Today we will have a discussion with the most authoritative legal expert of the country in the field of tax law, Ll.D., professor, lawyer, Honorary President of Jurimex, TaxLink expert, President of the Tax Advisors Association, member of the Scientific and Methodological Council of the National School of Judges of Ukraine, member of the Scientific Advisory Board at the Supreme Court of Ukraine, member of the European Association of Tax Law Professors – Danylo Getmantsev.

- Mr. Getmantsev, let us start our conversation unconventionally. Please, tell me why did you decide to celebrate company’s anniversary at the National Art Museum, and even at the exhibition of icons?

- Well, it’s not that big anniversary, you know. Jurimex is only 15. In fact, Jurimex has not yet come of full age. Thus, to understand why instead of a traditional banquet with some local pop stars performing between toasts we decided to assist the National Art Museum in organizing the exhibition, it is necessary to comprehend the importance of the Kyiv brotherhood and Kyiv Brotherhood monastery for Ukraine. Now we are talking about a central cultural event of Ukraine in 2018.

- Really?

- The fact is, Kyiv Brotherhood is a unique cultural phenomenon, formed by Kyivans, clergy and Cossacks at their own expense at the beginning of the 17th century in order to protect the Orthodox faith. In 1621, hetman Sahaidachnyi joined the Brotherhood together with the whole Zaporizhian Host. In the battle against Catholicism, which had been actively imposed in Ukraine at that time, the Brotherhood became our cultural, religious and educational center at that very moment of formation of Ukrainian nation. Without exaggeration, Ukrainian nation and culture would hardly establish without the Kyiv Brotherhood and similar cultural centers. The Kyiv Brotherhood Epiphany Monastery also played a prominent role in the further development of Ukrainian culture. I would say that the reconstructed Kyiv Mohyla Academy was founded within the Kyiv Brotherhood school. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Bolsheviks destroyed the monastery not least because of its unique role and character. And the icons painted by the monks of the Brotherhood, which are exhibited in the museum, need to be seen. You will not feel such energy and the soul of an artist, whose brush seems to be led by the Lord himself, in more recent Ukrainian icons.

- Sorry for the personal question, but do you believe in God?

- The question is really unexpected. For me, a relationship with God is not a matter of faith. It’s a matter of knowledge. I have no doubt that God is present in the world and in each of us as the creator, the meaning, and the purpose. Therefore, I do not believe, I know that for sure.

- It is unusual to hear that from a lawyer, because representatives of your profession are considered to be pragmatic and even cynical people.

- Of course, that’s true! A lawyer is a person without illusions. That is what gives me the right to assert the above.

- You will not claim that what Jurimex has become within 15 years of its operation is the result of a prayer, won’t you?

- Prayers had their influence too, but let’s say that in this case it’s rather “to every man according to his deeds”. Jurimex is the result of years of titanic work of a team of smart (and I don’t mean myself – laughs), decent and very hardworking people united by common values. But the fact that they met in one place at one time, of course, is a Divine Providence.

- What was the hardest thing in the beginning?

-        The hardest thing was to make the client believe you. We started with one client who was so brave that he entrusted me and two other lawyers to conduct the affairs of a large enterprise. That first client was very important. Without him, the business would fail. Volia Kabel, TPG, Nefco, Ukravtodor, Modna Kasta, Bontrup, Mitsubishi, Exeltis Helthcare S.l., B.C.Pharma, Automagistral, Expedition Aviation, Motor Sich, ERV, Granit, TV channels, banks, radio stations and many others appeared later, and eventually became strong enough to work on complex projects of the World Bank, WHO and EBRD. A step from the first client to recognition and reliability of the brand was the most difficult one.

