On 18 April, as part of the joint project of LB.ua and EFI Group, New Country, the 9th discussion panel was held, this time dedicated to economic recovery during the war with a focus on the interaction between the government and business.
The panelists were:
- Yuliya Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine; Yuliya Svyrydenko
- Ihor Khyzhnyak, CEO of Comfy; Ihor Khyzhnyak
- Olexander Olshanskyy, President of Internet Invest Group Holding Olexander Olshanskyy
- Andriy Dlihach, founder and CEO of Advanter Group and international business community Board;Andriy Dlihach
- Vyacheslav Lysenko, entrepreneur, public figure, co-owner of Meest China; Vyacheslav Lysenko
- Ihor Liski, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of EFI Group. Ihor Liski
In particular, the panelists discussed whether there has been any progress since the signing of the memorandum between business and the state; whether the pressure of security forces on entrepreneurs has decreased; what are the main contradictions between the government and business today, how to fix them, and what points of economic growth are possible in a country that has been fighting the Russian invasion for three years.
"It seems to me that we reacted in time to the signals coming from the business in terms of pressure, and now we are trying to keep track of all these things. As I see from communication with business, associations, and regions, there have been fewer complaints about the work of law enforcement agencies over the past two months," said Minister of Economy Yuliya Svyrydenko.
But representatives of the business community have polarised opinions.
"We are afraid that all the councils are created for point decisions, for tactics and to say that we like Pulse (the Pulse service accepts appeals against illegal actions or inaction of tax authorities) as a tool, but we are convinced that this is a way to divert attention. That's why business continues to insist on systemic solutions," said Andriy Dlihach, founder and CEO of Advanter Group and international business community Board.
"I, as a hopeless optimist, have a dream that one day the government will come and really ask how we can work together and help each other. So far, it has been working in a spotty, impulsive manner, but not on a systemic level. So far, business, unfortunately, has been living in this concept: don't help, but don't hinder," says Vyacheslav Lysenko, co-owner of Meest China.
According to Ihor Liski, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of EFI Group, all the problems of interaction between business and government are based on a lack of trust.
"If there was no war, we would be somewhere in the middle of Europe or in NATO, I would be ready to wait. We are evolving. I honestly believe that there is a sincere movement in this direction. "But, unfortunately, we don't have these two generations. We are at war, and the issue of trust is a matter of survival. It's a matter of the Armed Forces, mobilisation, paying taxes. ... The state must fight for the trust of entrepreneurs and win this fight. I will say a terrible thing: we may have to discuss tax increases very soon. In these conditions, how can we talk about increasing taxes when we don't believe in the way they are collected or distributed? And this will be a much worse situation than with mobilisation," Liski said.
The speeches of all the panelists will be available on LB.ua soon.
