calculated in the amount of 10% of the value of Ukrainian goods purchased by the customer in the previous month. The amount of cashback for one customer for goods purchased in the previous month cannot exceed UAH 3,000.

The Resolution also sets out a list of services for which cashback funds may be spent.

On 16 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 951 “On amendments to the Procedure for conscripting citizens for military service during mobilisation and for a special period”.

This Resolution:

• stipulates that a call-up notice for persons liable for military service may be generated either using the Unified State Register of Conscripts and Persons liable for Military Service
• recruitment and social support;
• establishes the requirements to the summons, which will be formed using the Unified State Register of Conscripts, Persons Liable for Military Service and Reservists;
• stipulates that summonses generated with the help of the Unified State Register of Conscripts, Persons Liable for Military Service and Reservists may: be printed centrally and sent to persons liable for military service and reservists by means of postal services by registered mail with an inventory of the enclosures and a notification of delivery; be printed printed form; and
• approves the samples of summonses.

We would like to remind you that by Articles 1 and 18 of the Law of Ukraine “On mobilisation preparation and mobilisation’, executive bodies of village, settlement and city councils during mobilisation should provide timely notification (i.e., delivery (sending) of summonses to citizens) by the established procedure.

On 16 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 936 “On amendments to Resolution № 1200 of 19 August 2002 ‘On approval of the Procedure for providing the population and employees of civil protection units and specialised civil protection services with personal protective equipment, radiation and chemical reconnaissance devices, dosimetric and chemical monitoring’”.

This Resolution amended the above-mentioned Procedure to provide the population with radiation and chemical protection means in case of the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against Ukraine under martial law, and in case of an emergency at radiation and chemical hazardous facilities in peacetime and during a special period. It defines what kind of radiation and chemical protection means local governments must provide the following categories of citizens:

• unemployed population, including persons with disabilities of groups I and II, persons receiving old-age pensions or on preferential terms, as well as children under 16 years of age residing in the territory of the respective municipality;
• employees of local self-government bodies; and
• employees of business entities who are appointed to territorial formations and territorial specialised civil protection services and are not part of object formations and object specialised civil protection services.

Radiation and chemical protection equipment is issued to the public free of charge. The issued means are not subject to return.

On 16 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 930 “On amendments to the Procedure for conscripting citizens for military service during mobilisation and for a special period”.

This Resolution amends the above-mentioned Procedure to ensure that the population is provided with the procedure for issuing a deferment to persons liable for military service who are engaged in permanent care for a sick father or mother of their spouse, for a family member of the second degree of kinship who is a person with a disability of group I or II, etc. A new form of the ‘Application for Deferral’ and the ‘Act on Establishing the Fact of Permanent Care by a Person’ was approved. In addition, we remind you that the establishment of the fact that a person liable for military service provides permanent care for the above-mentioned persons is carried out by permanent commissions established by the executive bodies of village, town, city and district councils (by paragraph 61 of the Procedure).

On 13 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 940 “On amendments to the State Strategy for Regional Development for 2021-2027”.

This Resolution sets out the new version of the State Strategy for Regional Development for 2021-2027. The strategic goal of the state regional policy is to strengthen the social, humanitarian, economic and spatial cohesion of Ukraine, increase the level of security and well-being of citizens by meeting the needs of regions and territorial communities in restoring infrastructure and modernising the economy on the principle of ‘better than before’, effectively using the internal potential of the territories, and developing a system of democratic, decentralised and inclusive multi-level governance. Detailed information on the changes made to the State Strategy is reflected in the information brochure prepared by the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine.

On 13 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 923 “On amendments to certain Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to clarify the powers of civil protection entities and to invalidate certain Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine”.

This Resolution amended the following acts of the Government:

• CMU Resolution № 616 “On approval of the Regulation on voluntary civil protection formations” of 21 August 2013;
• “The Procedure for the establishment, tasks and functions of civil protection
• “Regulation on the Unified State System of Civil Protection”, approved by the CMU on 9 January 2014, No. 11;
• CMU Resolution № 101 “On approval of standard provisions on functional and territorial subsystems of the Unified State Civil Protection System” of 11 March 2015;
• CMU Regulation № 469 on specialised civil protection services, approved on 8 July 2015;
• CMU Regulation № 1052 on the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, approved on 16 December 2015;
• “The Procedure for Developing Action Plans for the Unified State System of Civil Protection”, approved by the CMU on 9 August 2017, No. 626.

