The Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy is preparing a draft law on additional taxation of net interest income or excess profits of banks, which is likely to come into force in 2024 and bring UAH 10 billion to the budget annually, Committee Chairman Danylo Hetmantsev told Forbes Ukraine.
“It’s not an easy question, we are still evaluating it,” Deputy Governor of the National Bank Serhiy Nikolaychuk commented on the proposal on Facebook.
It is noted that parliamentarians are considering two options for taxation: a tax on all net interest income received for the year at a relatively small or medium rate, or a tax on the difference between net interest income in the reporting year and the average value for the last three to four years.
“For example, in Spain, it is 4.8%,” Mr. Hetmantsev said, referring to the first option.
He clarified that in this country, net commission income of banks is also taxed. “But this is not our story: banks have not yet reached the pre-war level in this regard,” the head of the Financial Committee said.
Commenting on the second option, Mr. Hetmantsev noted that the rate should be high. “For example, in Lithuania, 50% of the difference between net interest income in the base year and its average value over the previous four years is taxed at 60%,” he explained.
According to the committee chairman, the option of taxing all net interest income earned during the year is more optimal.
Mr. Hetmantsev added that he proposes to introduce this tax temporarily: from January 1, 2024, for two years.
He noted that the main motivation for the innovation is the need for additional funding for defense spending.
According to the head of the Finance Committee, the draft law is ready, and after consultations with the Ministry of Finance, the National Bank, specialized associations and the President’s Office, it will be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada.
Mr. Hetmantsev added that there have been no consultations with the market yet. “Although it is not difficult to predict the position of banks,” he said.
As reported, the profit of operating Ukrainian banks in January-June 2023 amounted to UAH 67.65 billion, while the banks ended the same period last year with a net loss of UAH 4.65 billion. This figure is a record high for the first half of the year: the previous highest net profit for the first half of the year was in 2019 – UAH 31.04 billion, compared to UAH 23.79 billion in 2020 and UAH 30.08 billion in pre-war 2021.
According to the NBU, net interest income increased by 40.8% to UAH 93.62 billion in the first half of 2023, commission income by 22.3% to UAH 25.60 billion, and the result from revaluation and purchase and sale transactions increased by 35.8% to UAH 16.30 billion.
Record profits also allowed banks to pay a record corporate income tax in the first half of this year – UAH 12.44 billion, compared to UAH 1.21 billion in the first half of last year and UAH 2.5 billion in pre-war 2021.
In an op-ed in NV on Friday, National Bank Deputy Governor Sergiy Nikolaychuk reiterated the regulator’s position that accusations of overpayment on certificates of deposit are “fundamentally false, manipulative, and dangerous.” He emphasized that the main goal is to achieve price stability and tie up the high liquidity of the banking system caused by the war.
According to him, in the first 7 months of this year, the NBU paid UAH 48.6 billion on certificates of deposit, compared to UAH 40.3 billion last year and UAH 6.3-10.7 billion annually in 2015-2021, but the average daily balance on certificates of deposit increased to UAH 411.4 billion by August this year, from UAH 215.7 billion at the end of 2022 and UAH 145.4 billion at the end of 2021.
Finland will send the 18th military aid package to Ukraine.
“The cost of the military equipment to be supplied will be about 94 million euros,” the government of the republic said on Friday.
The total cost of all the aid provided by Finland will be about 1.3 billion euros.
The exact content of the aid and the delivery schedule are not disclosed for reasons of ensuring safe delivery.
On Wednesday, during a visit to Ukraine, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Finland would soon decide on a new military aid package.
“Artillery, ammunition, and air defense equipment, in particular, are now of central importance in Ukraine. Ukraine needs air defense to protect not only its cities and citizens, but also commercial routes, such as grain shipments in the Black Sea,” he told a meeting of his National Conservative Party’s parliamentary faction on Friday.
He noted that Ukraine will host an exhibition for defense equipment manufacturers in the fall.
“I call on all Finnish defense industry operators to take advantage of this opportunity and participate in export work,” Orpo urged.
In the western and northern regions of Ukraine on Sunday, August 27, in some places there will be short-term rain, thunderstorms, in the rest of the country without precipitation.
Wind of variable directions, 3-8 m / s.
Temperature at night will be 16-21°, up to 24° on the coast; during the day 29-34°, in the southwestern regions up to 36°, in the eastern and Sumy regions 26-31°; in the Carpathians at night 11-16°, during the day 23-28°.
In Kyiv, no precipitation on Sunday night, short-term rain during the day. Wind of variable directions, 3-8 m / s. The temperature at night will be around 20°, during the day 30-32°.
According to the Borys Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory. On August 27, the highest daytime temperature in Kyiv was 33.3 in 1943, and the lowest nighttime temperature was 6.4 in 1973.
On Monday, August 28, in Ukraine, except for the eastern regions and Crimea, there will be short-term rain and thunderstorms in some places.
Wind of variable directions, 3-8 m / s. The temperature at night will be 18-23°, during the day 31-36°, in the eastern and northeastern regions 24-29°.
