ISSUES OF LEGAL REGULATION OF OBLIGATIONS IN THE ECONOMIC SPHERE IN THE CONDITIONS OF REPEAL OF THE ECONOMIC CODE OF UKRAINE

Abstract

Problem setting. On January 9, 2025 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law “On the Peculiarities of Regulation of the Activities of Legal Entities of Certain Organizational and Legal Forms in the Transitional Period and Associations of Legal Entities”, which was signed by the President of Ukraine on February 26, 2025. The Law entered into force on the day following the day of its publication (i.e., February 28, 2025), and will be put into effect six months after the date of its entry into force (August 28, 2025), with the exception of some provisions. In accordance with Part 3 of Article 17 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Peculiarities of Regulation of the Activities of the Legal Entities of Certain Organizational and Legal Forms in the Transitional Period and Associations of Legal Entities”, from the date of entry into force of the said Law, the Economic Code of Ukraine is recognized as having lost its validity. Accordingly, from this moment on, not only will certain changes occur, but a period of legal uncertainty will begin regarding the regulation of a number of issues related to the functioning of economic turnover, including certain types of obligations in the field of management and contractual relations in this area.

Analysis of recent researches and publications. The works of a number of domestic legal scholars is devoted to the study of economic obligations and economic contracts, including O. A. Belyanevich, O. P. Vikhrov, S. O. Vikhrov, I. E. Zamoysky, G. L. Znamensky, V. V. Luts, V. K. Mamutov, V. S. Milash, O. P. Podtserkovny, and others.

One of the destructive changes that will occur after the Economic Code of Ukraine ceases to be valid, in our opinion, is the exclusion of the concept of “economic obligation” from the legal system of Ukraine. At the same time, related terms will continue to exist within the national legislative terminological system, such as: “transactions in economic activity”, “economic legal relations”, “economic disputes”, etc.

Purpose of the research is to highlight and analyze a number of problematic issues of legislative regulation of obligations in the economic sphere in the context of the repeal of the Economic Code of Ukraine.

Article’s main body. The scientific article is devoted to important aspects of the legal regulation of economic obligatory relationships, including of contractual nature, related to the entry into force of the Law of Ukraine “On the Peculiarities of Regulation of the Activities of Legal Entities of Certain Organizational and Legal Forms in the Transitional Period and Associations of Legal Entities”. The authors note that one of the destructive changes that will occur after the Economic Code of Ukraine ceases to be valid will be the exclusion of the terms “economic obligation” and “economic contract” from the conceptual and terminological apparatus of the current legislation of Ukraine. The article notes that the general provisions of Book Five of the Civil Code of Ukraine will continue to apply to property obligations of a contractual nature in the field of economic activity, based on the legal equality of the parties. However, the authors note the emergence of a number of regulatory gaps in the legislative provision of binding relations in the economic sphere after the Economic Code of Ukraine became invalid.

Conclusions and prospects for development. The article analyzes a number of problematic issues of legislative regulation of obligations in the economic sphere in the context of the abolition of the Economic Code of Ukraine. It is emphasized that obligations that arise directly from acts of economic legislation, in the structure of which there is an organizational and managerial component, as well as acts of management of economic activity, are not civil, and accordingly the general provisions of the Civil Code of Ukraine on obligations cannot be applied to them. It is noted that the Civil Code of Ukraine does not distinguish public obligations of business entities as a type of property obligations, but instead establishes provisions on a related, but not identical construction “public contract”. Special attention is paid to the specificity of contracts in the economic sphere and the need to take it into account within the process of legislative specialization is noted. The article concludes that at the level of legislative regulation, there will be no general provisions on organizational and economic obligations, as well as on the procedure for transferring / delegating rights / powers under such obligations, which will create uncertainty in the process of their regulation and will negatively affect the functioning of the economic sphere as a whole after the Economic Code of Ukraine ceases to be valid. The proposal to develop a new Economic Code of Ukraine, which would lay the foundation for the implementation of economic and legal regulation at a new systemic level, is supported.

Prospects for further research. Further scientific research of economic obligations, including contractual obligations, should be directed towards developing theoretical foundations for the systemic legal regulation of these relations and overcoming legal uncertainty during their legislative regulation in the context of economic and political changes in Ukraine.