§ 1 Name and registered office of the association, financial year
(1) The association bears the name German-Ukrainian Association ‘MAVKA’. It shall be entered in the register of associations at the Marburg District Court and shall then bear the suffix ‘e.V.’. The association was established on 15 June 2023.
(2) The association has its registered office in Marburg an der Lahn.
(3) The financial year is the calendar year.

§ 2 Purpose of the association, non-profit status
(1) The association pursues exclusively and directly non-profit purposes within the meaning of the section ‘Tax-privileged purposes’ of the German Tax Code.
(2) The purpose of the association is
1. to promote assistance for people who are politically, racially or religiously persecuted, for refugees, displaced persons, war victims, war survivors, war-disabled persons and prisoners of war, civilians who have suffered damage, disabled persons and victims of crime, to promote the memory of persecuted persons, war victims and disaster victims, and to promote the search service for missing persons;
2. to promote international understanding, tolerance in all areas of culture and the idea of international understanding;
3. to promote art and culture, popular and vocational education;
4. to promote civic engagement in favour of the aforementioned purposes.

The purpose of the statutes is realised not only, but in particular, through:
• the procurement of funds through donations, levies, subsidies, other contributions and further surpluses generated for the achievement of the association’s purposes, both for measures carried out by the association itself and in the context of procuring funds for the realisation of tax-privileged purposes by other associations and initiatives pursuing similar purposes;
• the promotion of cultural exchange and personal contacts between Germany and Ukraine;
• public events that provide information about the history, culture and current problems of Ukraine;
• cooperation and exchange of experience with associations and initiatives that pursue similar purposes.

(3) The association acts altruistically; it does not primarily pursue its own economic purposes.
(4) The association’s funds may only be used for purposes in accordance with its statutes. Members shall not receive any payments from the association’s funds. No person may be favoured by expenses that are not related to the purpose of the association or by disproportionately high remuneration.

§ 3 Membership
(1) There are three categories of members:
1) Members
2) Honorary members
3) Supporting members
(2) Ordinary members are active in the association and have voting rights in the general meeting.
(3) Supporting members support the association financially and ideologically. They do not have voting rights in the general meeting.
(4) Honorary members are appointed by the general meeting with a three-quarters majority and are exempt from the obligation to pay membership fees. Honorary members have voting rights in the general meeting.
(5) The choice between full membership and supporting membership is made by the prospective member in the application for membership.

§ 4 Acquisition of membership
(1) Any natural or legal person who supports the values and purpose of the association may become a member of the association.
(2) Admission to the association must be applied for in writing to the executive committee. In the case of minors, the application for admission must be submitted by their legal representatives. The executive committee decides on the application for admission at its own discretion. It is not required to give reasons for rejecting an application to the applicant.
(3) At the suggestion of the executive committee, the general meeting may appoint members or other persons who have rendered outstanding services to the association as revocable honorary members for life.

§ 5 Termination of membership
(1) Membership ends upon resignation, expulsion from the association, death of the member or dissolution of the legal entity.
(2) Resignation must be declared in writing to the Executive Board. Resignation can only be declared at the end of the financial year.
(3) Expulsion can only occur for good cause. Good cause includes, in particular, conduct detrimental to the objectives of the association, violation of statutory duties or arrears in membership fees of at least one year. The Executive Board shall decide on expulsion after hearing the member.

§ 6 Membership fees
(1) Members pay contributions in accordance with a resolution of the general meeting. A simple majority of the association members present and entitled to vote at the general meeting is required to determine the amount and due date of the contributions.
(2) The general meeting may adopt a contribution regulation governing the type, scope and due date of the contributions.
(3) Membership fees shall generally be paid in advance and in cash. Honorary members are exempt from paying membership fees.

§ 7 Rights and obligations of members
(1) All members have the right to submit motions to the Executive Board and the General Meeting.
(2) Legal entities shall exercise their membership rights through their legal representatives, unless they have authorised another member or an employee of the legal entity to do so. Proof of authorisation must be provided to the association upon request.
(3) Motions to amend the Articles of Association must be submitted to the Executive Board six weeks before the General Meeting.
(4) The members elect the executive committee. The transfer of voting rights is excluded.

