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Industrialists, entrepreneurs and employers of Ukraine have summed up their performance in 2016 and outlined plans of the business community for next year. In particular, they noted the first positive results of joint efforts made by the business circles: the National Committee for Industrial Development has been established; the "Ukraine is a Country of Entrepreneurs" program is being implemented. Further, work with parliamentarians has been organized. Ideas from the public to develop the country is presented by the "Transformation of Ukraine" parliamentary group, the Office of the Business Representative in parliament. This time the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) has cemented relationship and cooperation with Members of Parliament by signing a memorandum with the Deputy Control inter-faction group of parliamentarians. These issues were covered by a meeting of the ULIE Board in Kyiv.
The document provides for coordination of partners' efforts to fight corruption, lobby and adopt relevant legislation, remove similar obstacles to doing business, start up own business, raise investment funds, and others.
"Today, the joint efforts with our friends and partners bring positive results. The authorities have finally realized that deindustrialization is an unacceptable process in such an industry-oriented state. There are positive changes in the field of aerospace and wagon building," ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh said. In his words, there is much work ahead to switch from words to deeds. After all, GDP does not demonstrate noticeable growth so far; the level of the population's financial solvency is low while necessary tax, customs, monetary reforms to stimulate business activity have not been enacted yet.
The process of strengthening the role of social dialogue in the country is under way. Recently, the largest union of employers – the Association of the Employers Organizations of Ukraine, the Federation of Employers of Ukraine – discussed measures to raise the efficiency of the joint representative body of employers in their dialogue with the authorities. They formulated the first proposals they agreed on and sent them to the country's leaders and the government.
The business community focused its attention on the most practical initiatives whose implementation began in 2016 and will continue in future. The "Ukraine is a Country of Entrepreneurs" project will further be developed, according to the ULIE president. A number of forums held in Kyiv and regional centers gathered over 7,000 young businesspeople, experts, representatives of local administrations. The local authorities expressed readiness to partly offset rates of loans issued for the development of business and startups, using mechanisms of public-private partnership. In particular, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko announced the allocation of UAH 10 million for these purposes. After the forum, revised regional programs for the support of entrepreneurship and businesses were presented in the cities of Lutsk, Uzhgorod, Rivne, and other municipalities. These are first positive steps towards the ambitious goal of the project to create one million jobs in Ukraine.
The ULIE Board approved proposals regarding international business relations in the wake of a recent Ukrainian-Lithuanian forum with the participation of the Presidents of the two countries along with recommendations of the newly created Spain-Ukraine Business Council, and a number of forums and meetings with partners from Austria, Canada, Israel, Iran, the United States, and others.
The ULIE also awarded diplomas and gifts to partners from media organizations and experts.
"The year 2017 promises to be very active. And we'll proceed not only with the implementation of the initiatives we've already started, but will press for the achievement of visible and tangible results for the Ukrainian economy and our citizens," the head of the Ukrainian business community said.