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On January 12, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the "Parliament") adopted the Law of Ukraine №2867-IX "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Cooperation of Municipalities" to Regulate Certain Issues of Cooperation of Municipalities". This Law of Ukraine, in particular:

• regulated the procedure for municipalities to join already organized cooperation under a simplified procedure;

• defined a new type of agreement on cooperation between municipalities that combines several different forms of cooperation;

• it is allowed to hold meetings of commissions for the preparation of a draft cooperation agreement remotely with a mandatory video recording of meetings and their broadcast on the official website of all cooperation subjects.

On January 12, 2023, the Parliament adopted the Law of Ukraine № 2887-IX "On Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment". It is aimed at updating the regulation of relations in the provision of centralized and non-centralized sewerage services. This Law of Ukraine, in particular:

• defines guarantees of consumer rights in the field of sewerage;

• updated the powers of central executive authorities and local governments in this area;

• formulated requirements for local rules for acceptance of wastewater into centralized sewage systems of a settlement;

• defines the obligations of the parties to the relations in the field of sewage disposal.

The Law of Ukraine was adopted to fulfill the requirements of Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment.

On January 12, 2023, the Parliament adopted the Law of Ukraine № 2868-IX "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on the Regulation of State Social Standards and State Social Standards for the Provision of Services in the Field of Physical Culture and Sports".

The Law sets out in a new wording Article 14 of the Law of Ukraine "On State Social Standards and State Social Guarantees", which updates the list of state social standards for the provision of services by entities in the field of physical culture and sports. So now the state social standards for the provision of services in the field of physical culture and sports will include:

• the list, minimum standards of expenditures (financing), and the scope of services in the field of physical culture and sports, including free and preferential services;

• indicators of accessibility and quality of services in the field of physical culture and sports, including free and preferential services, for persons with disabilities;

• standards for providing the population with physical culture and sports facilities and sports facilities, including those accessible to persons with disabilities.

In addition, the Law of Ukraine expanded the content of the principles of state policy in the field of physical culture and sports by amending Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine "On Physical Culture and Sports". The implementation of the Law will help to increase the volume and quality of services in the field of physical culture and sports provided to the population, in particular, the standards for the provision of the population with physical culture and sports facilities and sports facilities, including access to them for persons with disabilities.

On January 12, the Parliament adopted resolutions № 2860-IX and № 2861-IX authorizing the Head of the Yuvileinyi village military administration of Kherson district, Kherson region, as well as the Heads of the Horokhivska village and Snihurivska city military administrations of Bashtanka district and Pervomaiska village military administration of Mykolaiv district, Mykolaiv region, to exercise the powers specified in part two of Article 10 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law."

On January 31, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (the "Government") adopted Resolution № 78 "Some Issues of Providing Subventions from the State Budget to Local Budgets in 2023 to Support Certain Institutions and Measures in the Healthcare System". It approved the "Procedure and Conditions for Providing Subventions from the State Budget to Local Budgets in 2023 to Support Certain Institutions and Measures in the Healthcare System".

The subvention may be used exclusively for:

• payment of current expenses of healthcare institutions, namely:

  • baby homes;

  • blood service institutions;

  • medical and social expert commissions;

  • forensic medical examination bureaus in the period from January 1 to June 30, 2023;

• financing of driver examinations to detect the state of alcohol, drug, or other intoxication or being under the influence of drugs that reduce attention and reaction time;

• provision of medicines for children under three years of age suffering from certain diseases.

The Resolution also provides for the distribution of subventions from the state budget to local budgets to support certain institutions and activities in the healthcare system among all regional budgets and the budget of the city of Kyiv in 2023, totaling almost UAH 287 million.

Clause 8 of the resolution also recommends that local governments, if necessary, allocate:

• to plan and pay from local budgets in addition to the amount of the subvention for the expenditures specified in paragraph 3 of the "Procedure and Conditions" approved by this resolution, including the repayment of budgetary obligations of previous periods registered with the State Treasury Service;

• transfer the subvention for certain expenditures in the form of an inter-budgetary transfer to the relevant local budget when there are not enough budgetary institutions and other municipal economic entities providing public services on the territory of the municipality.

Paragraph 9 of the Resolution also emphasizes that the transfer of subventions between local budgets is carried out based on the decisions of the relevant local councils.

