Ukrainian Digital Transformation Ministry updates list of countries for e-residency program, including Slovenia, India, Pakistan, Thailand in it

MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Digital Transformation Ministry has updated the list of countries whose businessmen will become the first e-residents in Ukraine, including the citizens of Slovenia, India, Pakistan and Thailand in it, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhail Fyodorov was quoted by Ukrainian media as saying in his post on social media.

"Our team continues to work on the e-residency program. This will allow foreigners to remotely do business and pay taxes in Ukraine. The first group of countries has been approved: Slovenia, India, Pakistan and Thailand. That's not all, while we are finalizing the legal framework," Fyodorov said.

Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for IT Development Alexander Bornyakov said on his social media account that after the full launch of the program the citizens of these four countries would be able to register as entrepreneurs in Ukraine and pay taxes to the state budget online. They would also be able to remotely manage their businesses and bank accounts. He noted that with the expansion of the program the list of countries would be updated.

"The program should be fully launched this year, while the legal framework is being elaborated and the information system is being tested. We are turning Ukraine step by step into a hub for innovative entrepreneurs from all over the world," Bornyakov said.

The Digital Transformation Ministry said that the e-resident information system is being tested. The ministry also said that Ukrainian e-residency would not be available for citizens of Russia, Belarus and those countries that are on the gray list or blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

In addition, e-residents will not be able to provide services to Ukrainian citizens, which means they will work exclusively with other foreigners.

As previously reported, the five countries providing outsourcing IT services, namely, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China and the Philippines have been identified as the target audience of the Ukrainian e-residency. It was also reported that a law containing amendments to the Tax Code and several other laws on the specifics of taxation of business activities of e-residents, that is, on the e-residency, took effect on April 1. When operating an e-resident will pay a tax of 5% of his income under the limit of the FLP (sole proprietor) Group 3, and 15% of his income above the limit, but only on foreign contracts for the export of services.

As of April 1, the National Bank of Ukraine granted e-residents the right to open current bank accounts, implementing the regulation of the law of October 6, 2022 on peculiarities of taxation of business activities of e-residents.

The Digital Transformation Ministry has been developing the e-residency project since 2019. The e-resident is a special status of a foreign citizen in Ukraine, which opens him access to information and advisory services, simplifies the procedures for obtaining administrative services and the conclusion of civil law agreements. It also allows establishing a business in Ukraine remotely.

Bornyakov earlier said that at the first stage of the project one would be able to register only in the form of sole proprietorships, but in the future one will be able to register legal entities in the form of a limited liability company (LLC).