PHОТО: PHL

The State Committee of Entrepreneurship has drafted a bill on cancellation of official corporate seals. The bill has already been agreed to in ministries and departments. In September it will be submitted to the government for review and consideration.

Should the bill be adopted only notary publics will have official seals, while for other organizations and companies such seals will not be a mandatory attribute. If one should want to use such seals, nobody will be against it, but the seal will be nothing more than an adornment to a company letterhead. “Now after state registration, an entrepreneur must obtain the permission of the Interior Ministry for making a seal. Approval will take a minimum of 5-7 days and cost UAH 400. In Europe corporate seals were done away with long ago and only a signature is required to confirm the authenticity of a document,” said Vice Chairman of the State Entrepreneurship Committee Halyna Yatsyshyn.

“All else aside, the cancellation of seals will allow Ukraine to improve its position in the World Bank ratings on the ease of doing business. At the moment, our country ranks 142nd out of 183 countries,” Yatsyshyn added. Experts believe the process of cancelling the mandatory seal will drag on until the end of the year because aside from the passage of the bill the state committee must enter the corresponding changes to the Civil and Commercial Codes.