So now, if an individual municipality does not have sufficient funds or means to establish and maintain a territorial civil protection unit, the functioning of such a unit can be ensured based on a cooperation agreement between several municipalities.

Logistical, technical and financial support for the activities of territorial civil protection units during the restoration work will be provided at the expense of the state and local budgets, as well as voluntary donations from legal entities and individuals, and other sources not prohibited by law.

To take measures to eliminate the consequences of emergencies, local governments develop appropriate plans for responding to possible emergencies on the territory of the hromada.

On 13 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 915 “On amendments to the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 6 dated 14 January 2015 and No. 1088 dated 27 December 2017”.

This Resolution amended the following CMU Resolutions:

• № 6 “Some issues of providing educational subventions from the state budget to local budgets” of 14 January 2015;
• № 1088 “On approval of the formula for distributing educational subventions between local budgets” of 27 December 2017.

So now, the educational subvention in terms of paying for downtime will cover the salary costs of only those pedagogical staff of educational institutions and inclusive resource centres located in Ukraine. Therefore, to receive a subvention for the remuneration of pedagogical staff of general secondary education institutions that have been declared idle, subvention administrators must submit information on the actual number of such pedagogical staff, who are also located in Ukraine, by the 10th of each month.

On 9 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 925 ‘On Amendments to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine № 314 dated 18 March 2022 “Some Issues of Ensuring the Conduct of Economic Activity under Martial Law”. According to the amendments, non-residents (foreign companies, organisations) operating in Ukraine exclusively through permanent establishments may, during martial law, acquire the right to carry out economic activities for the construction of facilities that are classified as having medium (CC2) and significant (CC3) consequences without obtaining a licence for the construction of facilities that are classified as having medium (CC2) and significant (CC3) consequences. Such activities must be carried out based on a declaration of economic activity by a non-resident, which contains the list of information specified in Annex 1-1 to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 314 of 18 March 2022 (as amended by Government Resolution № 925).

On 9 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 914 “On amendments to the Procedure for implementing the programme of state guarantees of medical care for the population in 2024”.

This Resolution changes the procedure for paying for medical services provided by a healthcare facility whose medical staff and property are transferred to the operational management of another healthcare facility.

On 9 August, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted Resolution №911 ‘Some issues of evacuation measures and effective response to mass displacement of the population’. This Resolution:

• updated the ‘Procedure for Evacuation in the Event of a Threat or Occurrence of Emergency Situations’, approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 841 dated 30 October 2013.
• the ‘Model Regulation on the Coordination Headquarters for Evacuation Measures and Effective Response to Mass Displacement of Population’ (hereinafter referred to as the Coordination Headquarters) was approved.

The Coordination Headquarters is a temporary advisory body established to facilitate interagency coordination of actions of central and local executive authorities, other state bodies, local self-government bodies, military formations established by the laws, public associations on the issues of organising and conducting evacuation of the population and effective response to mass displacement of the population, cooperation and pooling of resources.

The Coordination Headquarters may be established

• at the state level - by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
• at the regional level - by regional state administrations (military administrations);
• at the local level - by district state administrations (military administrations).

On 9 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 909 “Some issues of implementing the pilot project on introducing the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level”.

This Resolution launched a pilot project to form a unified approach to state regulation of territory planning, simplify the mechanism, and ensure accessibility and transparency of decision-making by state and local governments on creation, updating and approving urban planning documentation, including through the introduction of an integrated information system of the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level. This Resolution approved:

• “The procedure for implementing a pilot project on the introduction of the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level”;
• “The procedure for maintaining the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level during the implementation of the pilot project on introducing the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level”.

