Sunday, March 31, 2019

PRESIDENT'S ELECTIONS UKRAINE 2019 CEC - VOTING RESULTS, 34.65% OF PROCESSED PROTOCOLS

Image from Gyazo

PRESIDENT'S ELECTIONS UKRAINE 2019 CEC - VOTING RESULTS, 3.59% OF PROCESSED PROTOCOLS

Image from Gyazo

Presidential Election in Ukraine. Results of the exit poll as of 20:00

Національний екзит-пол`2019 у день виборів: результати опитування стано...

Взгляд из России на выборы Президента Украины

Comic, Billionaire and Comeback Queen Vie for Ukraine Presidency

Presidential elections under way in Ukraine (Photos)

Presidential elections held in Ukraine today

Friday, March 29, 2019

The White House has received a long-awaited package of new sanctions on Russia intended to punish the Kremlin for the U.K. spy attack. Officials have vetted them and are awaiting approval from the White House, sources say

Яніна Соколова застерегла українців перед виборами Президента

Naftogaz has ‘plan B’ if Gazprom stops gas transit via Ukraine

Mingarelli on elections in Ukraine: Much is at stake

Pope signs new law to prevent child abuse at Vatican HQ and embassies

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Friday enacted sweeping new legislation to protect children from sexual abuse within the Vatican and other Holy See institutions in Rome, as well as by its diplomatic corps worldwide.

Previously, the abuse of minors came under various legal provisions, some of them instituted on an ad hoc basis.

The Rome headquarters of the global Catholic Church is an independent state with the pope as its head.

Report on EU trade defence – effective protection against unfair trade

Brussels, 28 March 2019
The EU shields 320,000 direct jobs across Europe from unfair foreign competition through its trade defence measures, according to a report out today.
The Juncker Commission has strengthened Europe's trade defence toolbox through two major reforms. Since 2014, it has also applied 95 measures to ensure that European companies and workers can compete on fair terms. Two-thirds of all the 135 measures in place concern imports from China.
In 2018 the EU completed the biggest overhaul of its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy legislation since 1994. The reform strengthened the EU's defences against dumped and subsidised imports. Against this background, the EU continued its intense activity and finalised a high number of investigations resulting in new protection measures, in particular in the steel sector. The year 2018 was also notable in that the EU imposed three safeguard measures, the first since 2002.

EU Copyright Reform: good news for authors and artists behind the headlines…

The scope of the EU Digital Copyright Directive approved this week by European Parliament is broad. With most media attention having been devoted to the controversial “link tax” (Article 11) and “meme ban” (Article 13), other measures in the Directive which strengthen the position of authors and performers should not be forgotten. This post looks ‘behind the headlines’ to explain these other measures.
Improving the position of content creators
The Directive contains a contract adjustment mechanism to allow authors and performers to renegotiate their remuneration and obtain a “fair share” when the remuneration originally agreed becomes “disproportionately low” compared to the success of their work or performance (Article 15).

The Perils of Electing S Corporation Status

Some advisers recommend electing S corporation tax status for a limited liability company (LLC) or partnership, or recommend simply organizing a closely held business as a corporation that elects to be taxed as an S corporation. These advisers generally cite the self-employment tax savings that can be achieved as an S corporation relative to an LLC classified as a partnership. More recently, S corporation proponents additionally cite the ability to scale wage payments to shareholders to potentially increase the 20 percent deduction for qualified business income under new Section 199A.As explained below, the asserted tax savings of S corporation status are often illusory or negligible, and the very real and very significant disadvantages of S corporation status are rarely given adequate consideration. For this reason, electing S corporation status for an LLC, or organizing an entity as an S corporation, is rarely advisable.

