On the  25.06.2016 the Law of Ukraine “About the amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine concerning the abolition of the mandatory foreign investments state registration” came into force. The provisions of the current legislation of Ukraine concerning the foreign investments state registration were excluded by the aforementioned amendments.

       The legal regime of the foreign investment previously established by the valid legislation required significant resources and time for the state registration of the foreign investments to be expended. The procedure of introducing the foreign investment has been too prolonged in time and consisted of several stages which are the following: the contribution of the foreign investment in the authorized capital of the legal entity; the receiving of the mark of the state tax service body about the foreign investment actual contribution; the state registration of the foreign investments. The subjects who were planning to carry out the investment activity with the foreign investments were forced to send the required list of documents and additionally expand money to pay for the relevant administrative services of registration in order to gain the additional benefits and safeguards associated with it.

      The foreign investor or the person authorized by him was obliged previously to apply to the Ministry of incomes and fees of Ukraine’s bodies on the investment location with a written statement in order to confirm the state tax service bodies information notice related to the actual contribution of the foreign investments. The application must be accompanied by the information message about the introduction of the foreign investments in three copies and the documents showing the actual contribution of the investments to approve the information message. However, the list of documents required to be filed by the foreign investor was much broader in practice. The tax inspector usually required to send the additional documents to confirm the introduction of the foreign investment.

       The similar problems existed at the stage of the state registration of such investments. The list of documents required to be sent to the state registration body with the aim to make the state registration of such investments was defined by the Cabinet of Ministers Decree «On the confirmation the order of the foreign investment state registration (re-registration) and its cancellation». The investor or another person authorized by him was obliged to send the following documents: the informative reference of the established form in triplicate with a mark of the Ministry of incomes and fees territorial body on the investment location about their actual contribution, the documents confirming the form of the foreign investment (constituent documents, the agreements (contracts) on the production cooperation, the joint production and other kinds of  the joint investment, concessions, etc.); documents proving the value of the foreign investments. As follows from the abovementioned, the list of the documents required for the state registration was not complete. Thus, the investors had to be previously registered at the customs authorities as the subjects engaged in goods transactions for the registration of goods as a form of the foreign investment.

         Thus, the investors had to pass through the complicated and the exhausting procedure in order to obtain the benefits and guarantees foreseen by the current legislation for the foreign investment, including the minimization of the tax burden. The absence of any of the abovementioned documents, the discrepancy of the last ones to the established requirements, not properly executed the power of attorney to represent the interests of the foreign investors, etc., could have been the cause for the refusal in the state registration of the foreign investments.

        The order of introduction the foreign investment in Ukraine started to be much more easier after the relevant amendments came into force. Now, the state registration of the foreign investments is not mandatory. The benefits and the guarantees provided by the current legislation for the foreign investors are not depended on the state registration of such investments and the foreign investments obtain such a legal status despite of their state registration. The Final provisions Paragraph number 3 of the Ukrainian Law “About the amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine concerning the abolition of the foreign investments mandatory state registration” provides that the foreign investments registered before this Law came into force, and this ones not registered before the proper Law came into force have the equal right to obtain the benefits and the guarantees foreseen by the Law of Ukraine “About the regime on the foreign investment”.

        Thus, the amendments to the current legislation on the investment activity of the foreign investors in Ukraine simplify the procedure for foreign investment, eliminating the unnecessary formalities. The foreign investments obtain the appropriate legal status directly being contributed  to the authorized capital of the legal entity. Thanks to this, the more favorable conditions for the foreign investment in Ukraine are creating.