EU-funded Project, “Support for the Enforcement of State Aid Rules in Ukraine”

WYG Savjetovanje has been the lead contractor in the implementation of the EU-funded Project, “Support for the Enforcement of State Aid Rules in Ukraine” since it commenced in September 2017. The Project was recently extended by two years to the end of 2022, bringing its total value to €4.8 million. The primary objective of the Project is  to support and advise the main beneficiary – the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) – and other government stakeholders in the development of effective State Aid legislation and policy to align Ukraine with the EU, as well as providing direct case support in state aid decisions. The Project has been successful in achieving a number of legislative initiatives, including the new version of the Law on State Aid adopted in October 2020 at the Committee session of the Ukrainian Parliament. One of the important tasks of the Project has been to assist in establishing the relevance and importance of State Aid in the context of Ukraine progress to EU membership through compliance with the acquis Communautaire. This has been assisted by expediting the adoption of criteria establishing the compatibility of aid in significant policy areas: road transport, airports and airlines, culture and heritage, coal, and Covid-19. Increasing the importance of State Aid was also aided by the Project’s organisation in October 2020 of the First Annual International State Aid Conference attended by nearly 200 participants from national and regional authorities as well as European Commission delegates. Improving the capacity of AMCU staff to administer the State Aid system has been considerably assisted by the major programme of institution building and training provided by the Project. In just over three years, the Project has been able to provide AMCU and regional offices staff, and staff from Municipalities with 67 workshops and foundation courses, 5 training events in the main cities, 4 study visits to Romania, Hungary/Slovakia, Poland and Latvia, 7 webinars and visits to the European Commission in Brussels for senior AMCU officials. Much work still needs to be completed during the remaining two years of the Project. In addition to the core activities of policy and legislative development and support for decisions on individual cases, there will continue to be an increasing focus on digital tools developed by the Project. This will include the State Aid Portal, the Knowledge management System, the online Help Desk guidance system for State Aid grantors, and the ESSA – Expert System on State Aid – all of which are fully operational. The Ukrainian State Aid Inventory will have to be updated and Sectoral Working Group will be maintained as the focus for work with Ministries. In implementing the Project so far, the WYG Savjetovanje Project team have been successful in achieving considerable progress in the understanding and application of the State Aid system in Ukraine and in establishing a very effective working relationship with the main beneficiary, other government stakeholders and the Delegation of the European Commission.