In Kyiv on Monday, in some places there will be short-term rain, thunderstorm. Wind of variable directions, 3-8 m / s. The temperature will be 20-22° at night, 33-35° during the day.
Ukrainian boxer Alexander Usik with the help of technical knockout defeated the British Daniel Dubois and retained the titles of the leading boxing organizations of the planet, reports “Suspilne. Sport”.
Already in the opening round, Dubois missed a jab from Usik with a right hand, which became the main highlight of the first three minutes of the fight.
Another jab from Usik “found” his opponent in the second round. The Ukrainian missed a kick to the thigh, which was signaled by the referee.
The initiative in Wroclaw remained with Usik, who realized his speed advantage over his opponent.
The fight was suspended in the fifth round due to the referee’s recording of Dubois hitting the Ukrainian below the belt. After taking a few minutes to recover, Usik resumed the fight and before the end of the round he delivered one of the most powerful left punches of the evening.
At the equator of the fight Dubois continued to work on his opponent’s body. The seventh round ended with a series of punches from Usik, who briefly pinned the Briton to the ropes.
In the last seconds of the eighth round, Dubois was knocked down for the first time. After a combination of punches from the Ukrainian, the challenger took a knee and managed to get up, after which the bell rang.
The fight was brought to a close by Dubois’ knockdown in the ninth round after a powerful right hand from the Ukrainian. The judge signaled an early knockout in favor of the Ukrainian.
The fight took place in Wroclaw, Poland. Five of Usyk’s belts were at stake, including three major titles (WBA, WBO, IBF) in the heavyweight division.
Lithuania has transferred a new military aid package worth 41 million euros to Ukraine, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
According to the Defense Ministry, the package includes Carl Gustaf ammunition, rifles, maritime surveillance radar kits, 5.56 mm caliber ammunition, generators, and antidrones, among others.
NASAMS rocket launchers will also be transferred to Ukraine.
“Lithuania’s contribution to Ukraine’s freedom struggle has already amounted to millions of rounds of ammunition and thousands of weapons, and in return, valuable lessons have been learned and Lithuania’s defense has been strengthened. Lithuania continues to provide unwavering support to Ukraine, which today celebrates the 32nd anniversary of its independence, and the total amount of military assistance provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the war has already exceeded half a billion euros,” the press release quoted Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anušauskas as saying.
According to the Defense Ministry, in the first seven months of this year, Lithuania supplied Ukraine with Mi-8 helicopters, L-70 anti-aircraft guns with ammunition, M113 armored personnel carriers, millions of rounds of ammunition, and ammunition for grenade launchers.
“Lithuania also provides expert advice, contributes to international funds to support Ukraine, contributes to the training of Ukrainian soldiers, holds courses for them, and Lithuanian military instructors participate in Operation Interflex, during which, together with other NATO allies, train Ukrainian soldiers in the subtleties of combat,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also noted that medical and rehabilitation institutions of the country had received about 200 wounded Ukrainian servicemen and planned to receive more.
Dnipropetrovsk Aggregate Plant JSC (DAZ, Dnipro) increased net income from product sales by 46.1% in January-June 2023 compared to the same period of 2022 – almost to UAH 132 million.
According to the company’s interim statements released on Thursday in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSCMC), its net profit increased by 8.3% to UAH 33.83 million.
The plant earned UAH 52.63m in operating profit (up 19.6%), while gross profit amounted to UAH 72.33m (+15%) during the reporting period.
As reported, in the first quarter of this year DAZ reduced net profit by 23.6% to January-March 2022 – to UAH 14.06 mln, while net income grew by 8% – to UAH 55.47 mln.
Thus, in the second quarter of 2023 the plant increased net profit by more than 54% to the same period of 2022 – up to UAH 19.77 mln, and net income – by 96.3%, up to UAH 76.52 mln.
One of the key factors of development in 2023, according to the previously announced plans of DAZ, the company considers the expansion of the order portfolio by 1.5 times by 2022.
At the same time, the report notes that the main risk factors for the company remain the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which resulted in instability of the production process; high transportation costs in case of failure of delivery terms; high interest rates on loans, etc. The report also notes that the main risk factors for the company are the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which resulted in instability of the production process.
DAZ is an enterprise with many years of experience in manufacturing aircraft products, as well as hydraulic equipment for mines and general technical products (fuel and other liquid pumps).
Most of the products are sold in Ukraine, but in recent years supplies to EU countries have grown significantly.
According to the data of the National Commission on Securities and Stock Market for the second quarter of 2023, the head of DAZ JSC’s nabsovet Eugene Morozenko owns 37.9466% of the authorized capital, board member Andriy Yatsuba and shareholder Volodymyr Yatsuba – 19.1847% each.
As reported, in 2022 the plant received UAH 36.72 mln of net profit – 15.6% more than a year earlier, while net income grew by 1.4% to UAH 175.56 mln. The profit received was used for the development of production.
