Investment support experts, lawyers unite in National Association of Lobbyists of Ukraine to promote investments, protect business interests
KYIV. Sept 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Lawyers, financial experts and lawyers 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 Bar Association 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 functions to support 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.
He noted that today 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 NACP. At the same time, NALU can unite only individual lobbyists.
"The 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 elected to accompany large investment projects. This means that today we are moving towards creating a civilized society," he said.
Shevchuk noted that "recently, law enforcement agencies have abused 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. Ye
Shevchuk reported that Ukrainian lobbyists can be registered in the USA 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 some 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 register 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 said.
For his part, Oleksandr Leshchenko, a member of the NALU board and managing partner of the Leshchenko & Partners law firm, noted that experts are preparing a major report on the status, system, and procedure of lobbying in Ukraine, which will be presented in the European Parliament, as well as in the United States, where a roundtable discussion 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 elite and journalists, there is a negative attitude towards the activities of lobbyists. This opinion is erroneous, because since 1946, an act regulating the activities of lobbyists was first enacted in the United States. 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.
