PRESS RELEASE

Kyiv IT Cluster expressed their position on the Action City initiative

Kyiv, March 27, 2021

Functioning of the legal regime “Дія Сіті”, proposed in the second half of 2020 by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine (hereinafter – the “Ministry”), which later took the form of bills 4303 (“On Stimulating the Digital Economy in Ukraine”), have caused a great deal of discussion in broad expert circles representatives of the so-called “Product” companies, and among the representatives of “outsourcing” companies.

As a public association uniting representatives of various spheres of the IT industry, Kyiv IT Cluster cannot stay away from the socially important topic for the industry of regulating the existing model of relations, as well as the proposed methods of its reform. Moreover, given the wide professional resonance, mass discussion, individual collective appeals of citizens (in the form of petitions) and public professional dialogues between government officials and individual citizens on online resources, we want to report the following.

Over the past two weeks, the Ministry has announced several radical changes in the concept of creating a separate legal framework for the IT industry. In particular, the rules on taxation, joining a self-regulatory organization and other critical factors in the effective operation of the industry have changed. Moreover, some specific parameters and legal conditions are currently not definitively fixed in any or several bills. Thus, in the context of the existing final uncertainty as to how the legal regime of “Дія Сіті” will function, the lack of clear answers to some critical issues of productive work and effective development of the IT industry in Ukraine, currently the Kyiv IT cluster cannot express its support for this initiative.

At the same time, the Kyiv IT cluster expresses its gratitude to the Ministry for the desire to create a special regime for regulating the IT industry in Ukraine, because the importance of the IT industry in the modern world and today’s economy is difficult to overestimate. The Kyiv IT Cluster team appreciates the time and efforts of the team led by the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov, and is sincerely grateful for the repeated meetings on communication issues, answers to the most pressing questions regarding the functioning of “Дія Сіті ”, as well as the openness of the Ministry’s representatives to cooperation.

Finally, the Kyiv IT cluster understands the Ministry’s position and aspirations to create a radically new legal framework for regulating relations in the Ukrainian IT environment, and as an organization that works closely with startups, understands that it is always difficult to create a new one. Kyiv IT Cluster, as well as some of its members, is ready to continue a substantive discussion with the authorities and other stakeholders on improving the legal regime of the industry.

For more information, please contact Artem Komolov, Kyiv IT Cluster Communication Manager, +380 (67) 506 1#nbsp;507.