§ 8 Organs of the association
The organs of the association are:
1) the executive committee
2) the general meeting

§ 9 Executive committee
(1) The executive committee consists of the chairperson, the deputy chairperson, the treasurer and at least two assessors.
(2) The association is represented in and out of court by the chairperson and his/her deputy. Each is authorised to represent the association alone.
Internally, it is determined that the deputy chairperson is only authorised to represent the chairperson if the latter is prevented from doing so.
(3) For legal transactions involving a financial amount of 300 euros or more, the executive committee must be represented by at least two members of the executive committee acting jointly.
(4) The executive committee manages the affairs of the association and has the following tasks in particular:
1) convening and preparing the general meetings, including
drawing up the agenda,
2) implementing the resolutions of the general meeting,
3) managing the association’s assets and preparing the annual report,
4) admitting new members.
(5) The Executive Board is elected by the General Meeting for a term of two years.
(6) Re-election of Executive Board members is permitted.
(7) The Executive Board remains responsible for its duties until a new Executive Board has been duly elected.
(8) Executive Board meetings shall be convened and chaired by a member of the Executive Board as required. Resolutions shall be passed by a simple majority. The Executive Board shall constitute a quorum if at least three of its members are present. Minutes shall be kept of the meetings.
(9) An Executive Board meeting may also be held in the form of an online video conference if at least two of the Executive Board members agree and all Executive Board members have been informed of this 12 hours before the online meeting.
Resolutions must be recorded in writing and signed by an Executive Board member present at the meeting.

§ 10 General Meeting
(1) The general meeting is the highest body of the association.
(2) The general meeting is responsible in particular for the following matters:
1) Acceptance of the annual report of the executive committee,
2) Approval of the annual balance sheet,
3) Discharge of the executive committee,
4) Election and dismissal of the members of the executive committee and the cash auditor,
5) Amendment of the statutes,
6) Issuing regulations,
7) Passing resolutions on motions submitted by members,
8) Determining the amount and due date of the annual membership fee,
9) Appointing honorary members,
10) Dissolving the association.
(3) The General Meeting shall be convened by the Executive Board at least once a year, if possible at the beginning of the calendar year, and otherwise when requested by at least one third of the members. Written invitations to each general meeting must be sent out two weeks in advance, stating the agenda.
(4) The general meeting shall take place either in person or online – in a video conference accessible only to members. The executive committee shall decide on this at its discretion and inform the members in the invitation.
(5) An extraordinary general meeting shall be convened if it is in the interests of the association
or if at least one third of the association’s members request it in writing, stating the purpose and reasons.
(6) Each member may request additions to the agenda in writing at least one week before the start of the general meeting. Motions submitted in due time shall be added to the agenda retrospectively. The motions do not have to be announced to the members before the general meeting. This does not apply to amendments to the statutes or motions to dissolve the association.
(7) Communication within the association may take place in text form (including by electronic media). Notifications of any kind shall be deemed to have been received if they have been sent to the address or email address provided to the association.
Members are responsible for notifying the association of any changes to their address or email address.
(8) The general meeting shall be chaired by a member of the executive committee. The chairperson shall exercise the rights of the chairperson at the general meeting. For the duration of the executive committee elections, the general meeting shall elect an election committee consisting of three persons from among its members.
(9) The type of voting shall be determined by the general meeting. In the case of elections, the general meeting may decide to hold a secret ballot.
(10) The general meeting shall be quorate regardless of the number of members present. At the general meeting, each ordinary member and each honorary member present shall have one vote. Voting rights may not be transferred. Resolutions shall be passed by a simple majority of the votes cast.
(11) Amendments to the statutes, the dissolution of the association or a change in the purpose of the association
can only be decided by a majority of 2/3 of the valid votes cast.
(12) Abstentions and invalid votes shall not be taken into account. In the event of a tie, a motion shall be deemed rejected.
(13) Minutes shall be taken of the resolutions of the general meeting and shall be signed by the chairperson and the minute-taker.

§ 11 Cash audit
(1) The general meeting shall elect a cash auditor for the duration of the term of office of the executive committee.
(2) This person may not be a member of the executive committee.
(3) The cash auditor may be re-elected.

§ 12 Data protection
(1) Upon joining, the association records the name, address, date of birth and bank details of each member. This information is stored in the association’s own system. Personal data is protected from access by third parties by appropriate technical and organisational measures.
(2) Other information shall only be processed if it is useful for promoting the purpose of the association and there are no indications that the data subject has a legitimate interest that prevents processing.
(3) Upon resignation, the member’s name, address and year of birth will be deleted from the membership list. Personal data of the resigning member relating to cash management will be retained in accordance with tax law provisions for up to ten years from the date of written confirmation of resignation by the executive committee.

§ 13 Dissolution of the association
(1) The dissolution of the association can only be decided at a general meeting with a majority of 2/3 of the members present. Unless the general meeting decides otherwise, the members of the executive committee are jointly authorised liquidators. This also applies if the association is dissolved for another reason or loses its legal capacity.
(2) In the event of dissolution or termination of the association or discontinuation of tax-privileged purposes, the association’s assets shall fall to a legal entity under public law or another tax-privileged entity for use in accordance with the purposes of the dissolved association.
(3) The above provisions shall apply mutatis mutandis if the association’s legal capacity is withdrawn.