Quarantine is one of the most common activities in the webinars. It’s convenient, fast, and most importantly accessible. From the global trend is not far behind and Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers, which held April 3, 2020 webinar on “The rent during the quarantine” in the organisation with Vinnytsia Business People Club and Ukrainian Door Association.

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Webinar speakers who provided legal advice:

● Inna Vojlo – Legal Counsel of the Volyn Chamber of Commerce,      

● Mykhaylo Goncharuk – lawyer and partner of Goncharuk & Partners JSC,      

● Oleg Dorofeev – lawyer, partner of Legiteam.      

The webinar was moderated by Valentina Hraban, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Furniture Association.

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Up-to-date questions from furniture contractors on rent, retail, office, warehouse and production premises

During the webinar, topical issues were raised, which are received daily by the director and boards of the Ukrainian Furniture Association from its members.

In particular, they said:

● about exemptions for rent during quarantine in accordance with the Law of Ukraine №3275;      

● risks of conflicts between tenant and landlord;      

● ability to obtain a certificate of force majeure;      

● and effective tips for getting a discount or vacation for rent.      

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Are the provisions of Law No. 3275 exempt from rent?

It is known that according to the recent changes in the current legislation of Ukraine, namely the Draft Law of Ukraine No. 3275 on amendments to some legislative acts aimed at providing additional social and economic guarantees in connection with the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) in the statutory law the tenant is exempt from the lease payment.

Lawyer Mykhaylo Goncharuk believes that the adopted changes will only interfere with economic activity. The lawyer explains it this way: 

“ From the windows, it was presented in such a way that the tenant, due to the fact that the quarantine is in force, is exempted from paying for the rent. And many tenants believe that if they sign this law by the president, they will not pay the rent at all. Changes made in Art. 762 of the Civil Code of Ukraine have been poorly formulated, since the new text does not make any changes to this article. Even before these changes, there was a rule in the law that the tenant is exempt from rent for all time during which the property could not be used, in circumstances for which he is not responsible. And this norm, which was published in the Voice of Ukraine (note: official publication) is submitted in such a way that the employer “can” be exempted from payment for the use of property in accordance with part 6 of Art. 762 CCU. According to these changes, it can be argued that these rules do not allow the tenant not to pay the rent only in connection with that in Ukraine there is a quarantine.”

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Is the lack of money an excuse to obtain a force majeure certificate?

 

Inna Vojlo spoke about the procedure and conditions for issuing certificates certifying force majeure. The lawyer, on the example of appeals to the Volyn Chamber of Commerce and Industry, described the procedure and prerequisites for obtaining such certificates. In particular, she noted that these certificates – this is the final action that can be done by a business entity. Ms Vojlo advises entrepreneurs to make changes to their lease agreements and, first and foremost, to establish a dialogue and negotiation with the landlord.

“If there is no dialogue, then we need to address the CCI. A certificate is not a panacea for solving the problem of rent payment, it can more than be proof for a lawsuit,” the lawyer emphasizes.

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What Rental Discounts Can I Get Today?

Legiteam law partner Oleg Dorofeyev told webinars on real-world case studies how the firm’s lawyers reached compromises with landlords without receiving CCI certificates and going to court.

In addition, the lawyer shared information that the lawyers of the company are currently working on to protect businesses from law enforcement agencies, which now raid businesses and impose administrative penalties on the state for failure to comply with the quarantine regime. According to the lawyers of the company, nowadays such enterprises can sue and challenge these rulings on the imposition of fines, citing Article 64 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which provides that the constitutional rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen cannot be restricted, except in cases provided by the Constitution Ukraine, namely in conditions of martial law or state of emergency only, individual restrictions on rights and freedoms may be imposed, indicating the period of validity of these restrictions. According to the lawyer, quarantine, which was introduced throughout the territory of Ukraine, does not fall under either martial law or emergency.

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Registered video  from the webinar

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In general, the experts answered a series of questions that members of UAFM sent to a joint chat, voiced by webinar moderator Valentina Hraban. The organizers also announced the launch of the next webinar on “The Internet Evolution for the Furniture Business”. It was April 10, 2020, will be the first part of the webinar on how to Alexander Fedotov – one of the most successful digital – marketing speaks about Ukraine business transformation – requirements for digital marketing needs. Participation in the webinar is absolutely free, the only thing is to register: https://uafm.com.ua/en/internet-evolyutsiya-dlya-meblevogo-biznesu/