On January 30, 2023, the Government adopted Resolution № 90 "On Amendments to Clause 1 of Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1364 of December 6, 2022 "Some Issues of Forming the List of Territories in Which Military Operations are (Were) Conducted or Temporarily Occupied by the Russian Federation". It states that:

• territories for which the date of completion of hostilities (date of termination of the possibility of hostilities) or temporary occupation by the Russian Federation is not determined are considered to be in hostilities or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation;

• equating the territories for which the date of termination of the possibility of hostilities is not determined to the territories where hostilities are conducted does not apply to:

  • suspension of enforcement actions, prohibition of the opening of enforcement proceedings, and taking measures to enforce decisions in cases established by clause 102 of Section XIII "Final and Transitional Provisions" of the Law of Ukraine "On Enforcement Proceedings";

  • providing users with access to the unified and state registers kept by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

On January 27, 2023, the Government adopted Resolution №76 "Some Issues of Implementation of the Provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization" on the Reservation of Persons Liable for Military Service for the Period of Mobilization and Wartime". It was approved:

• The procedure for reserving persons liable for military service on the list of persons liable for military service during martial law;

• The procedure and criteria for determining enterprises, institutions, and organizations that are critical to the functioning of the economy and the livelihoods of the population during a special period.

Reservations for persons liable for military service, including those employed by local self-government bodies, if necessary to ensure the functioning of these bodies, will be made in accordance with the decision of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine. Persons liable for military service will be granted a postponement of the call-up for military service during mobilization, the period of which may not exceed:

• the period of mobilization (for persons liable for military service who work in local self-government bodies)

• six months for persons liable for military service who work at the following (including municipal) enterprises, institutions, and organizations:

  • which have been assigned mobilization tasks;

  • producing goods, performing works, and rendering services necessary to meet the needs of the Armed Forces and other military formations;

  • Critical to the functioning of the economy and the livelihoods of the population during a special period.

Persons liable for military service who hold positions of the first to fourth categories of positions in local self-government bodies are subject to a reservation regardless of their military rank, age, and military specialty.

The number of persons liable for military service who are subject to reservation and hold positions of the fifth to seventh categories of positions in local self-government bodies should be 50 percent of the number of persons liable for military service in the local self-government body as of the date of submission of the list.

On January 27, 2023, the Government adopted Resolution № 73 "On Amendments to the Rules for the Provision of Passenger Road Transport Services", approved by Resolution N 176 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of February 18, 1997. Thus, for the period of martial law, a road carrier has the right to shorten the route on public bus routes provided for in the timetable to the stop closest to the border of the territories where military operations are underway or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation. Information about the territories where military operations are being conducted or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation is an integral part of the list of territories where military operations are being conducted (were conducted) or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, approved by the Ministry of Reintegration of Ukraine.

On January 27, 2023, the Government adopted Resolution № 69 "On Amendments to the Rules for Crossing the State Border by Citizens of Ukraine". It introduced restrictions on crossing the state border exclusively based on decisions on business trips by several persons, including:

• deputies of local councils
• heads of structural units of local self-government bodies;
• employees who are booked (for the period of mobilization and wartime) with local governments.

In exceptional cases, a woman and/or a man who is a single parent from among the above persons who have a child/children under the age of 18 (inclusive) may be allowed to cross the state border when they leave Ukraine to visit such children who are outside Ukraine or to accompany such children to leave Ukraine by authorized persons of the State Border Guard Service upon presentation of relevant supporting documents.

During martial law, the above-mentioned persons are allowed to cross the state border for treatment abroad upon presentation of documents entitling them to leave and enter Ukraine and a letter from the Minister of Health on the list of persons agreed with the foreign party whom healthcare institutions of foreign countries may accept for treatment. Such persons are allowed to leave Ukraine if accompanied by one of their family members of the first degree of kinship.

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Resolution № 69, local governments are required to submit to the Administration of the State Border Guard Service within three days the lists of persons specified in paragraphs 2-14 of the "Rules for Crossing the State Border by Citizens of Ukraine" approved by Resolution No. 57 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of January 27, 1995, indicating their surname, name, patronymic (if any), date of birth, position held, and subsequently, in the event of personnel changes, submit updated information no later than the day following the relevant decision.

On January 20, 2023, the Government adopted Resolution № 59 "On Amendments to the Procedure for Investigation and Recording of Accidents, Occupational Diseases, and Industrial Accidents". The amendments are aimed at regulating relations regarding the investigation of accidents during the period of martial law (state of emergency) in Ukraine or its separate localities.

So now, accidents that occurred to employees of enterprises (institutions, organizations), their branches, representative offices and other separate and structural subdivisions, persons working under a civil law contract, on other grounds provided for by law, individual entrepreneurs, persons engaged in independent professional activities, members of a farm, persons actually admitted to working without an employment contract, during the performance of labor duties as a result of military (combat) actions (bombing, rocket and artillery shelling, mining of territories and premises, capture, other illegal actions, mass terrorist acts accompanied by loss of life or destruction of critical life support facilities, etc.) are subject to special investigation regardless of the severity of the injuries (damage to health).