Law & Critique: In the service of a total market: the Future of Legal Craft

In recent years, the growth of financial markets, the spread of information technology and institutional changes in democracies have often been associated with the rise of populist politics. Such developments, sometimes characterised as transformations resulting from reactions to the deepening of “globalization”, and the spread of its “neoliberal” ideological and regulatory scaffold through international cooperation mechanisms, have incited forms of political radicalism reminiscent of fascist regimes that flourished approximately a century ago. Alain Supiot[1]has associated these conditions to what he called “total market”, in which “signs and things can all be rendered commensurable and be mobilized in the cause of globalized competition”. In the “total market” things and people maybe “liquidated”, a term which legally means “making something fungible by converting it into cash”.[2]In comparing the “total market” of the 21stcentury with 20th-century Nazism and Real Communism, Supiot remarks that “[t]oday, the pressure of globalization on all cultures has triggered a powerful backlash of religious, ethnic, regionalist and nationalist identifications”.[3]

Pretending to be stupid

Intellectual horsepower is overrated.
“I’m too stupid to do that,” isn’t helpful and it’s probably not true.
We’re capable of learning Photoshop, We can figure out the arithmetic behind our analytics. We can follow a nuanced discussion of strategy. We can learn to read a balance sheet and we can get sophisticated about long-term decision making.
If we’re being honest, the real reason we don’t do this work isn’t that we’re stupid.
It’s probably that we haven’t made it a priority.

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Правові проблеми працевлаштування молоді на ринку праці

Faith—based Conscientious Contracting: Pratfalls of Fixed Term Employment—Like Contractual Relations

A (Kremlin) Star is Born - Disinformation Review:

Кремль готов купить Украину. Готова ли Украина снова продаться?

Спецвыпуск: Выборы президента Украины 2019 / Янина Соколова агитирует за...

Платежі на картку фізичної особи – міфи та реальність

Monday, March 25, 2019

"Дима, проснись!": Соколова "проехалась" по Медведеву, Бойко и Медведчуку

"Дима, проснись!": Соколова "проехалась" по Медведеву, Бойко и Медведчуку

Over 2,000 international observers registered for presidential elections in Ukraine - CEC

Russia and money laundering in Europe

Car rentals: EU action leads to clearer and more transparent pricing

Following a call from the European Commission and EU consumer authorities, five industry leaders, Avis, Europcar, Enterprise, Hertz and Sixt, have changed the way they present car rental prices, making them fully transparent to consumers.
Until now, the companies concerned had not fully implemented some of their commitments in order for the European Commission and EU consumer authorities to consider them fully compliant with EU consumer law. The assessment published today notes that Enterprise and Sixt have now made all the required changes. Avis has committed to make remaining changes by May 2019. Europcar, which now includes Goldcar, will implement the remaining changes by June 2019. Hertz have committed to make all the necessary changes at the latest by the first quarter of 2020.
Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, said: "Thanks to our pressure there will be no more unpleasant surprises at the check-out desk when you're renting your car. It's really frustrating to start your holidays by having to pay unplanned extra costs and read complicated contracts. I want European consumers to enjoy their holidays to the maximum, without having to worry about nasty surprises with final bills.”

UK Issues Regulations on Post-Brexit Data Protection Law

Two sets of regulations aimed at readying UK data protection law for a post-Brexit world have been promulgated in recent weeks.  These regulations, which were made pursuant to the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EUWA), will only come into force in most respects upon the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.  Broadly speaking, these regulations are intended to preserve the status quo post-Brexit by (1) amending certain provisions of the GDPR to allow it to be retained as UK domestic law and (2) transitionally adopting certain key decisions of the EU institutions that, collectively, would allow for the continued lawfulness of personal data flows out of the United Kingdom where currently permitted under EU law.  In both regards, these regulations are consistent with prior guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (discussed here).

Analysis: Mueller Clears Trump—but Not Putin

Reviewing the Justices’ Agreement Rates in Divided Criminal Cases, 2014-2018

Government Investigations in China

Use the Lexology Getting The Deal Through tool to compare the answers in this article with those from other jurisdictions.
Enforcement agencies and corporate liability
Government agencies
What government agencies are principally responsible for the enforcement of civil and criminal laws and regulations applicable to businesses?
The Administration for Market Regulation (AMR) (previously the Administrations for Industry and Commerce (AIC)) at all levels, Public Security Bureaus at all levels (PSBs), the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission and their subsidiary bodies, tax bureaus at all levels, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and its subsidiary bodies, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and its subsidiary bodies respectively exercise governmental supervision and regulation authority (including conducting government or criminal investigations, and imposing administrative penalties) against fraud, bribery and money laundering, and on tax, securities, banks, etc, with their authorities sometimes overlapping. Of the aforementioned government agencies, those principally responsible for supervision and regulation of companies’ daily operations are the AMR, the PSBs and the NDRC.
Futhermore, article 3 of the newly effective Supervision Law provides that:

