Rada passes law on disclosure of information on end beneficiaries
The Verkhovna Rada has passed at second reading the government's bill on amendments to some Ukrainian laws regarding end beneficiaries of companies and public figures (No. 5114).
A total of 265 lawmakers voted for the law on Tuesday, October 14.
As reported, the Ukrainian parliament passed this bill at first reading on October 7.
Earlier Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said that if the law is passed any economic entities are obliged to disclose information on real owners.
"Today companies are registered in the offshore zones, and government employees or government members or employees of the presidential administration could be their actual owners. It is impossible to see this. The top-priority task is to disclose information on all real owners of Ukrainian companies so that officials do not hide behind relatives in offshore zones and any third parties who act as nominal owners, while officials are real owners," he added.
Yatseniuk said that the adoption of the law will allow Ukrainian citizens to receive information on the owners of property in the country.
"We'll see who has houses, apartments and other property and we'll get the real access to all databases of Ukrainian property," he said.
Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko said that if the parliament passes the law, the Justice Ministry is ready to give access to the said registers during one month.
"Actually this means that any citizen, including as a part of the lustration procedure when the president signs the law, will be able to receive information on the real property of those officials who will pass property lustration and inform the competent agencies so that officials do not hide the property behind their relatives or in offshore zones. The Justice Ministry confirms: we'll be ready to disclose all the registers during one month if the parliament adopts the law," he said at a cabinet meeting.
According to the law on amendments to some Ukrainian laws regarding the definition of end beneficiaries of companies and public figures, fines for the non-disclosure of information on the owners of Ukrainian companies or civil works for the period of up to 240 hours will be imposed.
