Opening of a Permit-Issuing OSS in Kyiv, Solomyansky rayon

I am very pleased to be here to assist in the opening of Kyiv's first Permit One-Stop-Shop.  This is the 40th permit one-stop shop that is opening with the assistance of USAID, which makes today's event that much more special. It is vital that we understand the importance of simple, clear and transparent permitting procedures. Businesses of all types can get bogged down by mountains of unnecessary procedures, fees and applications associated with registering their companies and obtaining permits, certifications, and licenses.  Moreover, the associated costs in both time and money cut productivity.  And lack of transparency breeds corruption.   Many Ukrainian and foreign business owners and entrepreneurs have identified the difficulties in obtaining permits -- particularly construction and land permits -- as serious obstacles to competitiveness and growth. Ukraine has said that eliminating corruption and creating new jobs are priority goals.  One-stop shops for obtaining permits can play a big part by reducing the amount of time and expense, while increasing the transparency of Ukraine's permit system.   The Permit Law adopted by Verkhovna Rada in September 2005 is a great step forward in further simplifying the permit-issuing process in Ukraine.  It requires all municipalities -- including each of Kyiv's rayons -- to establish one-stop shops for permits issuance. One-stop shops for administrative procedures are common practices throughout Western Europe.  The Ukrainian law was drafted by the State Committee for Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship with primary technical advice from USAID's Bizpro project.  We applied the best practices from the U.S.  and Europe to design and implement permit one-stop shops in Ukraine. The 40 Ukrainian municipalities that USAID has helped to establish permit one-stop shops are seeing remarkable results.  A prime example is in the city of Kupiansk, in Kharkiv Oblast.  Since the OSS was opened the city has seen: - A two fold decrease in the cost of compliance from 277 hryvnas to 132 hryvnas; - A four fold decrease in the time to obtain permits; and - A decrease in the use of unofficial payments from 50% to 6%. These savings in time and money are not only beneficial to Ukrainian entrepreneurs, but they also make Ukraine much more attractive to both national and foreign investors.   We are very pleased with the success that the permit one stop shops have shown throughout the country.  We are also very happy to be able to expand our original plan in order to support Kyiv authorities in creating permit one-stop shops here.   Kyiv is a major center of business, so we anticipate that permit one-stop shops will have a significant and immediate positive impact for Kyiv's entrepreneurs.  Soon this rayon will begin to see the results in a decrease in investment uncertainly, the lifting of impediments for start-up businesses, and a reduction in the issuance costs for both businesses and public offices.   We expect that very quickly this one-stop shop will become a model for duplication in other rayons of Kyiv.  Your efforts to increase transparency and reduce corruption through the one-stop shop initiative are to be applauded.  I wish you all the best.