Ukraine's investment professionals create national lobbying association
(Extended from September 16)
KYIV. 17 Sept (Interfax-Ukraine) – Lawyers, financial experts and advocates have united in the National Association of Lobbyists of Ukraine (NALU) to promote investments and protect business interests, said Oleksiy Shevchuk, lawyer, Chairman of the Board of NALU, Chairman of the Information Policy Committee of the National Association of Bars of Ukraine.
"A lobbyist is a new profession in Ukraine, currently created by NALU. This means that a great profession is now open to everyone, this means that many businesses now have support. A lobbyist performs the functions of supporting business and investments. Today, this means that large companies that are going to start rebuilding Ukraine have leaders, have support and have managers who will develop these companies and support investments," he said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
Shevchuk reported that currently 20 people have joined NALU, while the Transparency Register of Lobbyists - the only official State Register of Lobbyists - includes more than 30 people, and the holder of the transparency register is the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP). At the same time, NALU can unite only individual lobbyists.
"NACP checks representatives of the lobbying profession for compliance with the requirements of decency and integrity in business, whether they do not violate the legislation on lobbying. Lobbyists who are members of NALU meet the quality standards and requirements for the lobbying profession. This means that these representatives can and should be chosen to accompany large investment projects. This means that today we are moving towards creating a civilized society," he said.
Shevchuk also noted that "recently, law enforcement agencies have been abusing a lot when some investment projects were presented by a state body, when people's deputies received draft laws that business needs."
"Today, no one will say that this is a violation of the law or abuse of influence. Lobbyists are official managers who represent business," he said.
As Shevchuk reported, Ukrainian lobbyists can be registered in the United States as individual representatives of the profession and will be able to have a corresponding contract with a European or US organization.
"If today there is an order either from a lobbyist from the USA or from a separate organization - for example, it could be an investment bank, a fund, or a small business that needs promotion - a lobbying agreement must be concluded and this agreement must be registered in the appropriate registry in the USA. None of the lobbyists has the right to act independently in the USA, each lobbyist from Ukraine must interact with an American company. It's the same as with lawyers: a lawyer from America cannot work independently in Ukraine, a lawyer from Ukraine cannot work independently in the USA," he explained.
For her part, NALU Executive Director Vitalia Hloba noted that among the key areas of the association's activity are the development of lobbying as an important component of a democratic society, the creation of a system of self-regulation and professional standards for lobbyists, as well as the protection of the rights of association members.
"Any lobbyist in our country can become a member of our lobbyist association by submitting an application in any form with certain documents that are listed on the official website of our organization," she said.
In turn, Oleksandr Leshchenko, a member of the NALU board and managing partner of the Leshchenko and Partners law firm, reported that experts are preparing a major report on the status, system, and procedure of lobbying in Ukraine. It will be presented in the European Parliament, as well as in the United States, where a roundtable with international participation with lobbyists from the United States is planned.
"Lobbying is an activity that is legally regulated in the civilized world. Unfortunately, in most cases, including among representatives of the elites and journalists, there is a negative attitude towards the activities of lobbyists. This opinion is erroneous, because since 1946, the US has for the first time enacted an act that regulates the activities of lobbyists. Today, Ukraine has created such a legislative act at the legislative level and is currently in the process of establishing legal regulation of lobbying activities," he said.
As noted by the vice president of NALU, head of the Ukrainian Bar in the UK, Oleksandr Chernykh, what is happening very often around draft laws in Ukraine cannot be called professional activity, neither in terms of the level of training nor in terms of the level of analysis.
"It is absolutely wrong in Ukraine when public activists spend millions on YouTube and social networks, actually putting pressure on state bodies to make decisions, while they do not report. If we look at the tax and public reporting, these are really millions of dollars, which then disappear on some fakes, for some incomprehensible services. Moreover, it is unclear where these millions come from, who is the customer and what is the final result of this actually lobbying activity. I very sincerely welcome the adoption of this law, because now we can talk about legitimate lobbying activity.