Local self-government bodies are recommended:

• to gain access to electronic user accounts of the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level for authorised officials of local self-government bodies (within 1 month from the date of commencement of the Urban Planning Cadastre);
• to enter into the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level the current urban planning documentation for the relevant territory, by the requirements of the “Procedure for maintaining the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level” (within 6 months from the date of commencement of the Urban Planning Cadastre).

Therefore, from now on, the provision of urban planning conditions and restrictions, construction passport for the development of a land plot by the authorised urban planning and architecture authorities will be subject to the entry of the relevant urban planning documentation into the Register of Urban Planning Documentation of the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level.

On 6 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 895 “On amendments to the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1388 dated 7 September 1998 and No. 584 dated 10 May 2022”.

This Resolution amended the following CME Resolutions:

• № 1388 “On approval of the Procedure for state registration (reregistration) and deregistration of cars and buses, as well as self-propelled machines constructed on the chassis of cars, motorcycles of all types, brands and models, trailers, semi-trailers,
• № 584 “On driver training and state registration of vehicles during the period of martial law in Ukraine” of 10 May 2022.

The amendments expanded the list of documents confirming the legitimacy of the acquisition of vehicles and their components for state registration (re-registration) of vehicles. Thus, the following documents are now also included:

• a declaration on the list of goods recognised as humanitarian aid, which is drawn up by Annex 1 to the Procedure for the passage and accounting of humanitarian aid under martial law, approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 953 ‘Some issues of passage and accounting of humanitarian aid under martial law’ dated 5 September 2023; and
• vehicle transfer and acceptance certificate in the form according to Annex 2 (for state registration of vehicles imported into the customs territory of Ukraine as humanitarian aid based on a declaration on the list of goods recognised as humanitarian aid by the recipient of humanitarian aid).

According to the amendments, for the state registration of vehicles in the form of passenger cars imported into the customs territory of Ukraine based on a declaration on the list of goods recognised as humanitarian aid, a document confirming their value (an appraisal report or an expert opinion on their average market value) must be attached to such a declaration.

This Resolution shall enter into force on 9 September 2024.

On 6 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 892 ‘On Amendments to the Procedure for Exercising Powers by the State Treasury Service in a Special Regime under Martial Law’. This Resolution expands the list of services for which payments will be made by the State Treasury Service in the second instance.

On 6 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 888 “Some issues of implementing a pilot project to organise the provision of inpatient care and supported accommodation to internally displaced elderly persons and persons with disabilities based on the ‘money follows the person’ principle” .

This Resolution launched the pilot project, and approved both the procedure for implementing it, and the Procedure for using funds in the state budget for implementing it . As well as being guided in their activities by the Resolution, executive bodies of local self-government are recommended to:

• identify persons responsible for organising the provision of these social services in municipalities; and
• identify internally displaced elderly persons and persons with disabilities who need social services of inpatient care and supported accommodation, assess their individual needs and provide them with the necessary assistance.

On 6 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 886 “On amendments to the List No. 2 of industries, works, professions, positions and indicators for works with hazardous and difficult working conditions, full-time employment in which gives the right to an old age pension on favourable terms”.

This Resolution sets out in a new version Section XXIV ‘Healthcare and social assistance’ of the above-mentioned List № 2. Thus, the list of positions of medical, pharmaceutical and social workers entitled to retirement on preferential terms has been updated.

On 2 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 897 “On amendments to the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 220 dated 3 March 2004 and No. 1051 dated 17 October 2012” .

The act amended the following CMU Resolutions:

• № 220 “On approval of the model land lease agreement” of 3 March 2004; and
• № 1051 ”On approval of the Procedure for maintaining the state land cadastre’ dated

As a result of these changes:

• the terms for payment of rent for the use of municipally owned land plots acquired through land auctions have been extended (during the first year of their use - up to 5 working days, starting from the next year - by Article 287 of the Tax Code of Ukraine);
• for the period of martial law, the establishment and change of the designated purpose of a land plot will be carried out considering the particularities specified in subparagraph 11 of paragraph 27 of Section X ‘Transitional Provisions’ of the Land Code of Ukraine.

