E-hryvnia, paperless mode and quality 4G on roads: what the Ministry of Digital Transformation plans to introduce soon

Employees of the Ministry of Digital Transformation may soon begin receiving their salaries in the electronic hryvnia.

Recently, the Ministry of Digital Transformation has achieved considerable success in moving public services into electronic format.

Thus, the Diia app recently added a function for changing the place of registration, beta testing of international COVID certificates began, and the special law "Diia City" on introducing a reduced tax for IT companies in Ukraine was signed. 

We tell you which innovations have already been introduced and which are expected from the Ministry of Digital Transformation in the near future.

"Diia City"

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the basic law on the special legal regime of the simplified taxation model "Diia City". According to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, this model will reduce the tax burden on the IT industry.

Thus, it is expected that all IT companies that join this platform will in total pay four times less in taxes than usual.

As head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov reported, this initiative will increase the number of jobs in Ukraine's IT sector by 450 thousand, and the overall growth of the industry by 2025 is expected to reach $16.5 billion.

Implementing the new model is expected to require amendments to tax legislation.

However, not everyone agrees with the new law: some industry representatives have criticized the new tax model and the initiative as a whole.

In particular, the new rule is criticized for "possible authoritarianism" and stricter regulatory control of the sector. 

E-hryvnia

The Ministry plans to introduce an electronic hryvnia in Ukraine. The National Bank is already working on the e-hryvnia project, but initially the new money will not be used for social payments.

As Fedorov reported, the first participants in testing the service will be employees of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, who will be among the first to receive their salaries in electronic currency.

Mykhailo Fedorov
Minister of Digital Transformation

The use of the electronic hryvnia does have potential, through software tools (smart contracts), to define possible areas and conditions for using monetary subsidies, for example, to restrict their misuse. To be honest: as one of the first pilots, we have on the table the question of paying salaries to employees of the Ministry of Digital Transformation in electronic hryvnias. 

Fedorov also noted that Ukrainians rank first in the world in readiness to adopt virtual assets, which also attracts additional investment into business and the country.

4G on highways

By the end of this year, 4G connectivity is to appear on four international highways. And by mid-2022, up to 95% of Ukraine's population should have access to high-speed Internet.

Mykhailo Fedorov
Minister of Digital Transformation

As for roads, this year operators plan to cover the main international highways with the Internet: Kyiv-Odesa, Kyiv-Dnipro, Kyiv-Kharkiv and Kyiv-Lviv. We are simplifying bureaucratic barriers and helping speed up processes with local authorities so that roads can be covered faster.

Fedorov also added that a memorandum was signed with operators and licensing conditions were defined, under which they must provide access to 4G for 95% of Ukraine's population by mid-2022.

Beta testing of COVID certificates on Android

On August 17, Fedorov announced the long-awaited launch of beta testing of COVID certificates in Diia on Android devices.

Recall that testing of certificates on the iOS platform has been ongoing since early July. 

Fedorov said that Google tightened requirements for information related to COVID-19. This also affected smartphone apps, which caused this delay. 

International certificates in the Diia app will allow holders of vaccination proof to travel freely to EU countries, as well as other countries that recognize them.

The EU's technical assessment has already rated Ukrainian e-certificates highly; the decision now rests with the European Parliament.