Another obstacle to the development of any legal business from scratch is trivial - “there is nobody to ask”. In other words, you cannot just reply “I don’t know”, you must tackle any issue that you’ve never faced before, even when there’s no answer in books and laws. What to do? You look through tons of unnecessary information, make your fair share of mistakes, and in the end, you solve the issue with incredible efforts, and realize that if you had experience, you could have done it much easier. You understand the crucial importance of law school and experienced people at the first workplace, who could give a cue, help and direct. On the other hand, your own business gives not an understanding, but that almost animal feeling that you cannot and don’t have the right to give up, that you must go on. Those who have done business (not only legal) from scratch will understand what I mean.

-        Today, there are about 100 lawyers in Jurimex, including 30 attorneys. Have you managed to form a school?

-        Absolutely. Moreover, I can confidently say that we created several directions may be called law schools. Litigation practice is headed by Nina Kucheruk – one of the best specialists in the legal proceeding. It is not only my opinion, my colleagues and even judges, whom Nina delivers lectures at the National School of Judges, will agree with me. IT and media law is led by our Managing Partner, Yurii Krainiak, and Oksana Yefimchuk. Over the past 3 years, there has not been a single draft law in the field of IT and media that has been adopted by the Parliament without legal support of Jurimex. Honestly, in 2003 (the year Jurimex was founded – ed.note), we could not even dream about it! Criminal law and procedure is headed by Andrii Ivanets and comprises 12 lawyers. Our state has recently been concerned that they have a lot of interesting work (laughs), and not everything what they do can be disclosed, but the Criminal law and procedure practice is undoubtedly a school with its own elaborations, methods and invaluable experience.

In addition, without false modesty, we have the best experts in a number of spheres. And this is not only traditional spheres for us like Tourism (A.Antonenko) and Lotteries (S. Hryshchenko). These are Construction (L. Pytel), Banking and Finance (S.Kybets), Public-Private Partnership (У.Koval), Aircraft Industry (A.Antonenko), Agriculture (S. Kybets), Labour (V. Tsynchyk) and many more.

-        And of course taxes ...

-        Yes, our tax practice, headed by Vita Forsiuk, is well-known in the market. Not only Vita, but also our other tax lawyers write books, articles, and speak at conferences and seminars, including our TAXACADEMY – joint project with the Tax Advisors Association. We develop draft laws, prepare legal stance, give legal opinions and, of course, conduct disputes on all tax issues without exceptions. Our tax training has been successfully conducted for judges of administrative courts second year in a row.

By the way, we prepared 3 new books on taxation, two of which have already been published. Now there are 7 books in our tax series. In total, the company has 10 publications, and most of them are used for teaching law in universities.

-        What is the volume of your tax practice today?

-        I would not like to tell the numbers, but our experts prepare about fifty conclusions on various taxation issues monthly. And this number is constantly growing, not to mention judicial and administrative proceedings, as well as audits and due diligence, conducted by our lawyers. In total, the practice has about 30 lawyers and attorneys.

-        Does your position in the Academic Committee of the European Association of Tax Law Professors assist you in your tax practice?

 

-        Communicating with the elite of European tax law broadens your horizons. It gives an opportunity to look ahead towards the future of our tax system, predict global trends. This is helpful in legislative work, but not only. You speak the same language both with European business and your colleagues, lawyers, understand their trends and current matters and options for solving them.

-        Why are you the only EATLP representative from Ukraine?

-        It is difficult to say, we actually have many talented professors, experts whose participation would enrich the Association. Probably, the thing is in the lack of English and a certain psychological barrier, which is very difficult to overcome, I assure you.

-        Your project Taxlink is well-known to legal and financial and accounting markets; you managed to combine law and IT. Many people discuss this idea, but only few succeed. Are you satisfied with the result?

-        Well, it’s early to boast, because the team has not achieved an ambitions goal it set. We want to include all financial law to Taxlink, and this is the target for 2018, which we failed to achieve. So far, Taxlink comprises all tax, customs, pension, labour, currency legislation and court practice described in analytical materials, but there’s still no analytics on banking and budget law, as it requires more time than expected. We hope to complete structural formation of the project next year and take up work on the details.