On 02 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 868 ‘Some Issues of Remuneration of Specialists in Support of War Veterans and Demobilised Persons’. According to this act of the Government, the range of grades under the Unified Tariff Scale for a ‘specialist in support of war veterans and demobilised persons’ is defined, and it is also stated that he or she is paid a supplement for the special nature of work in the amount of up to 50% of the official salary for the actual time worked. The specific amount of the allowance will be determined by the head of the relevant institution, depending on the workload, timeliness and quality of services provided, and the absence of complaints.

On 2 August, the CMU adopted Resolution № 866 “On approval of the Methodology for assessing security risks in the education system related to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine”.

By the above Methodology, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine will determine every quarter the list of hromadas whose educational institutions of all types may suffer or have already suffered from the consequences of hostilities and will rank them according to this risk.

On 13 August, the CMU issued Resolution № 763-r “On the distribution of subventions from the state budget to local budgets for the purchase of equipment, creation and modernisation (reconstruction and overhaul) of canteens (catering units) of general secondary education institutions in 2024”.

This act allocated almost UAH 1.5 billion in subventions to the budgets of individual municipalities of the following 21 regions: Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovs'k, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi and Chernihiv.

On 13 August, the CMU issued Resolution № 754-r “On the distribution of subventions from the state budget to local budgets to provide quality, modern and affordable general secondary education ‘New Ukrainian School’ in 2024”.

This act allocated UAH 1.4 billion of these education subventions from the state budget to all oblast budgets of Ukraine.

On 2 August, the CMU issued Resolution № 735-r ‘Some Issues of Digital Transformation’.

This act of the Government approved the ‘Priority areas and tasks (projects) of digital transformation for 2024-2026’. It specifies 28 areas of future digitalisation, including: justice; law enforcement; defence; healthcare; development of territorial communities and territories; economy and trade; competition policy; state property; regulatory policy; finance; environmental protection; social policy; education and science; reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories; social protection of war veterans, persons with special services to the Motherland, and affected participants of the Revolution of Dignity; culture and information policy; youth and sports; foreign affairs; internal affairs; energy; agriculture; fisheries; Veterinary, phytosanitary and sanitary-epidemiological welfare; infrastructure; statistics; cyber defence; anti-corruption activities; principles of digital transformation.

On 2 August, the CMU issued Resolution № 722-r “On amendments to the annex to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 523 dated 16 May 2014 ‘Some issues of providing administrative services through Administrative Service Centres’”. By this act, the Government adjusted the list of administrative services provided by local governments in the exercise of their delegated powers, which are mandatory for provision through administrative service centres.

On 2 August, the CMU issued Resolution № 717-r ‘On Amendments to Annex 12 to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1211 dated 27 December 2023 “On Approval of the Distribution of Additional Subsidies for the Expenditures Transferred from the State Budget for the Maintenance of Educational and Healthcare Institutions between Local Budgets in 2024”.

This Government act sets out in a new version the distribution of additional subsidies for the implementation of expenditures transferred from the state budget for the maintenance of educational and healthcare institutions between local budgets of Lviv Oblast in 2024 in the total amount of over UAH 180 million.

On 7 August, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MESU) published its Order № 1112 “On approval of the Procedure and Conditions for obtaining general secondary education in municipal general secondary education institutions under martial law in Ukraine”. The requirements of this order must be implemented by communal general secondary education institutions as of the beginning of the 2025/2026 academic year.

On 2 August, the MESU published its Order №1093 “On approval of recommendations for assessment of learning outcomes”. This order regulates the procedure for assessing the learning outcomes of students in grades 5-9 who receive education by the State Standard of Basic Secondary Education.

On 2 August, the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine published its Order № 221. The Order amends the list of territories in which military operations are or were conducted or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation.

On 27 August 2024, the MESU published its recommendations on the organisation of the educational process in preschool education institutions for the 2024/2025 academic year.

The document identifies priority areas of work for such educational institutions and several guidelines to ensure quality and safe preschool education in the face of existing challenges. It provides for the possibility of organising the educational process in preschool education institutions in full-time, mixed and remote formats, depending on the security situation in the municipality. It also provides recommendations on establishing short-term groups to ensure maximum accessibility of preschool education and detailed instructions on the arrangement of shelters, an algorithm for staff actions during an air raid, and requirements for ensuring information security.

