27 March 2012 Employers Movement

Dmitry Firtash’s New Initiatives Towards Business Liberalization and Promotion

Making his regular field trip in his capacity of the President of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, Mr. Dmitry Firtash has had a meeting with the administration of Lviv region and entrepreneurs of Western Ukraine.
 
Some 250 owners and executives of local small and medium businesses gathered for a talk with the employers’ leader, and it is only logical that the keynote of Mr. Firtash’s speech was focused on the problems hindering the development of this business segment.
 
Among other things, the FEU President stated that he considers the improvement of business conditions to be among the top priorities of his agenda. An essential prerequisite of success of these efforts, in his opinion, is all Ukrainian entrepreneurs consolidation on the Federation platform. The employers’ leader stressed that it is only a concerted and consistent position of business that will be a persuasive argument for the government in making socio-economic policy decisions, and urged that the FEU be used as a single voicer for articulating such a position. Dmitry Firtash also pointed out that business must be able to protect itself by advocating its position by having relevant laws passed as it is only legally enshrined provisions that work as a reliable shield against bureaucratic arbitrary behavior.
 
Mr. Firtash’s plea to the government insisting on more liberal conditions for doing business met with the audience’s passionate support. As long as there are 80 governmental agencies authorized to inspect and audit companies while as many as 21 agencies are entitled to shut down companies’ operation, the business climate in the country may in no way be considered adequate. “Leave people alone. They don’t want to be helped. Just give small and medium businesses a break for ten years and I am sure they will become a locomotive boosting the economy and catalyzing the national development,” said the FEU President.