Recently the Ukrainian government decided to open the curtains and let some light in on the internal data which circulates within the governmental agencies.
Public access to data of state registrars
On April 9,
parliament gave approval with 279 votes to a law that grants free access to
public information online in the form of open data.
It will
push government agencies to publish operational data, statistics and reports upon
request. Data will have to be updated regularly and published on government websites
and the national open data web platform at data.gov.ua. Access will be free, as
well as for copying and distribution.
The law doesn’t
stipulate which categories of data that must be made public, however. The Cabinet
of Ministers must list the types of data that must be public, standards,
staffing and responsibility for accuracy. The specifications must be approved
in secondary legislation.
Kyiv-based
investment bank Empire State Capital commented in a daily note to investors that
the new law is an important step towards a more transparent government and
decreases the risks of corruption in public procurement. However, the bank stated
that government should ensure that the information presented to the public is
regularly updated and presented accurately, without any gaps or missing data.
Public access to company registers
Earlier on
April 8 Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk announced that the Single
State Register of Legal Entities is now electronically open.
Now a
person can get any information about any enterprise registered in the Single
State Register of Legal Entities by filling out a request on the website, paying Hr 45 and printing out the certificate
with the requested data.
Also due to
the law on disclosure of ultimate beneficiaries that became effective in
November of last year, legal entities must identify and submit their ultimate
beneficial owners by May 25, 2015 to the state registrars. They are also
obliged to keep records on such persons and update them on a regular basis.
Kyiv Post staff writer Bozhena Sheremeta can be reached at [email protected]. The Kyiv Post’s IT coverage is sponsored by AVentures Capital, Ciklum, FISON and SoftServe.
