On May 30, 2022, the Chamber held an online meeting with Yulia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economy of Ukraine.
During the meeting, participants discussed the following issues:
- Abolishing the critical import list and removing restrictions on foreign currency settlements.
According to the Ministry of Economy, in the nearest time the Parliament plans to vote in favor of returning import tax and customs duty. After that, it is planned to repeal the CMU Resolution #153 “On the List of Critical Import Goods” as the one that lost its relevance. The Government encourages the economic development of Ukraine, thus it will remove restrictions on foreign currency settlements, so any business will be able to buy FX to make cross-border currency payments.
- Automation of processes for booking of employees via project “e-booking”.
IT specialists are developing an electronic booking application form. After that, the relevant resolution will be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers. The importance of disconnecting the possibility of going abroad on business trips from the reservation of staff was stressed too. Mechanisms of ensuring returning of staff are being developed. The maximum travel time of 30-45 days is to be agreed with the General Staff.
- Enabling faster processing of trucks with products and essential goods at border crossings.
Because of the logistic problems, delivery of fuel was prioritized. The Ministry of Infrastructure is constantly expanding border crossings, and the Polish side has simplified phytosanitary control. There is ongoing communication with Border Guard and Customs Services. The issue of processing trucks with products and essential goods should be resolved soon.
- Easing quarantine requirements.
The Ministry of Economy has taken appropriate measures for deregulation. Coordination with the Ministry of Health is needed to discuss further easing of quarantine requirements.
- Accelerating the process of public-private partnership.
The Ministry is preparing a legal basis to accelerate the process of full-scale privatization by four times.
- Postponement of environmental protection measures by industrial enterprises.
Coordination with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources is needed to discuss the abolition of the introduction of technological standards due to martial law. The Ministry has already developed some solutions.
- Deregulation in the field of telecommunications.
Since some telecommunications providers are a part of international telecommunications groups, they are interconnected to russia or belarus to ensure technical communication, even if they do not do business there. Thus, they might be subjected to the application of a coefficient of 1.5 to the rates of the corporate income tax, environmental tax, rent, and property tax if the Draft Law #7232 is adopted. It is crucial to involve business associations in developing criteria of considering a business entity as having economic relations with aggressor states.
The Ministry will also take into account the request for amendments to the CMU Resolution #169, which will allow for public procurement of over 50 thousand UAH.
- Moratorium on raising tax rates and fees before the end of martial law and predictability of tax legislation after full recovery from the effects of war.
There are currently no discussions on increasing taxes, only returning those customs duties which existed before the imposition of martial law. However, there is an ongoing discussion on increasing the military tax from 1.5 to 3%.
As a result of the meeting, it was agreed to collect AmCham Ukraine members’ proposals on resolving current issues to support the businesses stay afloat during the war in Ukraine.
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