Entrepreneurs in Chernihiv region are hindered by high taxes, imperfect legislation, and corruption

This is evidenced by the results of the study “Compliance with Business Rights in Chernihiv Oblast”, which was carried out by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights together with the Polissya Foundation for International and Regional Studies with the support of the Rule of Law Program of the International Renaissance Foundation.

The survey showed, in particular, that entrepreneurs in Chernihiv Oblast, on average, assess the level of freedom of entrepreneurial activity as below average. A third of respondents (34.0%) gave this indicator an average rating. At the same time, a quarter of respondents (24.5%) tend to consider this level to be the lowest.

The main factors that hinder entrepreneurial activity are the high level of taxes and fees (39.0%), imperfect legislation (28.2%), and corruption (18.2%).

Regarding the most frequently violated rights, Chernihiv entrepreneurs named: unfounded inspections and general human rights.

According to respondents who indicated violations of their rights, among the authorities that most often commit illegal actions against entrepreneurs, the two “leaders” are the police (25.5%) and the tax inspectorate (20.0%). Every tenth (10.0%) of the indicated category of respondents indicated the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the authorities in general among these entities.

Approximately every fifth surveyed entrepreneur considers the trade union to be the most effective structure for protecting the rights of entrepreneurs. At the same time, every tenth person counts only on the entrepreneurs themselves. Interestingly, 18.2% of respondents do not see any institution ready to effectively defend the rights of small businesses, and 36.4% could not give an unambiguous answer at all.

In the event of mass actions to protect the rights of entrepreneurs, only every eighth respondent would not take part in them. Half of those surveyed are ready to sign an appeal or other documents and/or personally take part in them, and every fifth person agrees to take on organizational functions. At the same time, 14.5% are ready to provide funding.

According to information received from state institutions, during 2012 in Chernihiv region there was a decrease in the number of administrative cases initiated against entrepreneurs. When considering administrative cases, 48.8% of the analyzed decisions are not in favor of the plaintiff – a small business entity. At the same time, the courts fully satisfied the claims of 35.7% of entrepreneurs’ claims, and in another 15.5% of cases, a decision was made to partially satisfy the claims.

According to Viktor Tarasov, executive director of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights: “One of the possible reasons for this situation is the need to strengthen the legal opportunities of entrepreneurs. The introduction of legal support mechanisms for representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, simplifying access to quality legal services should be an effective way to improve the situation regarding the protection of their rights.”

At the same time, monitoring of local media shows that the issue of compliance with entrepreneurial rights is rather inactively covered in regional media. In particular, regional print editions did not contain any publications about entrepreneurs at all during 2012, and the share of materials devoted to small business issues on regional news web resources was at the level of 15%.

The full report on the research results can be found at the following link: