A bill on limiting the use of disposable plastic products may be registered at the Verkhovna Rada in October, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Roman Abramovsky has said.
According to him, the bill provides for a year after its adoption, a ban on production, import and sale of a number of disposable plastic goods in Ukraine, which are proposed to be replaced with similar ones made from alternative harmless materials, including corn starch.
“From such materials, practically without changing the technology, you can make the same products as from plastic. There will be no big problems for re-equipment of production. We are constantly in contact with business and manufacturers, and most confirm that significant transformations will not be needed […] We came to the conclusion that it is inexpensive, 10-15% of capital investments,” the minister said during a press breakfast in Kyiv on Wednesday.
The bill proposes to limit the use of plastic disposable tableware, cutlery, straws, food containers, lids for drinks containers, sanitary cotton swabs, plastic base-holders for balloons and other products made from polystyrene and oxo-biodegradable plastic.
In addition, special labeling is provided for goods that do not fall under the restrictions (wet wipes, feminine hygiene products, diapers, cigarettes with filters).
At the same time, manufacturers of such products are subject to extended liability, in particular, they will be required to recycle a certain share of the plastic produced.
“The discussion about liability is still ongoing, although the bill is already ready for registration. This is a difficult issue, since excessive liability is associated with corruption risks. Today, the following figures are proposed: the primary fine for the provision of prohibited products on the market is from UAH 18,000 to UAH 51,000, repeated violation within one year – from UAH 85,000 to UAH 175,000,” Abramovsky said.
At the same time, the minister noted the lack of statistical information on production of plastic products in Ukraine.
In January-June 2021, ARX Insurance Company (Kyiv) paid out UAH 603 million of insurance indemnities to clients, which is 30% more than in 2020, of which 80.7% is vehicle insurance.
As reported on the company’s website, in the KASKO segment, payments over the first half of the year amounted to about UAH 425 million, which is 46% more than in the same period in 2020, OSAGO – more than UAH 62 million (more by 37%).
It is also noted that payments on voluntary medical insurance for the indicated six months amounted to more than UAH 89 million of insurance claims, which is 12% more than in 2020.
The company also reports that a large-scale project with Visa was launched in February 2021. Holders of VISA Platinum, Signature and Infinite premium cards received a free bonus – telemedicine consultations from ARX.
The company pays out about UAH 4 million to its clients every day. On average, the company pays more than UAH 100 million per month, the main categories remain KASKO, OSAGO and healthcare.
As reported, ARX has been operating in the insurance market for 26 years and has been the leader in KASKO insurance for the 12th year in a row. It ranked first among Ukrainian insurers in terms of net insurance premiums and net insurance payments for 2019. It is part of the international insurance holding Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Canada).
Visit Ukraine is initiating legislative norms for the introduction of tax free (the return of part of value added tax (VAT) to foreign tourists who have made a purchase abroad) status, founder of Visit Ukraine Anton Taranenko has told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the RAU Investment Forum.
“Ukraine is the only European country where there is no tax free option for tourists. This reduces the attractiveness of shopping tourism to our country,” he said.
At the same time, the potential of such a mechanism is significant; it has been effectively operating in the world for 40 years. According to Taranenko, from April 1, 2020 to March 30, 2021, 35 million tax free transactions totaling EUR 18.5 billion were carried out in stores around the world.
Despite the lack of such an option, among the reasons why foreign tourists still go to Ukraine, shopping is one of the priorities. As an example, Anton Taranenko cited the “Arab case” of this summer.
“Over three months, 42,000 tourists from Arab countries visited Ukraine. The average spending was higher – $200 per day. In general, they spent $34 million, of which 25% or $8.5 million were shopping expenses,” Taranenko said.
The expert stressed that the retail sector should be ready to increase the share of foreign tourists among buyers.
“The time has come for an active position of all interested parties, including retail. The shopping and entertainment centers should attract staff with knowledge of the languages of top customers: English, Arabic, Chinese; launch campaigns aimed specifically at such buyers; participate in tourism exhibitions and much more,” Taranenko says.
Tax free shopping is a VAT compensation system for foreign tourists who have made purchases abroad. The amount of compensation is from 5% to 23%, depending on the amount of VAT and the tax free operator’s fee.
The Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada, created to check and assess the state of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia, found that by now the company has lost one third of its fixed assets.
“We state that the management of Ukrzaliznytsia does not protect or develop property and fixed assets entrusted to it by the state. The audit established the loss of one third of fixed assets. During the five years we studied, Ukrzaliznytsia fulfilled the capital investment plan by only 65%. Almost UAH 30 billion has not been disbursed in this direction. As a result, the railway infrastructure is in critical condition,” Head of the Temporary Investigative Commission Yulia Hryshyna said during the presentation of the report to the Verkhovna Rada.
Another reason for the problems, she said, is the significant influence of oligarchic groups that regularly underpaid the company, including for freight rates. As Hryshyna said, this has deprived Ukrzaliznytsia of UAH 100 billion over the past five years.
“The state in which Ukrzaliznytsia ended up for now no longer allows it to fully perform the tasks of transporting goods and passengers,” she said.
OTP Bank (Kyiv) has provided Vioil industrial group, a producer of vegetable oils, with a financing limit of UAH 700 million to replenish the working capital of the group’s companies, the bank’s press service said.
“Thanks to the conditions provided by OTP Bank within the loan agreement, Vioil will significantly reduce expenses within the existing loan portfolio in other banks and will direct the saved funds to the development and annual increase in the volume of production,” the bank’s press service said, citing Vioil’s CFO Alla Vlasiuk.
Vioil Group is a producer of vegetable oils in Ukraine. It exports products to more than 60 countries around the world. The group’s assets include eight elevators and three monocultural oil extraction plants with a total processing capacity of 1.1 million tonnes per year.
OTP Bank is the flagship of the OTP banking group, registered by the NBU. It also includes AMC OTP Capital LLC and OTP Leasing LLC.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of June 1, 2021, in terms of total assets, OTP Bank ranked ninth (UAH 65.854 billion) among 73 banks operating in the country.
There are 159 Ukrainian citizens in Afghanistan who have stated their willingness to return home, work is underway on the next evacuation flights, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.
“According to our information, there are now 159 Ukrainian citizens in Afghanistan who have stated their willingness to return home. We work through our embassies in Tajikistan, Pakistan and Iran, as well as through the embassies of certain friendly countries that also have ties to the Taliban here in Ukraine, in order to organize the next evacuation flights,” Kuleba said at an online briefing on Thursday.
