Veteran businesses may lose benefits: why the status criteria have changed

According to hvylya.net: The Association of Entrepreneurs-Veterans of the ATO (APVA) expressed hope that effective measures will be taken to support veteran businesses. This was reported by the head of APVA and the commander of the special forces sniper platoon Serhiy Poznyak.

According to Poznyak, the conditions of the law 'On Veteran Entrepreneurship' do not suit veterans, in particular the clause that provides for granting the status of a veteran business only to companies that are 100% owned by veterans.

'A person risks their life, gets injured after going through war, but when they return to peaceful life, they are told that their business is not veteran and they have no right to benefits from the state,' Poznyak explained.

Poznyak believes that the refusal to have business partners in order to maintain veteran status could harm veterans themselves. Therefore, APVA proposes to regulate the situation by introducing a compromise condition whereby if 60% of the business belongs to a veteran, it will be considered veteran. However, this proposal was excluded from the draft law at the final stage of consideration.

Ukrainian veterans are calling for effective measures to support veteran businesses, explaining that the current legislation in this area does not take into account the real needs of combat participants. They also recommend considering a compromise condition regarding veterans' ownership in business to obtain the status of a veteran business.