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

The Wooden Anniversary of Crimean Annexation - Disinformation Review

Turkish combat UAVs, American Javelin systems and other weapons raise the price of Russian aggression against Ukraine - President in Khmelnytskyi region

During the working visit to Khmelnytskyi region, President Petro Poroshenko took part in the testing of Bayraktar combat UAV of Turkish production.
"According to its characteristics, this drone is one of the best. Bayraktar beat the world record in the class of tactical medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles for the duration of the flight, staying aloft for more than a day at an altitude of eight kilometers. It can carry missile weapons, successfully destroying the enemy's fortifications, including striking naval targets," the Head of State emphasized.
According to Petro Poroshenko, when the Ukrainian side turned to the Turkish President and frankly told about this urgent need, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan acted as a true friend and strategic partner - the talks were quick and today these UAVs are already in Ukraine. The Head of State thanked his Turkish colleague.

Ukraine, EU approve roadmap for improving infrastructure on common borders

The nomadic state: What is unique about Ukrainian migration and how it impacts national identity

Mobility could be one of the fundamental social experiences that might help Ukrainian society better understand its collective identity and implement its modern political project. In her article titled A Big Migrant Family in the Krytyka magazine, Is. 7-8 from 2015, Svitlana Filonova listed all “voluntary” migrations experienced by millions of Ukrainians in the 20th century alone, including the removal of kurkuls, the soviet label for peasants owning land or property, deportations, mass replacement migration, exiles, expulsions and special replacement to industrial areas in the Soviet Union. The death of Joseph Stalin hardly stopped this perpetuum mobile. Other important waves of Ukrainian migration date back to the period between the 1890s and the beginning of World War I, the interwar period and World War II, when many were political migrants, including Ukrainian nationalists. Then came the post-1991 migration. 

A compromise proposal for the Article 50 extension


After last week's votes in the House of Commons, it has become inevitable that Brexit will not happen on 29 March.
This week, British prime minister Theresa May will ask the European Council for an extension to Article 50 proceedings, and European Union member states will not refuse - they will want to avoid bearing responsibility for a sudden no-deal Brexit for which nobody is adequately prepared.
The real question facing leaders at this point is how long of an extension to grant the UK.

РАДЗИХОВСКИЙ: Назарбаев ушел в отставку. Казахстан, Путин, его реакция, ...

Antitrust: Commission fines Google €1.49 billion for abusive practices in online advertising

The European Commission has fined Google €1.49 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules. Google has abused its market dominance by imposing a number of restrictive clauses in contracts with third-party websites which prevented Google's rivals from placing their search adverts on these websites.
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: "Today the Commission has fined Google €1.49 billion for illegal misuse of its dominant position in the market for the brokering of online search adverts. Google has cemented its dominance in online search adverts and shielded itself from competitive pressure by imposing anti-competitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules. The misconduct lasted over 10 years and denied other companies the possibility to compete on the merits and to innovate - and consumers the benefits of competition.”

Google's strategy for online search advertising intermediation
Websites such as newspaper websites, blogs or travel sites aggregators often have a search function embedded. When a user searches using this search function, the website delivers both search results and search adverts, which appear alongside the search result.

The Future of Leadership Development

  • Mihnea Moldoveanu
  • Das Narayandas

  • The need for leadership development has never been more urgent. Companies of all sorts realize that to survive in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment, they need leadership skills and organizational capabilities different from those that helped them succeed in the past. There is also a growing recognition that leadership development should not be restricted to the few who are in or close to the C-suite. With the proliferation of collaborative problem-solving platforms and digital “adhocracies” that emphasize individual initiative, employees across the board are increasingly expected to make consequential decisions that align with corporate strategy and culture. It’s important, therefore, that they be equipped with the relevant technical, relational, and communication skills.

    Congress Blocks Robocalls

    Like email spam, telemarketer and scam phone calls are such routine and ubiquitous elements of modern life it’s easy to forget that most of those phone calls are illegal. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, passed in 1991, banned unsolicited robocalls. The proliferation of cell phones and major changes to telephone infrastructure in the intervening years have allowed robocalls to proliferate. Even elected officials are not immune to the scourge, motivating Congress to take action on phone scams.

