Page 69 - UKRRptSept19

driver’s licenses and online participation in the 2020 population census. By 2021, elections should be conducted by electronic voting.
Zelenskiy’s e-government drives build on work done by the Poroshenko- Groysman government. This year, the number of government services available electronically is increasing by 50%, to 180, Prime Minister Groysman said at a recent startup conference.
Internet advertising market nearly doubled during the first half of this year, hitting $79mn, reports the Ukrainian Internet Association. Almost 37% was on social media and instant messengers - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Skype, and Viber. Of the total amount, the segment breakdown is: in-stream video – 41%; banners – 34%; in-page video – 11%; pop-up and other ‘non-standard’ techniques – 9%; sponsorship – 5%.
To sweep away the blizzard of paperwork surrounding the birth of a child, the Zelenskiy administration is implementing ‘eMalyatko’ or ‘eBaby.’ Parents will be able electronically to register their baby’s birth and residence and electronically apply for the child’s passport and tax identification number. Designed with the help of experts and money from Canada, Estonia, Switzerland, and the US, the project is to start Jan. 1. Zelenskiy, a father of a girl and a boy, told government officials last year that under the current system “parents are forced to go through the bureaucratic hell with a baby in their arms.”
E-money transactions in Ukraine skyrocket by 60% in the first half of this year, according to the NBU. The total amount of electronic money issued over the period under review almost doubled y/y, to $3.4mn.
PM Groysman launched a $16mn Ukrainian National Startup Fund. With IT industry leaders serving as jurors, the Fund will pick early-stage Ukrainian start-ups for seed money grants of up to $75,000 apiece. Projects are to be completed within two years.
The number of Kyivstar subscribers who use 4G smartphones jumped 70% y/y this spring, hitting 10.5mn. Overall, Kyivstar’s smartphone users increased by 19% during the same time, hitting 15.1mn. About 70% of Ukraine’s estimated 40mn people now have access to Kyivstar’s 4G mobile internet, the company reports. For users of Ukraine’s largest cell phone company, Xiaomi and Samsung overtook Apple last year in popularity. Today, the five most popular brands are:
Faced with a surge in international e-commerce, Ukraine lowered by one third – to €100 euros – the value of a parcel one person can receive duty- free. Above that value, a new 20% tax is levied. Last fall the Finance Ministry proposed lowering the duty-free level to €22 but backed off in face of popular opposition.
9.1.8 Tourism sector news
To promote medical tourism to Ukraine, President Zelenskiy will propose a list of countries whose nationals can come to Ukraine visa-free for treatment. Zelenskiy spoke Saturday at the opening of a medical tourism conference in Truskavets, a mineral springs resort town in the Carpathian foothills, 90 km southwest of Lviv. China and Middle Eastern nations are
69 UKRAINE Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com