The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a draft amicable agreement between Philip Morris and Ukraine, foreseeing the abolishment of the tax notification for the amount of UAH 635.3 million by the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine.
According to the draft government resolution, this agreement should ensure the investment dispute settlement, prevent bringing a claim to international investment arbitration against Ukraine amounting to more than UAH 635 million, avoid significant expenses from the national budget during the arbitration, demonstrate to the partners of Ukraine and foreign investors that the government adheres to commitments to provide incentives and protect foreign investment.
The amicable agreement will be signed between Philip Morris International Inc., Philip Morris Global Brands Inc. (both the United States), Philip Morris Brands Sarl (Switzerland), PrJSC Philip Morris Ukraine and the state of Ukraine.
Acting Head of the State Fiscal Service Oleksandr Vlasov is authorized to sign the amicable agreement, and the State Fiscal Service is authorized to execute it after signing.
As reported, PrJSC Philip Morris Ukraine in March 2015 appealed and received permission from Kharkiv customs office to apply the processing mode in the customs territory of Ukraine for the production of cigarettes and accompanying products and their re-export for the period from April 1, 2015 through March 31, 2016. The company was authorized to conditional exemption from Ukrainian import duties and other import taxes on materials for processing under the terms of re-export.
After Philip Morris Ukraine carried out processing and re-export operations, the main directorate of the State Fiscal Service in Kharkiv region conducted an unscheduled inspection of the company’s compliance with the customs legislation of Ukraine regarding the clearance of goods in the processing mode in the customs territory of Ukraine.
According to the results of the inspection of the main directorate of the State Fiscal Service in Kharkiv region, on June 14, 2016, it approved decision notices that determined the liabilities for paying of import duties, additional import duty and VAT on the import of materials, as well as penalties for the total amount UAH 635.3 million Philip Morris Ukraine. Philip Morris Ukraine said that the actions of the State Fiscal Service are pressure on the company. After that, the parties entered into litigation.
The Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) assesses growth of the e-commerce market in Ukraine at over 30% every year, IT Telecom Sector Head at BRDO Oleksandr Kurbakov said at a roundtable devoted to e-commerce and smart regulation for the progressive market held in Kyiv. “The e-commerce market in the world is growing at a rate of 23-25% per year. In Ukraine, these rates are much higher – about 30% per year,” he said, citing statistics.
At the same time, Kubrakov said that Ukraine is in the second lowest position in Europe in terms of GDP per capita, the lowest in terms of Internet penetration, and the country is lagging behind the neighboring countries in terms of penetration of bank cards by 10-20%. According to BRDO, the volume of the e-commerce market in Ukraine in 2017 exceeded $50 billion, or 3.2% of the total retail sales. At the same time, the growth rate of e-commerce in Ukraine amounted to about 31%, which is the second highest growth rate in Europe.
“A significant problem for the market is the obligation of the seller to print a fiscal receipt in hard copy at the moment when the money paid for the goods arrive. This practically makes Internet acquiring impossible with payments of more than UAH 7.5 billion per year and cash on delivery in the amount of more than UAH 12 billion,” Kubrakov said. He said that the solution to this problem could be permission to submit receipts in electronic form.
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Sugar production in Ukraine as of December 4 amounted to 1.517 million tonnes. According to the Ukrtsukor National Association of Sugar Producers, at present sugar refineries in the country have processed 11.25 million tonnes of sugar beets. As reported, Ukraine started a new sugar making season on August 31.
In 2018, the area under sugar beets was 280,000 hectares, which is 13% less than in 2017.
Ukraine exported 560,400 tonnes of sugar in the 2017/2018 agricultural year (September-August), which is 27.2% less than in the previous agri-year. Sugar production in the 2017/2018 agri-year increased by 6.5% and amounted to 2.14 million tonnes. Some 46 sugar factories were operating during the season.
Ukraine reduced crude steel production 1% year-on-year in January-November 2018 to 19.3 million tonnes, according to preliminary data.
The Ukrmetallurgprom (Dnipro) association told Interfax that roll output grew 1% to 16.835 million tonnes, and pig iron production rose 3% to 18.78 million tonnes.
Crude steel production was 1.744 million tonnes in November alone, down 2.5% from October, roll production was 1.473 million tonnes, down 3.6%, and pig iron 1.695 million tonnes, down 5%.
