The Ministry of Economy Aims to Resolve 5-10 Business Problems per Month — Oleksandr Tsybort

How the state reacts faster to business problems thanks to digitalization, when AI will replace decision-making civil servants, and whether "eCheck" will disclose banking secrets — spoke about this and much more with Oleksandr Tsybort, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations, and Digitalization.

"Pulse" is not only about monitoring problems, but also about the obligation to resolve them

Recently, the business assessment project "Pulse" was launched. How does it help resolve problems?

Currently, it is a publicly accessible online dashboard of business problems based on feedback. However, this is only the initial stage of the project; later it will be integrated into other services in the country, for example, into "Diia," into bank applications—everywhere where there is business. But already now we have 450,000 assessments from business, over 30,000 reviews, and the dynamics are growing. Its main task is not only to measure and see what problems exist but also to resolve these problems.

How does it look in practice? In the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine, there is a separate dashboard for business problems where we pull all business complaints. There are many markers by which we identify problems, and we also receive insights that we process as well. Currently, these are 480 documented business problems that are of a general nature or national scale, not point-specific. These problems are processed at regular meetings with the participation of the Minister; an analysis of the problem is conducted, and the economic effect of its resolution is calculated: what it will give to the market, and what changes need to be made to legislation or regulatory documents. Effectively, all deputies work with this dashboard because the problems are very diverse from different sectors: environmental, macroeconomic, industrial, and agricultural.

Thanks to this work, 68 problems were already resolved in just two months. This is a good result because to resolve these problems, many stages had to be passed: coordination, changes to regulatory and legal documents, adoption of resolutions, and work with bills. We are now setting a goal to resolve 5-10 problems per month. The cumulative economic effect of "Pulse" is 2 billion UAH per year in savings for business or the state budget.

The state project "eCheck": will the state have access to all citizen expenditures?

Tell us about the implementation of the "eCheck" project—why is it needed and what benefits will it bring?

For now, it is a pilot, but it is already showing impressive results. In 20 days of operation, it already accounts for 5 million receipts for digital transactions, which means minus a thousand kilometers of paper and significant savings for business, because each receipt costs 7 kopecks. The "eCheck" pilot started for clients of PrivatBank, PUMB, VST Bank, and monobank in the retail chains "Avrora," "Fora," Auchan, and at "Ukrnafta" gas stations.

What is the difference between the national "eCheck" program and how electronic receipts were issued by, say, "Silpo" or ATB through their apps?

Those were point solutions; according to our research, it accounts for only 0.5% of the receipt market, meaning it has almost no environmental or economic effect. Only a small number of buyers use it. Our solution, when scaled and covering 100% of non-cash operations, will provide a 100% effect.

How will it work—is a special app needed?

No, the receipt will arrive in your mobile banking application. You only need to agree to receive receipts and accept the bank's terms. The receipt, as before, is formed and fiscalized by the seller and stored in the state accounting system but is transferred to the client in electronic form. It will be equivalent to a paper receipt in case of returning goods or the need to confirm expenses.

A paper receipt is anonymous. With an electronic receipt, will the state now have access to all the personal expenditures of the buyer? Previously, under the "National Cashback" program, buyers allowed the state access to their cards—will this now apply to all purchases?

No, banking secrecy remains; different institutions exchange cached keys among themselves, and verification occurs. The state did not know and will not know about your transactions. In our plans, we aim to go even further and provide a higher level of security where the encryption keys will only be on your device—in that case, even the bank will no longer know your shopping list. In "National Cashback," a completely different mechanic of transaction verification is used.

What is the economic justification for numerous "e-Support" programs?

Regarding "National Cashback" and other initiatives for distributing money, like energy or fuel support—what is their economic feasibility?

We are all one team; everyone is involved in all projects of the Ministry of Economy. My part of the work is the technical component, and I was also involved in the concept of some projects. However, there is a very big difference between when you are simply involved in the process because it is a digital product and you are in the team, and when it is your product. Therefore, I cannot answer for all support programs, but I can, for example, talk about the effect of the energy support program for FOPs [individual entrepreneurs], with which I am more closely involved.

This was a point solution that showed good results. There are over a million FOPs in Ukraine, and 38,000 used our program because there was narrow targeting and the money actually reached those FOPs who needed this help, and the funds were spent for their intended purpose. By the way, feedback from those in need of support was collected through "Pulse"; we verified them and will now be adding certain categories of FOPs. I believe that in this case, we are not handing out fish, but rather point-fixing fishing rods for entrepreneurs.

Will copying the EU experience lead to greater overregulation instead of simplifying bureaucracy?

The EU requires the implementation of many new regulations—for example, CBAM, ESG reporting, labor protection directives. How does the Ministry of Economy resolve the conflict between deregulation within the country and the regulatory burden from the European Union?

Differences indeed exist. There are EU regulatory norms that we are forced to implement in Ukraine to enter the European market. At the same time, there are EU directives that do not directly indicate which norms to write out. We always prove our point of view, showing how it works in Ukraine because we have our own culture, including a culture of entrepreneurship. Our state was formed differently, so things may work differently. At the same time, there are our solutions—for example, regarding AI or other areas—which the European Union is taking for itself and will implement changes in its own systems.

What foreign electronic governance and digitalization solutions can be taken as a model to follow?

For me, such an example is Estonia, where many processes are currently automated; they are already moving toward the "Invisible State"—such a transparent state for people where everything works, and you don't even notice it.

The latest case that greatly inspired me and that I am currently working on: it seems to me that we really lack a "springboard" for business—when you want to try providing services or producing/selling something, but you immediately have to go and register a FOP or do other administrative things. This is very difficult, especially when you are just a student. That is, there is a lack of a "zero point" for business.

And I was strongly inspired by a case in Estonia—their digital account; they call it "for entrepreneurship," but effectively it is a digital account for a self-employed person who is already starting to generate something. I also studied the experience of other countries, and we already have a concept to create something similar in Ukraine and establish a springboard for business. For now, I cannot give details because it is only an idea, but definitely, when we move further, we will share the details.