Vytenis Ališkauskas, EU4PFM Key International Expert on Customs reforms and  Mr. Paulius Majauskas, EU4PFM International Key Expert on Tax reform attended the meeting together with representatives of CPMA – the project management company, Vilnius, Lithuania.

“A new partner institution has joined the project, and on behalf of our team, I would like to congratulate Mr. Vadym Melnyk, Head of the Economic Security Bureau, as a new member of the Steering Committee,” said Jurgita Domeikiene.

Ms. Domeikiene noted currently, the EU4PFM project has achieved some stability in the implementation of the Work and Procurement Plans developed.

“I am pleased to announce the positive changes in the tax area, although some issues still need to be addressed,” said Jurgita Domeikiene, commenting on the main achievements that EU4PFM has achieved together with partner institutions in Ukraine during the reporting quarter.

In the tax area, the main achievements were methodology developed for transfer pricing, recommendations from the legal framework for the use of indirect methods, and recommendations for the creation of a comprehensive risk management system.

“As one of the EU4PFM’s main priorities in the customs area is to join to the Convention on a Common Transit and to implement the New Computerized Transit System in Ukraine, we focused on developing a regulatory framework and supporting compliance testing to start in late November,” – said the Team Leader.

Another priority in the customs sphere is the criminalization of smuggling, namely: the reflection of EU practice in the relevant legislation and support for the development of the Concept for strengthening the capacity of customs investigations.

Following the recent decisions of the Parliament and the Government of Ukraine on the establishment of the Economic Security Bureau, the project started the fourth component, which was suspended from the beginning. Meetings were organized to assist the Economic Security Bureau`s management in providing necessary assistance and to ensure active coordination with other donors on this issue.

The project also supported partner institutions with the IT transformation.

This quarter, in the customs sphere, EU4PFM started purchasing the fifth phase of a New Computerized Transit System, as the availability of an appropriate IT solution is one of the conditions for Ukraine’s accession to the Convention on a Common Transit.

“In close cooperation with the State Tax Service of Ukraine, we managed to launch most of the procurements, and some of them will be completed soon. We are moving forward in the development of technical specifications for the IT solution for budget planning for the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, and the first project is ready for further development, – said Jurgita Domeikiene. “Also, with the support of the EU4PFM, the Concept Note for the main IT system for the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine has been developed, and we are very much looking forward to completing the terms of reference and launching the procurement procedure.”

In the HR / PAR area, the EU4PFM project closed the third quarter with an approved HRM strategy and action plan for the State Customs Service of Ukraine, a competency system developed for the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, and almost completed a competency system for the State Tax Service of Ukraine that can be the basis for all personnel management.

“In addition, we have developed a methodology and library for job profiling for our partners helping to ensure a consistent and transparent personnel management system and avoid unnecessary and excessive requirements,” she said.

EU4PFM also provided comprehensive support for the communication. Thanks to the effective cooperation between the Project and the press offices of the partners` institutions, communication actions have been duly optimized, which allowed speaking better “with one voice”. The project supported partner institutions by organizing training events and assisting in the implementation of a strategic approach by providing recommendations on communication strategies and broad support for public communications in the reforms areas.