Transparent rules, a favorable business climate, and refinement of the Diia.City regime—to achieve these goals, the largest Ukrainian technology companies have formed Diia.City United. This is a union of tech businesses that operate in Ukraine and are Diia.City residents. The news about launching the union was announced on Facebook by Serhiі Tokarev, an IT entrepreneur and investor, co-founder and general partner of the technology company Roosh. Roosh is one of the founding companies of the Union. Among other founders are Monobank, Genesis, Ajax Systems, MacPaw, and Netpeak Group.
“The Union will be an effective tool for addressing the current needs of the Ukrainian IT sector in collaboration with the government. These include legal transparency, work predictability, a favorable business climate, and the protection and refinement of the legal regime,” emphasizes Serhiі Tokarev.
According to Alexander Kosovan, founder and CEO of MacPaw, President of Diia.City United, the Union is the result of joint work by Ukrainian entrepreneurs: “For us, this is not just a union for the sake of union, but a two-way dialogue with the state. Our ultimate goal is to create a predictable and fair ecosystem for business development, attracting investments, and realizing Ukraine’s entrepreneurial potential. And we are at the beginning of the journey.”
Diia.City United was presented on February 6 in Kyiv, Ukraine. The strategic priorities of the Union include:
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Protecting and refining the Diia.City regime;
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Establishing honest interaction rules between the government and the technological sector;
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Addressing urgent issues in the IT sector;
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Developing education;
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Accelerating the integration of the Ukrainian technology industry into the EU and global markets;
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Establishing a space for fair rules of diversity, equality, and inclusion.
“We will be the voice of the tech business so that the government not only hears us but also understands what the business needs and how it can help Ukraine. We are focusing on solving the current issues of Diia.City and its development, as will as promoting the Ukrainian technology business worldwide,” noted Natalia Mykolska, Executive Director of the Union, during her speech.
Founders of Diia.City United also addressed the audience, stating that Ukraine is already a serious competitor in the international tech market. However, to become a true leader, it needs to implement transparent business conditions. This, they believe, will lead to faster development and will attract larger volumes of international investments for IT companies.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for Innovation, Education, Science, and Technology, the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, emphasized that currently, over 800 companies are Diia.City residents, with approximately 100 of them working in the defense tech sector.
“Representatives of the IT community have united to influence the rules of the game and help us make the rules better. I believe that the Diia.City United will become a powerful case of collaboration between the technological business and the state,” highlighted Mykhailo Fedorov during the event.
The Diia.City United presentation was attended not only by Union members, Diia.City residents, and representatives of the technological sector but also members of parliament, representatives from EU and G7 embassies, investors, and thought leaders.
98% of residents are satisfied with the Diia.City regime – results of a joint research by the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Diia.City United. Research on residents’ satisfaction with the special tax regime was presented at the conference dedicated to the second anniversary of Diia.City.
More than 830 companies with more than 62,000 employees have joined the space. Among them are more than 100 defense-tech companies that work directly for Ukraine’s victory;
Diia.City residents paid UAH 8.5 billion in taxes in 2023. For comparison, in 2022, residents paid more than UAH 4 billion to the state budget.
