WebMoney expert consultant spoke about the current situation with the accounts of Ukrainian users
Alexey Titov, a WebMoney expert consultant, spoke about the current situation with user accounts in an interview with Ukrainian Forbes .
- What is your version of what is happening?
- The tax police suspect the legality of our work, and it checks these suspicions. The accounts of all enterprises operating in Ukraine using the WebMoney trademark have been blocked.
Our lawyers and independent experts call this step, to put it mildly, redundant. During searches and seizures of documents, there were also obvious excesses, but they concerned only the employees and the company itself, and we don’t want to discuss our personal problems in the public sphere. First of all, we want to protect the rights of users and return to them what belongs to them by right.
- Can Ukrainian users create new WebMoney wallets? Can I replenish my wallets or withdraw money?
- Everything related to the technology platform is still working. You can create wallets and conduct transactions within the system. But Ukrainians cannot “withdraw” money, because these operations are tied to our bank accounts, which are currently blocked. I'm sure they will be unblocked soon, but I don’t know when it will happen - in an hour, a day, a week.
- Do you take any action to unlock accounts?
- Yes, we file claims, appeals, appeals - I don’t want to go into details. Unfortunately, all these procedures have a certain period of consideration. There is a faster way - if the people responsible for making the decision to arrest the accounts, he will be recalled.
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- Have you tried to change the legal scheme of your work so that it does not cause complaints from state bodies?
- We are ready to change the legal structure in which we work, and switch to the scheme of work within the framework of the legislation on electronic money. But the electronic money system in Ukraine can function only if the rules of its work are agreed by the National Bank. Three years ago, a partner bank WebMoney in Ukraine submitted to the NBU the rules developed with our participation (WebMoney Note). And for three years the bank can not get approval, the rules are not considered.
- Why?
- It's hard for me to say. The NBU agreed only on the rules of several systems (GlobalMoney, MoneXy and Maxi. - Forbes), and this happened more than three years ago. Since then, none of the systems have received agreement of the rules. There is an internal order on the NBU, which suspends their issuance. This fact is incomprehensible to us.
We are not only waiting for approval, but also over ten more systems that submitted documents 2-3 years ago. Meanwhile, there is a legal norm obliging the National Bank of Ukraine for thirty days to either agree on the submitted rules of the system, or refuse to agree, or provide clarifying comments.
Some officials at the NBU call our activity illegal. We, in turn, do not understand how the internal order of the NBU can suspend the validity of the legislation. With one hand, officials do not fulfill their obligations as prescribed by law, and with the other they incriminate certain players in breaking the rules. I emphasize that we are talking about specific officials, and not about the regulator as a whole.
- While you have not received agreement on the rules, what is your legal scheme?
- To put it simply, there are a number of financial assets that may be the subject of sale and purchase, transfer, exchange - and you do not need special licenses to work with these assets. In particular, it is the transfer of the rights of a monetary claim and the purchase and sale of such rights. These assets may be subject to transactions.
Our legal structure has been repeatedly tested and has passed through many examinations - in particular, it was studied by the Koretsky Institute of State and Law and the Kiev Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise. They concluded that according to formal legal grounds, WMU does not have electronic money in the form in which they are formulated in the current Ukrainian legislation.
Such activity is legal and does not violate any rules. The issue of switching to an electronic money scheme is a question of our goodwill. And our will is to move in order not to confuse the user and be transparent for the regulator. But we do not give it. In the meantime, do not give, we can work on their legal scheme.
If we are criticized for strict compliance with the law, please let them criticize. We are talking about those “experts” who, without examining our activities, say that legally this is one thing, but according to their subjective perception it is another.
- What is WebMoney in Ukraine?
- These are a few companies that operate with cash claim rights. They employ about 50 people. There are a lot of partner banks, but the main one is the Ukrainian Professional Bank, it stores collateral.
- What is your relationship with the international system WebMoney?
- There is an international organizational and technological platform that owns the rights to the WebMoney brand, accounting technology and services. It provides them to other subjects - the guarantors. These companies include our guarantors.
We sell liabilities and pledge to repurchase them. The task is to provide users with free access to the acquisition of obligations and their redemption, redemption. For the technology platform, both we and private users who buy the rights to our obligations are customers. We just have an advanced interface of this platform that allows us to keep records of the financial assets of our users. We pay the owner of the technology platform for access in the format of "Guarantor".
The logic is this: due to the fact that we have this access, we are buying commitments in hryvnia. As an issuer of the system, we receive a small commission when selling a final asset - when the user “replenishes his e-wallet”. We only earn money by “depositing” money into the system; we do not charge a commission for “withdrawal”.
- What are the monetary losses of companies-guarantors from blocking accounts?
- I do not want to focus on this, users care about it the least. More important is another loss - loss of trust. Not only to us, but also to many processes that occur in the country. As for our income, there are myths that they are fabulous. It is not true. Our earnings are 1% of the commission on the sale of the rights of demand, that is, on the amount of the “purse replenishment”. These revenues cover the company's livelihoods, the work of our professionals, technical equipment, the use of a technology platform, etc. But our business does not bring super-profits.