On January 20, 2023, the Government adopted Resolution № 52 "On Approval of Criteria for Assessing the Admissibility of State Aid to Business Entities for the Support of Culture and Preservation of Cultural Heritage". These criteria are used to assess the admissibility of state aid (which may be provided, among other things, at the expense of the local budget) to business entities to support culture and preserve cultural heritage.

State aid for the support of culture and preservation of cultural heritage is permissible if it is provided for:

• ensuring the activities of:
  • libraries, museums, archives, galleries, circuses, theaters, cinemas, philharmonic societies, concert organizations, artistic groups, cultural information and cultural and educational centers, art galleries, exhibitions, film and video distribution enterprises, associations, parks of culture and recreation, institutions for the preservation of cinematic heritage cultural educational institutions (art schools, art lyceums, professional art colleges, higher art education institutions), other higher education institutions and scientific institutions engaged in educational activities in the field of culture, other cultural institutions, and cultural entities;
  • print media and electronic information resources (online publications, online newspapers), which operate in the field of culture;
  • radio broadcasting, which is clearly related to cultural purposes;
  • for the creation, production, distribution, reproduction, performance, processing, translation, digitization and publication of literary and/or musical works.
• newly discovered objects of cultural heritage, cultural heritage monuments and cultural values; natural heritage that is related to cultural heritage or if such heritage is officially recognized as cultural or natural heritage, territories and objects of the nature reserve fund;
• elements of intangible cultural heritage, including folk culture (folklore, traditions, customs and rituals, dialects and dialects, folk arts and crafts, historical toponymy, etc.);
• cultural and artistic events, creative programs and projects in the field of culture;
• activities in the field of culture and specialized art education, as well as promoting understanding of the importance of protecting and developing various forms of cultural expression, including through educational and public awareness programs, including the use of the latest technologies;
• protection zones of cultural heritage monuments, buffer zones of World Heritage sites, historical areas of settlements.

On January 17, 2023, the Government adopted Resolution № 40 "On Amendments to Clause 1 of the Regulation on the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine". The resolution expands the scope of public relations in which the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine ensures the formation of state policy. Thus, it now ensures the formation and implementation of state policy in the following areas

• state regional policy;
• development of local self-government;
• territorial organization of power and administrative and territorial structure;
• housing policy.

On January 13, 2023, the Government adopted Resolution № 28 "Some Issues of Remuneration of Medical, Pharmaceutical Workers and Rehabilitation Specialists of State and Municipal Healthcare Institutions". It establishes the minimum financial guarantees for medical and pharmaceutical employees working full time for the current year. Thus, in 2023, the minimum salary for these categories of employees should be at least UAH 20,000, and for a nurse or a rehabilitation specialist - at least UAH 13,500.

On January 13, 2023, the Government adopted Resolution № 27 "On Amendments to the Procedure for Holding a Tender for Passenger Transportation on a Public Bus Route". It is aimed at facilitating market access for new carriers, demonopolizing the passenger transportation market and increasing competition between carriers. The resolution, inter alia:

• the possibility of extending the validity of permits on interregional routes for those carriers that have already been operating for several years is abolished. Instead, it introduced the need to hold regular tenders;
• a system of scoring the carrier during the tender was introduced (the list of relevant scoring indicators is set out in Annex 5 to the above Procedure, as amended by Government Resolution No. 27). For violations of traffic rules, depending on their severity, the applicant loses a certain number of points;
• the submission of documents for participation in the tender for interregional routes in electronic form, instead of paper, was introduced;
• it is specified that the organizer of transportation on city, suburban and intercity public bus routes that do not go beyond the territory of one territorial community is the executive body of the council representing the interests of the relevant territorial community;
• stipulates that the transportation organizer approves the terms of the tender, in particular, in accordance with Article 44 of the Law "On Motor Vehicle Transport" (including the category, class of buses and year of their manufacture) and the Law "On the Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection";
• the obligation for participants in all subsequent tenders to increase the number of vehicles adapted for the transportation of persons with disabilities and other low-mobility groups - at least 50 percent of the planned total number of buses on city bus routes from January 2023 (up to 70 percent from 2025) and up to 20 percent on suburban routes.

On January 10, 2023, the Government adopted Resolution № 25 "On the Implementation of a Pilot Project to Create Favorable Conditions for Ensuring Efficient Electricity Consumption by the Population". It launched the implementation of a pilot project in 2023 to create favorable conditions for the efficient consumption of electricity by the population and approved the Procedure for its implementation.

The purpose of the pilot project is to ensure the replacement of household incandescent lamps with LED lamps to save electricity consumption and reduce the load on the energy system of Ukraine.

