​Ukraine we want you to know: a large-scale business Forum on promoting cooperation between Ukraine and the Czech Republic took place in Prague

On October 26 in Prague, a large-scale business Forum “Ukraine we want you to know”, gathered about 100 representatives of large and medium-sized Czech business and government institutions. The main topic of the event was a discussion of the investment attractiveness of Ukraine and the positive changes that are currently taking place in the country and promoting the attraction of foreign business. The event was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic, with the support of GOLAW law firm.

Among speakers: the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Czech Republic Yevhen Perebyinis, Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Volodymyr Omelyan, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic Rene Neděla, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Czech Republic Boržyvoy Mynarž, Director of Strategic Development Department of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine Volodymyr Buchyk, Business Ombudsman in Ukraine Algirdas Semeta, Deputy Director of Investment Attraction Office in Ukraine “UkraineInvest” Ivan Yuryk, Director General of the State Enterprise “CETAM” Viktor Vyshniov, partner of one of the leading law firms in the Czech Republic ŘANDA HAVEL LEGAL Jan Havel. GOLAW lawyers, who spoke at the Forum, were the Managing Partner Valentyn Gvozdiy, Senior Partner Sergiy Oberkovych, Partners Max Lebedev, Kateryna Manoylenko and Iryna Kalnytska. Moderator of the event was Irzy Hansel, Director of the Foreign Department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Czech Republic.

The main part of the Forum was divided into three parts: presentation of Ukraine in terms of economic attractiveness, discussion of the latest legislative changes that will facilitate business conduct in Ukraine and practical workshop for banks and financial institutions.

During the first part of the event, the speakers told the audience about the dynamic changes in Ukraine’s infrastructure, which play an important role for foreign business, that focuses on import/export of goods in Ukraine; prospects for the development of Ukraine’s energy sector, namely, the National Renewable Energy Action Plan for the period up to 2020; electronic trading system “CETAM”; opportunities of Ukrainian Investment Attraction Office “UkraineInvest”; services for business protection in state authorities, which are currenly provided by the Council of the Business Ombudsman in Ukraine, and others.

The second part of the Forum was devoted to the latest changes in legislation that promote better legal protection of foreign business in Ukraine. Thus, GOLAW lawyers discussed improvements in the country’s judicial system, opportunities for investors under the new Law on LLC, as well as transformation of the currency regulation system and the recently adopted Law on Currency. In addition, the partner of the law firm ŘANDA HAVEL LEGAL explained in detail the peculiarities of export transactions insurance between the Czech Republic and Ukraine.

The third part of the event was based exclusively on practical advice for representatives of banks and financial institutions. Using a hypothetical case, the workshop audience learned about the most common fraudulent schemes used by borrowers to deprive the bank of the ability to enforce foreclosure on collateral. The lawyers of the firm from their own experience told about how the bank can protect its rights from unfair actions of the debtors and about the features of collateral foreclosure in court and extrajudicial order. Workshop audience was able to personally verify the success of such cases in Ukraine and understand how to prevent such situations and minimize possible risks.

We thank all the speakers and guests who took the time to join our Forum. Look forward to seeing you at our new events!

Photos form the event available at https://goo.gl/5EjZJr