The Bureau of Economic Security Begins Work on Draft Legislation for the Pre-Trial Settlement of Tax Criminal Offenses: UNLA Proposes a Dedicated Parliamentary Advocacy Track
The Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine hosted the first meeting of a working group tasked with drafting legislative amendments to introduce a mechanism for the pretrial settlement of tax-related criminal offenses. The working group included representatives of the Ukrainian National Lobbyists Association.
The working group was established by order of Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi, Economic Security Bureau director. Its main task is to draft amendments to criminal and criminal procedure laws necessary for the introduction of a mechanism for the pretrial settlement of tax-related criminal offenses.
During the first meeting, the participants began discussing the concept of the future bill and the next steps in its preparation.
According to the meeting participants, the plan is to finalize the vision for legislative changes and prepare a draft document in the near future. They also plan to involve representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the working group’s efforts to facilitate expert discussion of the provisions of the future bill while it is still being drafted.
“We are finalizing our vision and the draft of this bill. We will also involve representatives of Parliament in our working group’s efforts—with their consent, of course—so that we can communicate with them, discuss the issues, and explain our positions.”
Representing the Ukrainian National Lobbyists Association (UNLA), Oleksiy Shevchuk, chairman of the UNLA board, and Oleksandr Leshchenko, a member of the board, joined the working group.
During the meeting, representatives of the UNLA also proposed a separate mechanism for supporting the future bill once it has been drafted. Specifically, they proposed establishing a parallel track to lobby for the final version of the bill as it moves through the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine—involving communication with relevant parliamentary committees and members of parliament.
This approach should ensure a more systematic review of legislative changes and facilitate their smooth passage through the parliamentary process.
The establishment of the working group marked the first step in a comprehensive effort to reform approaches to investigating tax-related criminal offenses and to implement modern mechanisms for their pretrial resolution, which is expected to help improve the business climate in Ukraine.
