Entrepreneurs of Chernihiv region: in the regional center, the level of business freedom is only…a third

In Ukraine, they were called bourgeois, but in Western Europe, these people are one of the most respected categories of the population. That is, one of the pillars of society, on which the same society is held. These citizens provide their subordinates with work and earnings, and also pay taxes and fees to the local budget. And all this cannot but arouse respect.

But what is respectable in the West, here is perceived as a manifestation of everyday life. With the difference that a responsible person is asked three times more – actually, for himself, for his business and team. Meet me, we are talking about entrepreneurs. I mean not big business, popularly called the oligarchate, but medium and small. The lowest-level businessmen also have to deal with lazy officials and a sluggish bureaucratic machine. Often, not only the nerves but also the rights of entrepreneurs suffer from such communication. Well, and of course their wallet. Let’s talk about how easy it is to do business in Chernihiv and what difficulties accompany it – right now.

Interesting facts

The Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, together with the Polissya Foundation for International and Regional Studies and Regional Studies with the support of the Rule of Law Program of the International Renaissance Foundation, also studied this issue – whether entrepreneurs can breathe freely in the glorious city on the Desna River. The researchers interviewed entrepreneurs from Chernihiv, Pryluky, Nizhyn, Bakhmach, as well as business residents of the relevant districts of the region – a total of 110 individual entrepreneurs.

Most of the respondents work in trade – about 60%, also many respondents – in the transport industry – 7.3%, and in the service sector.

It is also interesting that the level of business freedom in our city was rated by entrepreneurs as a three. That is, no one is bothering businessmen here, but they are not allowed to fly either. And here is what specifically prevents entrepreneurs from feeling like a fish in water in Chernihiv:

– High taxes and fees

– Imperfect legislation

– Corruption

– Bureaucracy

– Low purchasing power of the population.

The list is familiar, but what is most striking is that 4 out of 5 factors that received the largest number of votes are within the competence of state administration. That is, our government is working inefficiently for our own taxes, entrepreneurs are convinced. But, despite significant criticism, local authorities are unlikely to be able to do anything about it.

Serhiy Berestovy, an entrepreneur with many years of experience, chairman of the supervisory board of PrJSC “Seeds of Chernihiv Region”

notes:

– What is Chernihiv? It is a municipality. And in Germany, they do things differently with municipalities. In any federal state, local taxes in the structure of the general amount to 50%. And if some company wants to open a production facility here, the local authorities will provide it with tax breaks and this company will not pay 75% of local fees. After all, local residents will receive salaries here, and these funds will remain here. They will bring profit to the city. What is Sokolov being scolded for today? As the mayor? They say he does not allow entrepreneurship to develop, he raises taxes! But he does not manage any taxes! As a former deputy head of the regional state administration for financial and economic issues, I can say that in 2005 the share of taxes that remained in the city was greater than today. And today there is a solid subsidy from the budget. Everything that can be taken up is taken up, and then you are given some pitiful crumb-subsidy, as if from the lord’s shoulder. What incentive is there to develop then, if all the cream is skimmed off in Kyiv?

The right…to wait

Entrepreneurs are also dissatisfied with the fact that representatives of the authorities at various levels unreasonably often conduct various inspections and impose fines. They often violate general human rights – for example, the right to health care and medical assistance, to social protection, to the inviolability of private property, and so on. Businessmen also complain that some permitting structures do not conduct high-quality explanatory work.

Experienced entrepreneur

Oleksandr Panasyuk

gives the following example:

– When they switched to the new real estate registration system, they could not do it for 2 years. And what is most surprising, for some reason, officials chose the end of the year – November-December – for the transition. But this is the time when the majority of transactions are concluded in the real estate sector. People want to re-register and sell as much as possible. And the officials set the transition for this period in order to deliberately slow down the whole process. And the treasury received the least amount of deductions. It is also bad that when they switched to the new accounting system, the land and real estate were not registered, because no one knew how to do it. Only after six months were they allowed to legalize the construction. That is, the person who built the house lived in it in fact without rights and waited for months for some piece of paper that gave her the right to put this housing into operation.

– At the same time, Mr. Panasyuk admits that Chernihiv with its entrepreneurial troubles is far from unique. Such difficulties arise everywhere throughout Ukraine. By the way, probably guided by the same thoughts, about 38% of survey respondents noted that no one violates their rights in this city.

