The President signed laws on corporate governance reform and electronic agricultural receipts

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed laws No. 5593d on corporate governance reform and No. 9266 on electronic agricultural receipts. Their signing was important for Ukraine to receive the March tranche from the World Bank for $1.4 billion.

Corporate governance reform

Law No. 5593d amends some legislative acts to improve the corporate governance of companies in which the state is a shareholder (founder, participant). In particular, it brings Ukrainian legislation into line with the OECD principles of corporate governance, so that the management of state-owned companies is more transparent and efficient. The law should simplify and modernize financial planning processes, expand the powers of supervisory boards, and resolve problematic management issues.

Here is another innovation of the law:

• supervisory boards will conduct annual independent audits of financial statements; will have more authority to approve the remuneration and remuneration of the heads of state-owned enterprises and the appointment and dismissal of the heads of economic structures, etc.;
• provide for the transfer of responsibility for approving financial plans to supervisory boards for all state-owned companies that have a supervisory board. The Cabinet of Ministers will agree on the appointment and dismissal of managers of those enterprises whose management functions it performs.

Electronic agricultural receipts

Law No. 9266 will create a new financial instrument that will be a modern analogue of paper agricultural receipts. The law will also expand the range of entities that have the right to issue electronic agricultural receipts at the expense of agricultural service cooperatives (they are the owners of land plots or the right to use them).

The law provides that the debtor can fulfill his obligations under the electronic agrarian note by pledging the future harvest, live animals, products of animal and plant origin, products of their primary processing, guaranteeing the rights and legal interests of creditors.