Business quarantine in Ukraine

The Ukrainian legislation is being amended extremely fast these days. Parliament is providing the business with the instruments to get ready for the quarantine, that was approved last night by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

How this affects business:

For the period from March 18 – April 03, 2020
– railway, air and bus intercity and interregional passenger transport services are suspended (except for the possibility to travel by private transport only);
– the public overland transport continues to operate – transportation is allowed for 10 passengers max simultaneously;
– the operation of the subway is suspended in Kyiv, Dnipro, and Kharkiv.

City malls, cafes, restaurants, beauty salons, fitness centers shall remain closed for the period from March 17 – April 03, 2020. Food delivery is allowed.

As these measures are harsh, especially for small business, the Parliament has passed the following changes to the legislation:
• Such quarantine is considered a force majeure event;
• Employees are allowed to be put on unpaid leave; place of work and the working hours can be changed, with the option to work remotely (distance work);
• All the deadlines for submission of declarations have been changed (annual declaration can be submitted till July 01, 2020), cash register installation has been postponed (from October 01, 2020, to January 01, 2021, for those who sell technically sophisticated production and medicines, or whose income exceeds 1 mln. UAH) and extended through April 01, 2021, for other business entities (if they accept cash, bank cards).
• Persons, who fail to comply with the new regulation can be fined (17000 – 34000 UAH), plus criminal liability may be applied;
• PEs are relieved from the duty to pay the social tax (for March and April);
• No fine is applied in case the entity fails to pay in full or in time the social tax in March and April;
• No inspections by the state authorities, that were not preliminarily scheduled till May 31, 2020 (except for the pricing policy inspection, sanitary control).

For more details and how the new rules will affect your business, please contact our business administration team.