In turn, Oleksandr Panasyuk agrees

Olena Baraboshkina, head of the registration service department of the Main Department of Justice

, the institution that took over the function of registering real estate since January. Previously, this was the responsibility of the BTI.

Olena Baraboshkina also admits that the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the procedure for conducting state registration of real estate is written in an opaque manner. At the same time, officials do not want to explain to people all the intricacies of the process, so they have to contact the same body again and again, each time standing in kilometer-long queues. And this is simply an insult to human dignity! In general, the procedure for registering real estate in our country takes at least 2 weeks. While in Georgia these services are provided within one day. And with business registration from A to Z, Georgians can handle it in a couple of days, and residents of Singapore – in three. Ukrainians will need as many as 22 days for this!

The police and the tax office are making many people nervous

And our entrepreneurs are dissatisfied with the way they work in Ukraine and in Chernihiv in particular

– The police

– The tax inspectorate

– The Verkhovna Rada

– And the entire government in general.

And this is exactly the order in which businessmen’s antipathies are arranged. Because it is these institutions that most often, in their opinion, violate the rights of workers. But the prosecutor’s office, the labor inspectorate, and local administrations do not cause concern at all. Entrepreneurs prefer to seek justice from the arbitrariness of the authorities in trade unions. Or try to protect themselves with their own efforts. And they also succeed quite well. Just remember the resonance that the emergence of the Tax Maidan caused in society, when entrepreneurs went on strike against the adoption of the new Tax Code. But in the study of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and the Polissya Fund on this issue – self-defense – there is another – alarm bell: some are trying to do this with the help of informal power structures, using which they solve their issues – 1.8% of respondents.

Our businessmen do not believe in the fairness of the courts. Last year, only 3.6% of respondents among those surveyed went to court in business matters. And in vain: after all, as the survey shows – in 75% of cases the entrepreneur’s claim was fully or partially satisfied.

Viktor Tarasov, executive director of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights

also encourages entrepreneurs to more actively use all the legal instruments guaranteed to them by law:

– The need to strengthen the legal opportunities of entrepreneurs is currently at the forefront of the times. Moreover, these people are one of the most active segments of the population of our city and our country. Protest actions, which entrepreneurs often resort to, prove that they are heard and taken into account. Yes, some of them have suffered for this, it is a known fact that criminal proceedings have not yet been closed against the leaders of the Tax Maidan. However, entrepreneurs have proven that they can become a driving force capable of standing up for their rights. But the result would be many times more tangible if entrepreneurs not only shouted slogans, but also carefully studied Ukrainian legislation. Legal consultations of lawyers and lawyers are indispensable. I think that over the years in Ukraine this will gain signs of systematicity and legal support for representatives of small and medium-sized businesses will become more accessible, high-quality and timely. But that’s over time. And for now, the main thing is not to be afraid and try to achieve justice. No matter how grandiose it may sound. Because only those who try will be able to get a result. And luck smiles on the brave. Lawlessness loves silence, darkness and peace. And businessmen should publish the facts of violations of their rights, contact the media and lawyers. And this is the only way to overcome the arbitrariness of government structures and corruption.

And what about the neighbors?

Belarusian entrepreneurs claim that the problems of their Chernihiv colleagues are still small. In addition to high taxes and weak government support, Belarusians also have their own imperfect legislation to deal with.

For example, according to the laws of the Republic, individual entrepreneurs have the right to hire only relatives, not people who are professionally suitable for such work. Also, in Belarus, conditions for state and private entrepreneurship are unequal – the state sector often gets the tidbits in the form of large government orders, while private entrepreneurs are left with nothing. A newfangled demand for the country to leave the Customs Union has been added to the list of complaints. It turned out to be too unprofitable for Belarusians to trade on Russian terms.

Instead of an afterword

Yevgeny Grebennikov, a young entrepreneur

, who just a few years ago opened his own business in the field of online advertising and design, is convinced:

– For me, business is a game in which you need to take into account the general rules and be able to find ways out of different situations. It is only important to work in accordance with the norms of the law and that’s it. And despite all the problems, still try to start your own business. It is not as difficult and scary as it seems at first glance. But the opportunity to work for yourself, do what you love, gain new experience, skills and new, open horizons outweigh any difficulties.

According to the newspaper “Seven Days”