Aspects of ensuring the rights of shareholders in the process of activities of joint-stock companies

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of certain aspects of ensuring the rights of shareholders in the process of conducting contractual work by a joint-stock company. The article emphasizes that a joint-stock company can enter into various contracts to ensure the conduct of its business activities. Depending on the subject and price of the contract, as well as taking into account the conditions of concluding the contract, the legislator separately defines contracts that can be qualified as significant contracts and contracts with interest. The conclusion of the specified contracts by a joint-stock company, taking into account the essence of the concept of corporate rights, can directly affect the conditions for shareholders to exercise the right to receive dividends and/or part of the company's property in proportion to their share in the authorized capital during the liquidation of the joint-stock company. Therefore, it is an important issue to ensure the rights of shareholders in the process of concluding significant contracts and contracts with interests by joint-stock companies. The article analyzes the current legislation of Ukraine on the issue of contracts by joint-stock companies. It is noted that the norms of the new Law of Ukraine "On Joint Stock Companies", which entered into force on January 1, 2023, provide for a slightly new approach to the essence of the concepts of a significant contract and a contract with an interest and the procedure for their conclusion.
 The article emphasizes that depending on such essential conditions as the subject of the contract and its price, some of the contracts should be classified as significant. As for the contract with an interest, the determining factor for such qualification is the person of the counterparty of such a company, which can be, for example, an official of the joint-stock company itself or another person who is related to an official of the company. Therefore, the provisions of the current legislation of Ukraine define the procedure for agreeing to conclude such contracts in order to prevent negative consequences that may occur when the joint-stock company fulfills its obligations under the specified contracts.
 The conclusions emphasize the need for further improvement of the mechanism of application of the current legislation of Ukraine in practice to ensure reliable security of the joint-stock company and protection of shareholders' rights.