Hacker attack on the Ministry of Justice registers: how to obtain a passport and is it really possible to close a business entity?

Service Unavailable: Is it Possible to Register an Individual Entrepreneur or Cease Operations Now?

For individual entrepreneurs attempting to close their business operations, the non-functioning registries mean they must continue paying taxes.

Lawyers explained: all registration actions concerning legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, and public organizations, as well as separate subdivisions, are currently unavailable. "It is impossible to open, close, or make changes to the information regarding such entities. The registry is closed even for the purpose of viewing or verifying information, which complicates operations in all areas where it is necessary to check the authority of managers, the accuracy of specified data, and so on. For example, the OpenData service is accessible, providing information from the State Register as of December 20," explained Tatyana Yashchenko.

For individual entrepreneurs trying to cease their business activities, the consequence of non-working registries is the ongoing obligation to pay taxes — meaning they will have to pay the single tax, unified social tax, and military levy in January.

Yulia Panasyuk, a lawyer specializing in tax law at "Prikhodko and Partners," noted that if an individual entrepreneur cannot be closed by the end of 2024, then for individual entrepreneurs of groups 1-2, it is possible to apply for a leave (provided there are no hired employees). In this case, they will only need to pay the unified social tax in January. However, this option will not work for entrepreneurs in the third group — they must pay all taxes in January — unified social tax, single tax, and military levy.

"To avoid tax liabilities, the closure of an individual entrepreneur should occur within the 2024 calendar year. However, it is not ruled out that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will adopt changes to the legislation to address this issue, considering the exceptional nature of the situation. Recently, the adoption and signing of regulatory acts in the field of taxation have occurred through uncertain procedures and not always with adherence to the principle of legal certainty," argues Tatyana Yashchenko.

Passport Issuance and Other Services: What is the Situation After the Hacker Attack on Registries?

The good news is that passports can still be issued. "The Unified State Register of Citizens, as well as other related systems, indeed did not function from December 13 to 18, but according to official information from the State Migration Service of Ukraine, the halt in system operations was not due to a hacker attack but was linked to routine regulatory work. Currently, the issuance of ID cards (internal Ukrainian passports), international passports, and residence permits is proceeding without interruption," noted Yekaterina Zatulko, senior lawyer at EXPATPRO. However, lawyers warned that there could still be difficulties with urgent document issuance during the New Year period. "When it comes to the issuance of Ukrainian passports, one should consider the New Year holidays, as the Ukrainian Polygraph Combine (a state enterprise responsible for personalizing passports) typically shuts down for technical reasons for several weeks at the end of the year," said Alexander Fedorstov, a lawyer specializing in international migration at "Prikhodko and Partners."

However, while documents for passport issuance are being accepted, there is no guarantee that they will be issued on time, lawyers emphasize. "As of today, electronic queue registration is available online. The CPAU continues to accept documents for processing. However, there are certain difficulties here as well. In particular, the issuance of international passports requires access to the State Demographic Register, and when processing ID cards, it is impossible to verify information from the State Register of Civil Status (only with the complete set of documents in paper form). Moreover, even before the full-scale attack, consumers often complained about the inability to receive documents in a timely manner due to system disruptions. Thus, the acceptance of applications and document production continues, but it is challenging to predict the timeliness of their receipt, as specialists themselves warn of potential delays," noted lawyer Daria Shcherbakova.

Currently, the service for registering a place of residence through Diya is completely unavailable. "In some cities, such as Odesa, the acceptance of documents for place of residence registration has been halted. In contrast, in Kyiv, documents for place of residence registration are being accepted, but the actual registration actions are not being carried out due to the inability to verify ownership rights to real estate, which is an integral part of the procedure," said Yekaterina Zatulko.

It is impossible to register real estate. Services for registering births or deaths are also unavailable.

There is still no opportunity to register real estate, and the State Register of Civil Status Acts is also non-functional. "Operations related to registering property rights and creating new legal entities or individual entrepreneurs remain unavailable for now. Their restoration is expected within one to two weeks, depending on the success of the system's security testing," said Sergey Litvinenko, managing partner of the "Winner Partners" law firm.

As Tatyana Yashchenko notes, currently, actions involving real estate, issues related to the enforcement of court decisions (enforcement proceedings), registration of legal entities (including individual entrepreneurs, public organizations, and separate subdivisions), apostille processing, and documents related to civil status acts (regarding births, deaths, marriage registration, and divorce) cannot be conducted. In her opinion, considering that the resumption of the first registries took more than a week, we may expect positive news no earlier than January 12, 2025.

However, some services are still provided — in paper form. "The provision of online marriage registration services has been halted, but this service is available in 'paper form'; the reissuance of birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc. should also be provided, but only with the original paper document. The registries of legal entities, debtors, real estate, and civil status acts are still not operational, and no clear timelines for their restoration are officially provided, nor are alternative means of operation in these registries anticipated," says Tatyana Yashchenko.

Overall, the situation remains quite complex, and authorities do not specify exact timelines for when the registries will be operational again. Experts believe that the recovery efforts for the registries may take several weeks or even more than a month. "The timelines for restoring the registries are currently unknown, as they depend on the extent of the damage, cybersecurity measures, and the technical readiness of the systems. From experience, I can say that restoration can take anywhere from several weeks to a month. To mitigate the consequences, it is recommended that users of registration services continuously check information on the official resources of the Ministry of Justice and contact notaries, who can currently queue citizens for registration matters that will eventually occur after the registries are launched," shared Taras Miroshnychenko.

Lawyers advise against rushing to register anything now or after the ministry announces the launch of the registries. "It is important to maintain a reasonable balance and not create excessive pressure on the system to avoid provoking new collapses. The human factor will play a crucial role here. The restoration of operations should occur as gradually and systematically as possible. Therefore, after the registries are launched, it is vital not to create additional hysteria and to prioritize. In particular, seek to carry out the relevant registration action only when there is a genuine urgent need. A reasonable and balanced distribution of resources will ensure the proper functioning of the registry and prevent new technical complications. Thus, the advice to avoid panic remains relevant," says Daria Shcherbakova.