The changes proposed in the draft law, adopted by the Parliament on May 26, are expected to provide more clarity and incentives for the development of philanthropic activities. The amendments clarify the legal status of philanthropy and sponsorship activities and exclude provisions that have proven to be ineffective or inapplicable in practice, given that the Law on Philanthropy and Sponsorship was adopted 20 years ago.
Specifically, the draft law provides:
- Definitions for the notions of philanthropic activity, sponsorship activity, philanthropist, sponsor, beneficiary of philanthropic activities and sponsorship;
- Regulations on the record and manner of use of donations, transparency of philanthropic activity and sponsorship;
- Revised and extended list of aims of the philanthropic and sponsorship activity;
- Expressly clarified list of potential beneficiaries of philanthropic and sponsorship activity;
- Consequences of violating philanthropic and sponsorship legislation.
At the same time, the provisions regarding non-commercial organisations will be repealed from the law, including the procedures of creating, liquidating and carrying out activities of CSOs. These provisions are already included in the Law on non-commercial organisations adopted in 2020.
The draft law was developed with direct contribution from the Platform for Promotion and Development of Philanthropy, established in 2019 and consisting of 39 CSOs. The Government submitted the draft law to the parliament on May 5, 2022. As a next step, the Parliament will examine the draft law in second reading.