    Telephone Consumer Protection Act
    The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a 1991 federal law which protects consumers from harmful telemarketing practices. Banned practices include:

    Carlos Ghosn’s lawyer says his trial could begin this fall

    Google's decade-long antitrust battle in Europe

    New York City Releases Model Policies for Lactation Room Law


    The New York City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) has released model policies for the City’s lactation room law, effective March 18, 2019.
    The CCHR’s dedicated lactation accommodations page contains model policies for:
    Additionally, the CCHR page includes a Model Lactation Accommodation Request Form.

    Tuesday, March 19, 2019

    California university says students tied to admissions scam could face expulsion

    UKRAINIAN SECURITY SECTOR: Key challenges and risks in the field of security and defense in the first half of March 2019 yearhttps://

    #ПРАВО2019: ПРОСЛУХОВУВАННЯ ВЕДУЧИХ

    Нурсултан Назарбаев объявил о сложении полномочий Президента

    Half a decade has passed since Vladimir Putin annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. For Russia, the costs continue to mount https://www.

    Sunday, March 17, 2019

    400 ударов салом по...

    Poroshenko enacts NSDC decision which foresees audit of Ukroboronprom involving intl experts

    Artificial Intelligence: Good and Evil All at Once, Just Like its Creators

    By Philip Segal on March 16, 2019

    POSTED IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

    Have you ever noticed that artificial intelligence always seems much more frightening when people write about what it will become, but then how it can seem like imperfect, bumbling software when writing about AI in the present tense?

    You get one of each in this morning’s Wall Street Journal. The paper paints a horrific picture of what the ruthless secret police of the world’s dictatorships will be able to do with AI in The Autocrat’s New Tool Kit, including facial recognition to track behavior more efficiently and to target specific groups with propaganda.

    Declaration by the High Representative Federica Mogherini on behalf of the EU on the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol

    Заявление Верховного Представителя ЕС Федерики Могерини от имени Европейского Союза касательно Автономной Республики Крым и города Севастополя (PDF)

    Five years on from the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation, the European Union remains steadfast in its commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
    The European Union reiterates that it does not recognise and continues to condemn this violation of international law. It remains a direct challenge to international security, with grave implications for the international legal order that protects the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of all States.
    The European Union remains committed to fully implementing its non-recognition policy, including through restrictive measures. The European Union calls again on UN Member States to consider similar non-recognition measures in line with the UN General Assembly Resolution 68/262.

    Turkey reiterates its non-recognition of Crimea annexation by Russia

    Friday, March 15, 2019

    U.S. intelligence community to cooperate with defense intelligence of Ukraine

    The Yale dad who set off the college-admissions scandal

    These Photos Show Why the Irish Border Is Problematic

    The 310 Miles Breaking Brexit

    EBRD and EU launch SME credit line in Ukraine

    Ukraine: EU responds to escalation at the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov, and renews sanctions over actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity

    Women’s History Month: What Laws Protect Women In The Workplace?

    March is women’s history month – a great reason to take a look at the hard-won laws that aim to protect women in the workplace. While many women still struggle for true fairness at work, knowing the law can help in the ongoing push for equality.

    Gender Discrimination
    The landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal for employers to discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The law prohibits employers from treating women differently due to their gender during any stage of work — from hiring to exiting.
    According to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), an employment “policy or practice that applies to everyone, regardless of sex, can be illegal if it has a negative impact on the employment of people of certain sex and is not job-related or necessary to the operation of the business.”

    Food and Beverage Startups, Don’t Pitch Investors Without These 9 Data Points


    “Investors in food and beverage brands are thinking about whether the brand will gain consumer traction, whether the team can lead it to extreme high growth, and whether there is a market for acquisition within the larger consumer packaged goods (CPG) community.”
    Q: What key points should be addressed by food and beverage startups when they pitch investors? Jeremy Halpern: Like most high growth companies, innovation and differentiation are important in the food and beverage world. However, unlike technology or life sciences companies, food and beverage entrepreneurs are often making more incremental type changes in the core products with bigger changes occurring in the packaging, pricing, go-to-market strategy, marketing roll out, distribution methodology, and other business side activities. Also, unlike in other verticals, food and beverage entrepreneurs are expected to be in the market and selling product. As such, investors will want real data on 1) distribution footprint, 2) velocity per point of distribution, 3) gross margins, 4) cost reduction efficiencies at scale, 5) comparison data to key competitors, 6) consumer marketing reports, 7) key accounts, 8) unit economics, including wholesale price and suggested retail price (SRP), and 9) social engagement data and influencer activity. If the brand has already spun up an e-commerce solution, investors will want purchasing data, click-through rates, reorder rates, analysis of the costs, and methods of acquiring customers, review data, and other information that validates product-market fit and which provides insight into understanding the nature and habits of core customers.

