IT Ukraine Legal Conference 2023: Results

Publication date:

23.06.2023

Publication from:

IT Ukraine

Ukraine’s largest conference on IT law and interaction between the tech sector and the government brought together more than 40 experts, 300+ offline participants and more than 1,000 online listeners.

The event was organised by the IT Ukraine Association with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. Members of the Parliament, representatives of the government and business, leading lawyers and financiers gathered together to focus on the main aspects of preserving the Ukrainian IT industry as a foundation for the further recovery of Ukraine.

This year’s IT Ukraine Legal Conference is of particular importance. The dedication with which the industry worked in the first year of the War and results it entered the second year with are impressive. United on key issues, we need to find and discuss the measures to make the IT industry stronger despite the existing challenges,

– Konstantin Vasyuk, Executive Director of IT Ukraine Association.

The participants of the event joined 5 panel discussions, as well as two parallel streams with extremely informative case studies on best business practices and successful experiences of business-to-government interaction from the market leaders.

The way the IT industry is developing now and how much time and knowledge it invests in victory is very important. The recovery of Ukraine must be thought about in advance, and I am impressed by how much IT is doing for the recovery of Ukraine right now. Such events are very important in order to hear and support each other,

– Olena Polyanchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Head of the Legal Department of UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group

During the first panel on the recovery and development of Ukraine’s economy and the issue of rebuilding Ukraine after the War, representatives from the state, the public sector, education, and the largest IT companies of Ukraine outlined problematic issues and urgent measures that the industry needs to be implemented right now. Despite the busy schedule, Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Mazur joined the discussion.

Key theses from the discussion panel:

Preservation of democracy and inclusiveness of Ukrainian identity are key factors for the development of the Ukrainian economy. In addition, the rule of law and economic freedom also remain fundamental. This is an important basis for the development of product companies in the first place.
Do not expect the “boom” of digitisation to last forever. Based on macro indicators and analysis of global player behaviour, there is an understanding that IT has slowed its growth rate worldwide. In Ukraine, it is also connected with the challenges of the War. Though, any business now remains tied to IT.
The future of Ukraine is based on innovation. This is a key advantage to work on in order to be a market leader in Europe and the world. In addition, now is the best time to invest in innovation.

In the focus of the discussion on preserving IT potential, representatives from the legal, IT communities and the government discussed new opportunities and initiatives for reserving professionals and creating an effective tool for temporary departure of key employees of IT companies working with foreign clients and investors. This is necessary for the economic and technological development of the state and the preservation of IT potential. In particular, Dmytro Zinchenko, the Legal expert of the Diia.City Project Office of the Ministry of Statistics, and Serhiy Smetanko, Director of the Department of Security and Defense Economics of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, joined the discussion on behalf of the government.

IT Ukraine Legal Conference creates opportunities for discussion of the most important issues the IT industry is facing. Now the question of its preservation is of utmost importance, because it is IT that will become the foundation for the recovery of Ukraine. Reserving of key professionals and temporary short-term departures is something in the absence of what the state risks losing one of the TOP-3 export industries of the country,

– Olena Samborska, President of IT Ukraine Association, Managing Director/HRD Luxoft Ukraine.

Key theses of the discussion:

The number of 900-1000 reserved IT professionals indicates that the reservation procedure needs improvement. A field in which more than 300,000 people work cannot limit itself to such a low rate of reservations. This is critical for its future. The rules for keeping military records also need improvement.
Currently, reservations under gig contracts are not provided, but the state is ready to consider effective mechanisms to change this.
Ukrainian IT companies compete with the entire world market, and in order to do this, their presence at events, meetings, and negotiations is important. This can be ensured only with the help of the governmental mechanism for the temporary departure of professionals.

The reservation issue remains unresolved for the IT industry. The number of those reserved today does not meet the real needs of the industry, and this is obvious. Companies have reasoned apprehensions about submitting lists for reserving, their consideration may be delayed, but for this period there are no guarantees that the person will be reserved as a result. There are other issues, as the procedure was created without taking into account the specifics of the IT industry,

– Oleksiy Uros, Business Development Director of Asters.

