The Ministry of Education and Science proposes to eliminate the gaps in the legislation on the activities of science parks – the government approved the corresponding bill

At a meeting of the Government, the draft Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Concerning the Enhancement of the Activity of Science Parks” was approved.

“The purpose of the bill is to improve the efficiency of innovation in science parks and the commercialization of the results of scientific research and scientific and technical (experimental) developments. The Ministry considers it necessary to provide institutions of higher education and scientific institutions with real autonomy for the creation of science parks and to exclude a possible corruption component in this process. We also propose to provide for certain guarantees for development. The Ministry of Education and Science has developed legislative changes that will allow science parks to earn efficiently and have real results of their activities”, – the acting Acting Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Serhiy Shkarlet said.

He drew attention to the fact that the draft amendments were developed in accordance with priority 13.5 “Development of Science and Innovation” of the Program of Activities of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. In particular, it is planned to develop research and innovation infrastructure, the state of which ensures the creation and implementation (commercialization) of the results of their research and development by scientists and subjects of innovation.

What is the need for legislative changes?

Science parks (SP) today still do not act as an effective tool for influencing the development of innovative processes.

The reason is a number of problems that need to be addressed: the legal status and organizational and legal form of the state of emergency are not clearly defined; the complex and lengthy process of creating an NP; restrictions on contributions to the authorized capital; the participation of the state of emergency in the process of commercialization of the results of scientific research, scientific and technical (experimental) developments is not specified; the complexity of the interaction between the higher education/research institution and SP; lack of own infrastructure and the difficulty of renting premises, equipment, and the like; a clear mechanism for the implementation of NP projects has not been defined; limited sources of financing for emergency situations.

In addition, the current legislation provides for a number of reservations that require the consent of public authorities. So, the decision to create a state of emergency is made by its founders in agreement with the central executive body implementing state policy in the field of science and innovation, and if the founders of the state of emergency are state or communal business entities operating on the basis of the right of economic management or law operational management, the decision on the participation of such founders in the establishment of the state of emergency is made in agreement with the relevant bodies in whose management there is state or communal property assigned to such business entities.

There is a need to exclude the existing provisions and provide autonomy to the HEIs and scientific institutions on the issue of creating a state of emergency or amending the constituent documents, in particular, the authorized capital. This statement is justified by the fact that the legislation lacks a procedure and criteria for agreeing on a decision on the creation of a state of emergency, that is, there are no grounds clearly defined by legislation.

The procedure for agreeing on a decision on the creation of a state of emergency provides only the procedure for applying, and the procedure for making a decision, refusing to agree and a number of other issues are not defined.

Since the purpose of NP activities is the development of scientific, technical and innovative activities in the Western Military District and / or a scientific institution, the Law of Ukraine “On Science Parks” will provide for the ability of these entities to influence the decision-making process for managing emergency situations.

It is also proposed to exclude provisions on the existence of two constituent documents simultaneously – the charter and the constituent agreement. Indeed, according to the Civil Code of Ukraine, the constituent documents are the charter or the constituent agreement.

In addition, it was proposed to concretize the forms of attracting education seekers to the implementation of SP projects – on the basis of civil law contracts.

The legislative changes proposed by the Ministry of Education and Science will allow:

• clearly define the legal status of the state of emergency, their organizational and legal form, clearly outline their tasks and goals to enhance the role and improve the innovative activity of the Western Military District and scientific institutions;
• to grant the right to founders to create a state of emergency without the consent of the central executive authorities (to grant autonomy to HEIs and scientific institutions on the issue of creating a non-governmental organization);
• grant the right of the state of emergency to independently establish areas of activity without their approval by the central executive authority, which ensures the formation and implements the state policy in the spheres of education and science, scientific, scientific and technical activities, innovation in these areas, transfer (transfer) of technologies;
• establish that in the event of the withdrawal of the HEIs and/or scientific institution, with the participation of which the state of emergency was created, from the founders, the state of emergency is subject to liquidation;
• the possibility of the HEIs and/or the founding scientific institution to provide premises for the placement of private individuals on such lease terms as for budgetary institutions;
• the possibility of HEIs and scientific institutions created under legislation other than the legislation of Ukraine, as well as such HEIs of private ownership, to participate in the formation of the authorized capital of a private enterprise in any form (that is, by making both tangible and intangible assets);
• inclusion of grants, loans, repayable financial assistance in the list of funding sources for private individuals.

The draft law will be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for consideration and decision.

Source: МESU