    When Facebook Goes Down, Don't Blame Hackers

    Wednesday, March 13, 2019

    ЗАПРОШЕННЯ НА #ПРАВО2019

    Fatal Distraction - Disinformation Review

    Права молодих жінок в Україні

    Кудрявцева А. В., ІБО, Бізнес-економіка, КНЕУ

    Ґендерна рівність займає центральне місце у системі прав людини та серед цінностей Організації Об’єднаних Націй (ООН). Одним з фундаментальних принципів Статуту ООН, який було прийнято світовими лідерами у 1945 році, є «рівні права чоловіків та жінок», а також захист та просування прав жінок, як відповідальність кожної держави.

    Україна зобов’язалась до виконання ключових міжнародних зобов’язань щодо забезпечення ґендерної рівності. Країна прийняла Цілі Сталого Розвитку (ЦСР), приєдналася до Пекінської Декларації та Платформи Дій (ПДПД) на 4-й Світовій Конференції Жінок (1995) та ратифікувала ключові договори з плав людини, включно з Конвенцією про ліквідацію всіх форм дискримінації щодо жінок (1980) та її Факультативний Протокол.

    Updates and Changes to the Tax Code

    Taxes – a necessary evil, of course; but one that may be (slightly) easier to deal with in 2019 thanks to major updates to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Early on, the current administration announced an overhaul to the federal taxation system, something not seen in three decades. Important changes to the IRC include an adjustment to tax brackets, changes to deductions and credits, and various other nuances worth noting. As always, be sure to file on time with payment in full of any tax owed – as tax penalties will continue to loom for late- or non-filers.

    U.S. House of Representatives passes Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act

    Paul Manafort indicted in New York moments after second sentencing – live

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order will halt all executions while he is in office, according to an aide

    5 Antitrust Trends for Private Equity to Watch

    Posted in EU and Competition, M&A and Private Equity
    In a continually evolving antitrust landscape, we consider five key trends that PE deal teams should be aware of.
    Focus on Non-Controlling Stakes in Competing Companies
    Antitrust authorities are paying closer attention to “common ownership”, the simultaneous ownership of non-controlling stakes in competing companies, with the EU’s Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, publicly stating that the European Commission is looking “carefully” into the issue. While public companies were the initial focus, we expect that private companies will face a similar level of scrutiny. As co-investment deals and non-controlling acquisitions become more common, deal teams should not assume that acquiring a minority position will mean that antitrust issues cannot arise.

    Tuesday, March 12, 2019

    New Jersey leaders in deal to legalize recreational marijuana

    It's not just corruption. Entrance into elite US colleges is rigged in every way

    European Parliament: Russia can no longer be considered a ‘strategic partner’

    Nord Stream 2 must be stopped – European Parliament resolution

    Corruption in Ukroboronprom: Journalists claim anti-corruption watchdog, prosecutors involved

    More lethal aid from U.S.: How Ukraine can respond to Russia's aggression

    These 3 FDD Items Really Matter

    By FranchiseKing, Guest Blogger
    Published: February 8, 2019

    If you decide to go down the franchise business opportunity path, one of the business artifacts you’ll become familiar with is the Franchise Disclosure Document.
    Known in franchise circles as the FDD, franchisors generally send this lengthy, but important 300-page legal document to you within the first couple weeks of your introduction to the franchise concept.
    Note: The Federal Trade CommissionDownload Adobe Reader to read this link content (FTC) states that “franchisors must furnish prospective franchisees with a disclosure document at least 14 calendar days before the prospective franchisee signs a binding agreement with, or makes any payment to, the franchisor or an affiliate in connection with the proposed franchise sale.”
    In addition, “Upon reasonable request, franchisors also must furnish a disclosure document to a prospective franchisee earlier in the sales process than 14 calendar days before the franchisee signs or pays.”

    Business Judgment Rule: a Legal Theory or a Real Protection for the Board Members in Turkey?

    Sunday, March 10, 2019