“Ukrainian legislation does not regulate the conditions for the independent payment of EUV to executors of international aid. What alternatives exist?”, — write: epravda.com.ua
Ukraine’s economy relies on the support of foreign partners, who do not postpone aid for post-war reconstruction. But the methods of employment of personnel of international technical assistance projects, which have developed historically, do not correspond to the realities of the time, primarily due to the inability of project executors to independently pay a single contribution to the mandatory state social insurance, better known as the Social Insurance Institution. Among the tools developed by international practice, technical assistance plays a special role, because it is provided free of charge for support and development. Widespread throughout the world as aid from so-called “developed countries” to “developing countries” to bridge the gap between them. Ukraine has received it for a long time. For example, treaties with the USA and the United Kingdom were concluded in 1992 and 1993. In times of war, international technical assistance supports the economy, agriculture, medicine, reconstruction and construction of infrastructure, housing for internally displaced persons, relocation of critical enterprises from combat zones, demining, and much more. Indirectly, it also frees up and directs more resources to defense. What are employment intermediaries for? Technical assistance projects are usually not implemented directly by the governments of other countries, but by companies and organizations selected by them through a competition, which have the experience and resources to meet the needs of the project. Many of them are engaged in this professionally all over the world, having accumulated considerable experience in technical assistance, and are aimed at the frugal use of resources during its implementation. Advertising: There are those who, due to their long-term presence in Ukraine, opened their own representative offices a long time ago. But it is often more efficient to implement the project without the related formalities and bureaucratic burden. For this purpose, the government of Ukraine, of course interested in helping, at the request of a foreign partner provides simple project registration and accreditation of the executor, after which the foreign company or organization directly opens accounts in Ukrainian banks, issues employees and numbers for vehicles, purchases goods, works, services or transfers grant funds for aid recipients, etc. International treaties usually exempt aid from taxation. Since the company is foreign, it does not report to the tax authorities in Ukraine. But in Ukraine, employers pay for employees, among other things, social security. And with this comes the need for intermediaries in employment.Advertisement: The State Enterprise “General Directorate for the Service of Foreign Representations”, or SE “GDIP”, traditionally also takes care of international technical assistance projects, paying mandatory payments related to employment. But the number of projects and involved employees is growing rapidly – projects are forced to turn to private companies that provide the so-called outstaffing service, that is, employment with further work at another employer. How to solve the problem? The obvious solution is the payment of the EUV without intermediaries. In 2019, the Ministry of Economy, trying to remedy the situation, assumed that the executors of international technical assistance projects can be considered as separate units of foreign enterprises, institutions and organizations located in Ukraine, and noted them in the form of an application for registration of the EUV payer. But the tax authorities consistently refuse to register them as EUV payers. In order to really put an end to this issue, a law is needed that would include the executors of the technical assistance project in the list of EUV payers in Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On the collection and accounting of a single contribution to mandatory state social insurance”.