-        Taxlink has already become a phenomenon in the tax life of the country. And this is despite the expansion of such powerful resources as Liga. What is the secret?

-        We already have more than 7 thousand subscribers and about a thousand clients - legal entities. The dynamics is positive. I think the secret is in the subject and in the material, which gives an opportunity to feel at ease without a lawyer in taxation, if not completely to replace such an expert. If you are a law firm and your clients need tax advice. But tax law is a very complex and dynamic industry, and even if you can afford a tax lawyer, you cannot fully guarantee the quality of his work – after all, these are very specific legal relations. In addition, tax lawyer is expensive. There Taxlink comes to your rescue. In the Tax Code at Taxlink, you may immediately get a comprehensive answer to any law enforcement question, and even if a question is not covered, you can ask us and get a prompt expert tax advice. In fact, for a small amount of money, you solve an issue of great importance. And you can keep on searching for your tax lawyer. The same is with in-house accountants and lawyers. Why should you hire extra staff if there is Taxlink? Therefore, I do not quite understand why Taxlink is sometimes compared to Liga. These are absolutely incomparable things, and both products should be in any legal department or law firm.

-        Do law firms subscribe to Taxlink?

-        Both law and audit firms are among our subscribers and customers. Of course, we will never say the names, but I can tell you that about half of the companies from your top 50 rating are our customers. We are negotiating about partnership with many of them.

-        Last year, Jurimex rapidly broke into infrastructure projects. Tell us about it.

 

-        In fact, last year Jurimex began to reap first benefits of its hard work, which became public. For example, in May 2017, we successfully presented to the World Bank a report on the introduction of concession in the Kherson Sea Commercial Port together with such global giants as Royal Haskoning DHV and Rebel International BV, and designed possible models for attracting investments for the renewal of locks and dredging works of Dnipro.

World Bank, satisfied with the results of our work, later attracted us in the training project of ministries representatives, policies of which are somehow involved in the field of infrastructure.

I would also like to mention a project with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Dnipro. We have been working on it since 2015, and developed three alternative models with detailed algorithms for the implementation of a single electronic ticket in all types of public transport.

In addition, we are actively involved in the development of strategies for air transport and airports, in the discussion of draft law “On the Peculiarities of Regulating the Activities of Air Carriers”. And unlike the main air gates of the country, which underwent reconstruction and modernization due to Euro 2012, the aviation industry with a powerful industrial and intellectual base craves for investments that will be possible only with state support and legislation reforms.

-        Please tell us some words about your plans.

-        We have plenty of plans, a lot of fresh ideas and projects. However, now it is important for Jurimex to refine already launched projects and directions. Bitlex, a project for low-cost legal services, is only becoming independent. The team carried out a titanic work on the project, and today it is important that the accumulated potential be converted into real income of IT projects.

This month, the second group of TAXACADEMY graduated. Next course is about to begin. We did not expect such a demand and, therefore, most likely we will open an additional course, and plan to hold TAXACADEMY in the regions. People appreciate the quality of the material. We refused to sell the speeches and, on the contrary, pay our speakers ourselves. Now we can choose the best of the best and give people what they really want.

Jurimex discovered many areas for active development – pharmaceutical industry, PPP, aircraft industry, banking law, etc. Not to mention the development of those areas of our expertise that are, without exaggeration, already among the best in Ukraine.

-        Since 2003 and Jurimex founding, you managed to build a network of interconnected brands...

-        This is not my merit, but the result of team work. But yes, there are 7 brands-directions today, which complement each other, cover virtually the entire legal services market, and actively function. We certainly still have much work to do to ensure that the projects correspond to the targets we set. Therefore, we are still at the beginning of our way.

-        What would you wish to those who are still at the beginning of their way? Who is just building business and takes you for a model?

There’s a difficult, perplexing, but exciting way ahead of you. To pass it, you need perseverance, strength of will and patience, and that’s what I wish you. I have already said in previous interviews: work, pray, and read. That’s what we need to do. Read a lot. And you will achieve everything.