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.
With the participation of the Colliers Ukraine team, a lease agreement for the historic building of the River Station was signed with American University Kyiv (AUK), Colliers Ukraine Managing Director Oleksandr Nosachenko has told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, the lease agreement for the building of the River Station with an area of 7,700 square meters signed for 10 years.
“It is planned that simultaneously 2,000-3,000 students will study at the world-class American University Kyiv,” Nosachenko said.
As reported, the new American University Kyiv was presented in the summer of 2021. It will provide educational services in partnership with Arizona State University (ASU), the number one innovator among U.S. universities.
A number of investors were involved in the implementation of the AUK project, both from the United States and Ukraine. Kurt Volker represented U.S. investors at the presentation of the university in Ukraine.
Built in Kyiv in 1961, the River Station (3, Poshtova Square) is a monument of urban planning and architecture, monumental art (security number 971-Kv). It is expected that after the restoration of the historic building, the university will accept its first students in the next academic year.
Vodafone Ukraine Group has closed a deal to purchase 99.99% of shares in PrJSC Farlep-Invest, which operates under the Vega brand, as well as at least 95% of the charter capital of Cable TV-Finance LLC, the press service of the mobile operator reported on Wednesday. “Vodafone Ukraine plans to continue to carry out the same types of economic activities, which are now carried out by PrJSC Farlep-Invest and Cable TV-Finance LLC. For Vodafone Ukraine, the purpose of the purchase of these companies is the further development of business in the field of telecommunications, in particular, fixed-line services,” the report says.
The company said that PrJSC Farlep-Invest and Cable TV-Finance LLC own a frequency resource in the 2.3 GHz range (15 MHz in six regions), as well as in the 2.5-2.7 GHz range.
As reported, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine on August 19 allowed PrJSC VF Ukraine to buy the telecom operator Vega (Farlep-Invest).
Vodafone Ukraine is the second largest mobile network operator in Ukraine.
The national telecom operator Vega is part of the telecommunications division of Rinat Akhmetov’s SCM group. The operator offers comprehensive solutions in the field of fixed-line telephony, broadband Internet access and data transmission. The company is present in 22 regions of Ukraine.