Two separate streams, during which 11 market leaders talked about successful case studies and their own experience on current IT business issues:

Stream No. 1 “Interaction between government and business” will be of interest to those who plan to implement joint projects with the government, are interested in Diia.City residency, or want to understand the tax consequences of relocating their business.
Stream No. 2 “Best Practices” will be interesting for those who plan to attract investments for business development, are interested in the current state of the financial market, promote services in a crisis or unformed market, or want to get rid of legal risks in business operations.

A separate panel discussion was devoted to challenges for the banking system and currency market of Ukraine. The representatives of the country’s largest banks and the head of the National Association of Banks of Ukraine Olena Korobkova joined the discussion.

Of the important things discussed at the panel:

The Ukrainian banking system is currently more stable than ever. Banks are ready to provide loans open to interaction with customers.
Currently, the NBU spends USD 2 billion a month through interventions to maintain the hryvnia exchange rate. However, it would be a mistake to devalue rates now.
At the beginning of the War, the banking system and customers experienced some inconveniences, which also affected business. But the prompt and balanced actions of the regulator led to the stabilisation of the banking system at that time and are a guarantee of the rapid recovery of the economy in the future.

After the invasion, we had to take “emergency measures” for the banking system operations, but now we are planning to lift the military restrictions. The ultimate goal is to return to the pre-war regime of currency regulation. Since the introduction of martial law, Ukraine has received USD 52 billion in foreign aid, 40% of which are grants that do not need to be paid back,

– Oleksiy Lupin, Director of the Open Markets Department of the NBU

The panel on the influence of governmental fiscal policy on the IT industry caused a lively discussion. Representatives from the legal community and business together with the members of the Parliament Danylo Hetmantsev and Yaroslav Zheleznyak discussed possible changes in the governmental fiscal policy, the nearest plans and expectations from stakeholders.

Of the important things discussed at the panel:

Ukraine finances two-thirds of the needs for victory through taxes, another third is borrowed within the state through military bonds.
The IMF does not require Ukraine to raise taxes. But there is a desire for equal taxation, creation of transparent market conditions, elimination of imbalances that have developed over the past 30 years.
Diia.City is a state tool for, in particular, tax support for the IT industry. Currently, there is some inequality between residents and non-residents of Diia.City, but the state is working to eliminate it.

Equal conditions for conducting business in tax matters are a guarantee of its preservation in Ukraine. The IT business pays taxes and expects the same from all other “players”. Therefore, a transparent fiscal policy of the state is important and the IT industry will support all initiatives aimed at its improvement,

– Kateryna Oliynyk, Vice-president for legal issues of IT Ukraine Association, Partner at Arzinger Law Office.

For economic development, Ukraine needs investments, in particular in the IT sector. During the panel, the participants discussed effective mechanisms for attracting foreign investment.

Among the trends are:

Investing in education is the best way to invest today. The second priority is investment in the development of one’s own business: this is the creation of jobs, additional income to the budget, implementation of ideas and gaining experience.
Ukraine should have its own stock market. This will be a significant push to stimulate investment internally, make investing simple and affordable.
Business participation in national pavilions abroad works effectively for development and investment attraction. The UK and Scandinavian markets remain the most attractive for Ukrainian IT companies.

Kostyantyn Magaletskyi, Vice President for International Cooperation of the IT Ukraine Association, ex-partner at Horizon Capital, investor in EdTech startups, urged investors to consider investing in Ukrainian startups: “Investment is always a risk, but investing in Ukrainian startups does not increase these risks, sometimes – on the contrary“.

This year the event was charitable. Thanks to the participants, it was possible to collect 66,000 hryvnias, which the IT Ukraine Association transferred to United24, a state fundraising platform.

More photos from the event are available on IT Ukraine Association FB.

We sincerely thank all the participants, speakers and partners of the event!

Bank partner – UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group. General partner – Asters. Gold partner- Arzinger. Silver partner – Crowe Mikhailenko. Silver partner – Juscutum. Silver partner – Tretten Lawyers – юридичні послуги в сфері іТ. Innovative partner – UNIT.City. Ikigai partner – Drivovo-Club.