Regional military administrations, military administrations of districts and settlements are obliged to ensure that the issue of proper handling of waste lamps received by Ukrposhta from the public during the implementation of the pilot project is resolved by concluding agreements in accordance with the established procedure for their collection, transportation and disposal at the expense of funds received by the special fund of local budgets for the collection of environmental tax. Local governments are recommended to ensure financing of such agreements at the expense of funds received by the special fund of local budgets for the collection of environmental tax (in accordance with paragraph 5 of Government Resolution № 25).

On January 3, the Government adopted Resolution № 8 "On Determining the Minimum Amount of the Guarantee Share of Real Estate Construction".

The minimum amount of the guarantee share of construction is as follows:

• 10 percent for the cities of Kyiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Odesa, and Kharkiv;
• 5 percent - for other settlements.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that according to Article 1 of the Law № 2518-IX "On Guaranteeing Real Property Rights to Real Estate Objects to be Constructed in the Future", the guarantee share of the construction of a real estate object is a set of future real estate objects, which is determined for each divisible object of unfinished construction (each construction stage/each start-up complex), the real rights to which are encumbered prior to the commissioning of the completed construction object (stage/start-up complex) in order to guarantee the completion of the relevant object by other persons (including as a result of bankruptcy, financial insolvency of the construction customer/construction developer).

On January 6, 2023, the Government issued Resolution № 16-r "On the Allocation of Subventions from the State Budget to Local Budgets in 2023 for the Provision of State Support to Persons with Special Educational Needs". It approved the distribution of the above-mentioned subvention from the state budget to all regional budgets in the total amount of almost UAH 305 million.

On January 3, 2023, the Government issued Resolution № 8-r "On Approval of the Distribution of Additional Subsidies for the Expenditures Transferred from the State Budget for the Maintenance of Educational and Healthcare Institutions between Local Budgets in 2023". It approved the distribution of the aforementioned subsidy.

On January 26, 2023, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine issued its clarification N 1-rr/dd on the application of legislation on state aid in the field of household waste management. In its clarification, the AMCU provides answers to the following questions:

• what are the legal consequences of non-compliance with the competitive principles in determining the provider of household waste removal services?
• do household waste management services belong to services of general economic interest?
• under what conditions is state support to a business entity for the implementation of measures in the field of household waste management recognized as not being state aid and not requiring notification to the AMCU?
• under what conditions is the state support of a business entity for the implementation of measures in the field of household waste management, in the form of compensation for servicing the population, recognized by the AMCU as admissible state aid?
• under what conditions can state aid for environmental protection to business entities engaged in household waste management be recognized by the AMCU as admissible state aid?

On January 13, 2023, the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Reintegration) issued clarifications on the difference between the territories of possible and active hostilities, the list of which was approved by the Order of the Ministry of Reintegration of December 22, 2022, № 309.

Thus, the following territories are defined as areas of active hostilities:

• through which the line of contact passes or which border the temporarily occupied territories;
• and where it is currently impossible to fully perform the functions of the state, in particular in terms of access to public electronic registers, and there is a significant threat to the life and health of the population.

The following territories are areas of possible hostilities:

• bordering on the territories of active hostilities or temporarily occupied territories or adjacent to the state border with the aggressor state;
• and where it is possible to ensure the functions of the state, to which the population can return, but are periodically subjected to enemy shelling.

Please note that there are no restrictions on access to public electronic registers and auctions for the sale of small-scale privatization objects in the areas of possible hostilities. However, in the areas of active hostilities and temporarily occupied territories, registries are blocked and auctions are prohibited.

At the same time, housing allowances for internally displaced persons are paid to residents of all territories included in the list, unless the date of the end of hostilities (the date of termination of the possibility of hostilities) or temporary occupation is determined for them.

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has published its letters № 1/385-23 "On Calculating the Amount of the Education Subvention for 2023" of January 10 and its supplement of January 20, 2023 № 1/943-23.

In them, the Ministry informs that with the support of the Swedish-Ukrainian project "Support for Decentralization in Ukraine" (SALAR International), information sheets have been prepared on the calculation of the amount of educational subvention for regional budgets and budgets of territorial communities for 2023. The final calculations and fact sheets are available at this link.

The Ministry also emphasizes that, in accordance with paragraph 6 of the "Procedure and Conditions for Providing Educational Subventions from the State Budget to Local Budgets" approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine № 6 of January 14, 2015, it is not allowed to allocate educational subventions for the following purposes:

• purchase of goods, works and services that are not directly related to the payment of expenses for the renewal of the material and technical base of educational institutions (applies to the balances of the educational subvention);
• payment for intermediary services;
• implementation of activities aimed at generating profit;
• financing general secondary education institutions (except for primary schools and private general secondary education institutions) with less than 25 students.

On January 4, 2023, the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre released information that it had indexed the normative monetary valuation of land plots in accordance with the consumer price index for the previous year.