On 23 August, the MESU published its letter № 1/15281-24 “On the organisation of the 2024/2025 academic year in general secondary education institutions”.

The letter states that the structure and duration of the school week, school day, classes, rest between them, and forms of organisation of the educational process are determined by the pedagogical council of the educational institution - within the time provided for by the educational programme, by the amount of academic workload set by the curriculum, and taking into account the age characteristics, physical, mental and intellectual development of students, security features of the region, etc.

On 23 August, the State Tax Service of Ukraine issued clarifications on the collection of land tax for land plots.

Article 283 of the Tax Code of Ukraine defines the categories of land plots that are not subject to land tax, including land plots contaminated with explosive objects, as well as land plots that are unsuitable for use due to the potential threat of contamination with explosive objects, or if village, town or city councils, and military administrations have decided to establish tax exemptions for the payment of local taxes and/or fees by the procedure set out in paragraph 283.2.

On 27 August, the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine published for public discussion the draft Law of Ukraine “On amendments to the Laws of Ukraine on improving the legislation on drinking water supply and sewerage’.

Comments and suggestions to the text of the draft law are accepted within 1 month from the date of its publication to the following email address: o.koziichuk@mtu.gov.ua.

On 13 August, the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine published for public discussion the draft Law of Ukraine “On the basic principles of housing policy”.

Comments and suggestions to the text of the draft Law are accepted within 1 month from the date of its publication to the following email address: i.sarapina@mtu.gov.ua.

On 13 August, the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine published for public discussion a draft CMU Resolution “On the implementation of a pilot project to create an apartment building management system”.

Comments and suggestions to the text of the draft CMU Resolution are accepted within 1 month from the date of its publication to the following email addresses: i.oleinikova@mtu.gov.ua & n.khorieva@mtu.gov.ua.

The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court expressed its legal position on the time limit for applying to the court in cases related to non-compliance with labour legislation (Resolution dated 11 July 2024 in case 990/156/23).

Article 233 of the Labour Code of Ukraine sets out the timeframe for an employee to apply to court to resolve a labour dispute. This provision applies to all employees, including those in the civil service or local government. The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court believes that Article 233 of the Labour Code should be applied when determining the time limits for applying to administrative courts to resolve disputes related to non-compliance with labour remuneration legislation, including claims of persons who are (were) in the public service.

The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court expressed its legal position on the legality of dismissal of the head of a municipal enterprise based on paragraph 5 of part one of Article 41 of the Labour Code of Ukraine (Resolution of 10 July in case № 573/1020/22).

The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court concluded that the dismissal of the head of a municipal enterprise based on paragraph 5 of part one of Article 41 of the Labour Code of Ukraine (due to termination of powers of officials) is illegal, as this rule of law can only be applied to a member of the executive body of a business entity (for example, a member of the board, directorate, etc.).

Thus, neither employees of municipal enterprises, institutions, organisations, nor local self-government officials may be dismissed based on paragraph 5 of part one of Article 41 of the Labour Code of Ukraine (due to termination of powers of officials).

The Supreme Court expressed its legal position on whether local governments are legally liable for the consequences of the activities of business entities belonging to the municipal sector of the economy (Resolution of 16 August in case № 925/80/23).

The Supreme Court concluded that local governments are responsible for the consequences of the activities of business entities belonging to the municipal sector of the economy on the grounds, within the limits and in the manner prescribed by law.

However, the Supreme Court states that a local government body that is the founder of a debtor utility company and has decided to liquidate it is not the entity that should bear subsidiary (additional) liability for the obligations of the said utility company to energy suppliers. After all, this provision of the law refers solely to the possibility for a member of a heat supply or heat generating organisation to ensure repayment of such organisation's debt to energy suppliers by applying the types of security for the fulfilment of obligations provided for in Article 546 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, in particular, if the founder is a guarantor of such debtor or a pledgor - a property guarantor on a contractual basis (paragraph 60 of the Supreme Court's Resolution).