Changed address of a drugstore in accordance with decommunization law

In November of 2016, a Client contacted our company with a request to change the name of the street, where his pharmacy was located. The Client wanted to bring everything related to this issue into compliance with the new law.

The thing is, the street name was changed due to the decommunization phase in Ukraine. The Law of Ukraine “On Condemnation of the Communist and National-Socialist (Nazi) Totalitarian Regimes in Ukraine and the Prohibition of the Promotion of Their Symbols” came into force on 21 May, 2015. Part 6 of Article 7 of the said law stipulates that the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regional, Kyiv and Sebastopol municipal, district public administrations, local self-governments shall be obliged, within six months from the effective date of this Law, to dismantle the monuments, memorial signs dedicated to the persons involved in organizing and committing Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine, political repressions, the persons, who held high positions in the communist party ... rename districts in cities, parks, boulevards, streets, alleys, descents, lanes, prospects, squares, embankments, bridges, other place names in settlements, which names contain symbols of communist totalitarian regime.

Despite the fact that local self-government bodies had six months to comply with the requirements of the said Law, there were no requirements for citizens and economic entities, let alone any time limits for changing the address of residence in the passport or business address in the constituent and registration documents.

Nevertheless, our Client understood that he would be obliged to introduce all these changes sooner or later, so he decided to change the name of the street in its business place, as soon as the local council made the relevant decision.

It was an easy step to amend the lease agreement for a pharmacy premises by concluding an additional agreement. The Client was more worried about making changes to the license documents. He inquired about the procedure, his actions, whether he would have to undergo the onsite inspection again and what document he would receive at the end.

That’s why the lawyers of our company first of all reassured the Client that there was no need to undergo the onsite inspection. The package of documents to be submitted to the licensing authority shall include a copy of the decision of the local council to rename the geographical objects, where it is indicated that the old name of the street is changed to a new one. The licensing authority considers this issue and enters the relevant information into the license register at the nearest meeting of the commission upon submission of the documents.

It was a bit more difficult to obtain the confirmation of changes for the Client. The fact is that the license is issued to the legal address of the company (or the place of registration of the individual entrepreneur), and the copy of licenses were issued to the business address in the recent past. With the entry into force of the new version of the Law of Ukraine “On Licensing of Types of Economic Activities”, such a concept as a copy of the license ceased to exist. Information about the business place is specified only in electronic license register on the website of the licensing authority. For many licensees, and not only in the pharmaceutical industry, this was a shock. The partners, especially those accustomed to “paper” licenses, asked many questions. They even refused to supply medicines, etc. to pharmacies. Over time, they got used to the fact that instead of a copy of the Pharmacy License issued for a particular address, the document confirming the business place is the decision of the licensing authority, which specifies the business address of the pharmacy of a particular licensee.

After changing the street name, it turns out that the licensee loses even this decision, because the information specified in it does not correspond to the information indicated in the license register. But it isn’t that pernicious. You still have something for paper lovers to show: after considering the relevant issue at the meeting of the commission, the licensing authority sends the licensee a decision to take into account the changes in the name of the geographical object where the pharmacy is located (the business place). And those partners of the licensee, who do not want to bother with the verification of documents, can find all the necessary information on the website of the licensing authority.

The lawyers of our company explained all the above issues to the Client and provided him with all the required services in full. The Client was pleased and grateful. We are also glad that our work helps our Clients to understand the situations they may face in our difficult and fast-changing days.