- What is your version of what is happening?
- The tax police suspect the legality of our work, and it checks these suspicions. The accounts of all enterprises operating in Ukraine using the WebMoney trademark have been blocked.
Our lawyers and independent experts call this step, to put it mildly, redundant. During searches and seizures of documents, there were also obvious excesses, but they concerned only the employees and the company itself, and we don’t want to discuss our personal problems in the public sphere. First of all, we want to protect the rights of users and return to them what belongs to them by right.
- Can Ukrainian users create new WebMoney wallets? Can I replenish my wallets or withdraw money?
- Everything related to the technology platform is still working. You can create wallets and conduct transactions within the system. But Ukrainians cannot “withdraw” money, because these operations are tied to our bank accounts, which are currently blocked. I'm sure they will be unblocked soon, but I don’t know when it will happen - in an hour, a day, a week.
- Do you take any action to unlock accounts?
- Yes, we file claims, appeals, appeals - I don’t want to go into details. Unfortunately, all these procedures have a certain period of consideration. There is a faster way - if the people responsible for making the decision to arrest the accounts, he will be recalled.
')
- Have you tried to change the legal scheme of your work so that it does not cause complaints from state bodies?
- We are ready to change the legal structure in which we work, and switch to the scheme of work within the framework of the legislation on electronic money. But the electronic money system in Ukraine can function only if the rules of its work are agreed by the National Bank. Three years ago, a partner bank WebMoney in Ukraine submitted to the NBU the rules developed with our participation (WebMoney Note). And for three years the bank can not get approval, the rules are not considered.
- Why?
- It's hard for me to say. The NBU agreed only on the rules of several systems (GlobalMoney, MoneXy and Maxi. - Forbes), and this happened more than three years ago. Since then, none of the systems have received agreement of the rules. There is an internal order on the NBU, which suspends their issuance. This fact is incomprehensible to us.
We are not only waiting for approval, but also over ten more systems that submitted documents 2-3 years ago. Meanwhile, there is a legal norm obliging the National Bank of Ukraine for thirty days to either agree on the submitted rules of the system, or refuse to agree, or provide clarifying comments.
Some officials at the NBU call our activity illegal. We, in turn, do not understand how the internal order of the NBU can suspend the validity of the legislation. With one hand, officials do not fulfill their obligations as prescribed by law, and with the other they incriminate certain players in breaking the rules. I emphasize that we are talking about specific officials, and not about the regulator as a whole.
- While you have not received agreement on the rules, what is your legal scheme?
- To put it simply, there are a number of financial assets that may be the subject of sale and purchase, transfer, exchange - and you do not need special licenses to work with these assets. In particular, it is the transfer of the rights of a monetary claim and the purchase and sale of such rights. These assets may be subject to transactions.
Our legal structure has been repeatedly tested and has passed through many examinations - in particular, it was studied by the Koretsky Institute of State and Law and the Kiev Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise. They concluded that according to formal legal grounds, WMU does not have electronic money in the form in which they are formulated in the current Ukrainian legislation.
Such activity is legal and does not violate any rules. The issue of switching to an electronic money scheme is a question of our goodwill. And our will is to move in order not to confuse the user and be transparent for the regulator. But we do not give it. In the meantime, do not give, we can work on their legal scheme.
If we are criticized for strict compliance with the law, please let them criticize. We are talking about those “experts” who, without examining our activities, say that legally this is one thing, but according to their subjective perception it is another.
- What is WebMoney in Ukraine?
- These are a few companies that operate with cash claim rights. They employ about 50 people. There are a lot of partner banks, but the main one is the Ukrainian Professional Bank, it stores collateral.
- What is your relationship with the international system WebMoney?
- There is an international organizational and technological platform that owns the rights to the WebMoney brand, accounting technology and services. It provides them to other subjects - the guarantors. These companies include our guarantors.
We sell liabilities and pledge to repurchase them. The task is to provide users with free access to the acquisition of obligations and their redemption, redemption. For the technology platform, both we and private users who buy the rights to our obligations are customers. We just have an advanced interface of this platform that allows us to keep records of the financial assets of our users. We pay the owner of the technology platform for access in the format of "Guarantor".
The logic is this: due to the fact that we have this access, we are buying commitments in hryvnia. As an issuer of the system, we receive a small commission when selling a final asset - when the user “replenishes his e-wallet”. We only earn money by “depositing” money into the system; we do not charge a commission for “withdrawal”.
- What are the monetary losses of companies-guarantors from blocking accounts?
- I do not want to focus on this, users care about it the least. More important is another loss - loss of trust. Not only to us, but also to many processes that occur in the country. As for our income, there are myths that they are fabulous. It is not true. Our earnings are 1% of the commission on the sale of the rights of demand, that is, on the amount of the “purse replenishment”. These revenues cover the company's livelihoods, the work of our professionals, technical equipment, the use of a technology platform, etc. But our business does not bring super-profits.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/184184/
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