Electronic Export Licenses, Sanctions Against Russia in Action

Ukrainian Exporters Will Soon Be Able to Obtain Licenses in Electronic Form

According to the statement of the Ministry of Economy, Ukrainian exporters will soon be able to obtain licenses in electronic form, as this is provided for by amendments to the Order of the Ministry of Economy “On the Procedure for Licensing the Export of Goods” and constitutes part of the deregulation reform.

The amendments provide for, inter alia:

• submission of documents and obtaining a license in electronic form. At the same time, entrepreneurs still have the option of submitting documents in paper form if they wish;
• reduction of the list of documents to be submitted for obtaining a license.

The amendments to the Order also update the license application form, the license form, instructions for filling them out, and the regulations on the licensing procedure.

Thus, in order to obtain licenses for the export of goods from Ukraine, entrepreneurs who have chosen the electronic form of submitting documents need only go to the section “Foreign Economic Activity” on the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services at the link.

In their own electronic account on the web portal, entrepreneurs should submit a package of required documents electronically. After the documents are reviewed within the established timeframe and if a positive decision is made, the license will appear in the applicant’s account in electronic form.

The Ministry of Economy also reminds that during the period of martial law, the issuance of licenses for the export and import of goods is free of charge.

Therefore, the letter of application for a license does not require a guarantee of payment of the state fee for its issuance to be attached to the package of documents.

Sanctions Against Russia in Action: EU Intellectual Property Offices No Longer Accept Applications from Russians

The Ukrainian National Office of Intellectual Property and Innovations shared how the provisions of the new package of sanctions against Russia are being implemented in practice in the context of intellectual property (IP).

In June of this year, the EU Council adopted the 14th package of economic and individual restrictive measures aimed at responding to the legalization of IP infringements in Russia and reducing competitive advantages for Russian industry, as well as further reducing the revenues used by Russia for its illegal, unprovoked and unjustified aggressive war against Ukraine.

These restrictive measures are aimed at such important sectors of the Russian economy as energy, finance and trade, as well as those that make it difficult to circumvent EU sanctions.

More details about the 14th package of sanctions against Russia can be found here.

Amid other things, the new sanctions package imposes restrictions on the acceptance of applications for registration of intellectual property in the EU by Russian individuals and companies in order to compensate for the actions of the Russian government and courts that illegally deprive owners of EU intellectual property rights of their protection in Russia.

EU Council Regulation 2024/1745 dated 24 June 2024, in particular, provides for:

• prohibition for the IP offices of the Member States and regional offices of the EU and other competent institutions to accept applications for registration from the above-mentioned persons, as well as in the case when such persons are only one of the applicants; however, the institutions should not make formal decisions on refusal of acceptance or registration;
• prohibition of accepting applications or petitions in the registration process in respect of all IP rights;
• authorizing these institutions to request the necessary information from applicants.

All these restrictions are already in effect. For example, the German Patent and Trademark Office has announced that it does not accept new applications for registration of trademarks, patents, industrial designs, utility models, protected designations of origin and geographical indications filed by citizens of the Russian Federation or individuals residing in Russia, as well as legal entities established in the Russian Federation.