On September 26-27, 2018, political leaders, state officials and business representatives discussed the Challenges and Prospects for the Development of the Transport System at the 21st International Transport and Logistics Conference in Odesa, which was held in accordance with the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Plan. Yaroslav Romanchuk, the Managing Partner of the EUCON Law Group, the President of the Association of Ukrainian Business in Poland also became the participant of the conference.
Mr. Romanchuk during the first section, “Prospects for Ukraine’s Transport Infrastructure Development, Legislative Initiatives, and Investment Projects” spoke about Poland’s prospects of becoming an offshore alternative for corporate business structuring and tax planning. Thus, the speaker described the content of the BEPS plan and its overall structure, expectations, forecasts and prospects for its implementation in Ukrainian laws, particularly on the minimum standard (implementation of the main 4 out of 15 steps), which Ukraine committed itself to implement within the framework of BEPS. Also, the expert identified the main consequences of BEPS for Ukraine: the “end” of the offshore era, the era of banking secrecy and the ability to open an account in “decent” jurisdiction, strengthening control over the reporting process. Mr. Romanchuk also identified the main advantages of Poland as an alternative to offshore, particularly, a convenient strategic location, an attractive labor market, favorable conditions for investment and a developed business environment. The speaker emphasized that Poland – the most successful beneficiary of funding from the EU funds in 2014-2020, indicated the main conditions for obtaining an investment loan in a Polish bank and brought arguments in favor of the attractiveness of the Polish market for foreign investors.
Among other participants of the conference there were: Dmytro Petrenko – the Head of the State Service for Marine and River Transport of Ukraine, Volodymyr Rabotnev – Advisor to the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Andriy Shklyar – the Head of Expert Center for Transport Strategies, Daniel Jacques – the Transport Manager of the Ukrainian Support Group of the Embassy of the European Union, Istvan Heinzinger – the Senior Economist of the Transport Sector of the European Investment Bank and others.