Confederation of Builders of Ukraine, IFC launch project to improve legislation in construction
Kyiv, March 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Confederation of Builders of Ukraine (CBU) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC, a member of the World Bank Group) have announced they will develop proposals to improve the regulatory framework in Ukraine's construction sector.
A respective agreement on cooperation was signed by CBU President Lev Partskhaladze and Regional Head of IFC Advisory Services in Europe and Central Asia Jesper Kjaer during a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv on Wednesday.
"One of the factors of cooperation is related to the fact that Ukraine is in 183th place in the Doing Business ranking [the ease of doing business ranking] among 186 countries. This does not suit us. We want to improve the investment climate. Today's signing of the cooperation agreement will create conditions to improve the investment climate," Partskhaladze said.
He said that as part of cooperation, it is planned to develop materials that will help people improve their knowledge of the legislation, in particular, regarding a simplified system for obtaining permits.
"Our task today is to inform people about their rights under the simplified licensing system. This is the first step," he said.
Kjaer, in turn, noted that the simplification of obtaining permits for construction should significantly improve the development of the grain sector in Ukraine and the production of fruits and vegetables.
"In Ukraine, we focus on the agricultural sector and pay much attention to construction permits. It takes 375 days in Ukraine to get all of the permits and approvals for the construction of a simple granary, whereas in the neighboring countries it takes 220 days, and 21 days in Denmark. We will work closely with government ministries to analyze and somehow simplify regulatory procedures for obtaining building permits, while ensuring that the voice of the private sector, the confederation in our case, was also heard and their concerns were taken into account," Kjaer said.
Program Manager of Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Miroslav Veprek, in turn, said that Ukraine is a priority country for SECO.
"Today, we focused on four sectors: health, local government, sustainable energy, financial and economic stability. As for a project in the agricultural sector, it is the first and pilot project," he said.
According to the manager of the IFC's project on the investment climate in Ukraine, Serhiy Osavoliuk, the cooperation agreement with the CBU will be valid until the end of 2014.
"$375,000 is the amount at which we estimated our cooperation. But again, we don't pay money to the Confederation, and the Confederation doesn't pay us. We agreed to cooperate. And this amount is money that we spend on work, for example, a conference, booklets," he said.
Osavoliuk said that the project to improve legislation in the construction sector with the CBU was being implemented as part of the project on the investment climate in Ukraine's agricultural sector, which was launched last spring.
"The project includes four components, and one of them is the development of infrastructure for agriculture. We understand that it's impossible to improve the situation for the development of infrastructure in agriculture without improving it as a whole for the construction industry. So we are working on the licensing system in the building as a whole. Our goal is to ensure that the process of obtaining all permits and approvals was simple, transparent and fast," Osavoliuk said.
Partskhalazde also said that the CBU hopes to get the status of a self-regulating organization this year.
As reported, IFC, in partnership with Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), in May 2012 launched an advisory project in Ukraine entitled "The Investment Climate for Agribusiness in Ukraine," aimed at simplifying the regulatory environment in the agribusiness sector. SECO's financial support under the project will be about $3 million over three years.
The Confederation of Builders of Ukraine was created in April 2011 through the merger of the Ukrainian Construction Association, the Construction Chamber of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Union of Manufacturers of Building Materials and Products.