The state’s debt for value added tax (VAT) reimbursement to grain trader Prometey for part of last year and this year reaches hundreds of millions of hryvnias, with its reimbursement now being spotty and according to non-transparent criteria, Rafael Goroyan, owner of the grain trading holding Prometey, said.
“The state owes Prometey a big VAT refund for more than a year, since before the war. We are patiently waiting for the VAT refund, but our patience may come to an end. Now it is reimbursed in a pinpoint manner, according to unclear criteria, as in the times of Yanukovych (ex-President of Ukraine – IF), when the tax was “discounted,” suitcases were carried, etc. But Prometey Company has its own principles. We never gave any bribes for VAT refunds because it deprived us of competitiveness,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
“They (tax authorities – IF) want to “negotiate” and we always quarrel – we do not want to “be friends and communicate” with anyone. We do not create an ‘intimate environment,’ so we have conflict all the time,” the head of Prometey stressed in an interview.
“Our principles are much more important than money. Thank God, Prometey is developing, employees’ salaries are being paid, but if we get dirty in the mud of corruption, we won’t be able to wash off,” he added.
According to him, an effective way of dealing with government agencies is to ask for help from the media and hold actions with the participation of Prometey employees and their families.
“If we had to say something loudly, we held large pickets near the tax inspection. When Poroshenko (ex-President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko – IF) was in power, 3500 people from Prometey employees and their family members used to picket when Nasirov (former head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine Roman Nasirov – IF) was the chief tax collector. It was a whole revolution. In my opinion, a month after that he was kicked out and now he seems to be under investigation,” stressed the owner of the holding.
“When the average business gets angry en masse, everything ends badly. We shouldn’t see the situation when VAT is reimbursed to someone point by point, for some unknown good,” Goroyan concluded.
The grain trader stressed that the issue of actual VAT refund is not just a positive thing for the Ukrainian AIC companies but a necessary condition for their survival in the market.
As reported, the head of the specialized parliamentary committee of the Rada Daniil Getmantsev earlier said that the volume of VAT refund to business in November increased by 20% compared to October and amounted to 13.6 billion UAH, this year such volumes were achieved only in February.
VAT refunds were almost completely stopped after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation on February 24 this year. If it was 18.52 billion UAH in January and 12.07 billion UAH in February, in March – 0.82 billion UAH, and in April and May it was completely absent and resumed only in June, when 9.5 billion UAH were paid, in July it almost stopped again – 0.6 million UAH. However, in August the amount of payments was 9,4 billion UAH, in September – 1,6 billion UAH and in October – 10,9 billion UAH.
Prometey Group provides services in the storage, processing and logistics of crops. Before the Russian aggression the holding owned 33 elevators in the regions of Nikolaev, Kirovograd, Kiev, Khmelnytsky, Zaporozhye, Sumy, Odessa, Kherson and Dnepropetrovsk, during the war the holding purchased one more.
By the end of 2021, the group planned to receive $45 million EBITDA, while in 2020 this figure reached $32.6 million and in 2019 – $30.5 million.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with the leadership of the investment company Black Rock investments in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
“I spoke to the head of the largest investment fund in the world Black Rock. Got another confirmation that the business of the developed world believes in our victory and is ready to invest in our reconstruction,” he said in a video message on Tuesday.
According to Zelensky, “experts from this company are already helping Ukraine structure our nation’s Recovery Fund.”
“And we are already preparing to participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos. Ukraine’s position and prospects will be presented there,” the president said.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has announced her intention to visit Kiev, as well as an invitation to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to come to Rome.
“A cordial telephone conversation with President Zelensky. I renewed my support for the Italian government in Kiev and reaffirmed Italy’s maximum commitment to all useful actions to achieve a just peace. I confirmed my intention to go to Kiev and invited Zelensky to Rome,” Meloni wrote on Twitter.
Prometey Group of Companies has received $50-60 million of damage since the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression in Ukraine, four elevators are still under occupation and four have been badly damaged.
“Prometey has suffered a lot in assets and goods, losses in goods are $40-45 million, the examination of losses is now underway. In addition, we lost $10-15 million in equity. Eight elevators of the company suffered a lot: four are still under occupation in Zaporozhye region and four suffered a lot,” said the owner of the holding Rafael Goroyan in his interview to Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, for several days in a row the Russians purposefully shelled the group’s Voznesensk elevator (Voznesensk, Nikolayev region, capacity of 50,000 tons) with cruise missiles, although there were no military facilities, equipment, bases or warehouses at the agricultural enterprise. Russian missiles struck the grain elevator four times in one day, and another strike occurred a few days later when personnel were at the enterprise.
“Now the AFU has liberated Snigirevka. Our elevator is fully mined, the bomb squad is working now and we are waiting until we are allowed to start work,” the company owner said.
Goroyan said Prometey has 34 granaries in total.
In addition, Russian occupation covered 2 thousand hectares of agricultural land, or 10% of the land bank of the grain trader. The humanitarian situation in the liberated territories was terrible, the territory was mined, and at this time it is impossible to carry out agricultural work on it. Russian invaders have also stolen and destroyed Prometey’ irrigation infrastructure in the Nikolaev region.
“Irrigation was stolen and destroyed by the aggressor country Russia. In Snegirevka before the war there were about a thousand or a thousand and a half hectares under irrigation, now they are gone. But there is no certainty of tomorrow to restore. Now it is not quite right for a businessman to invest in expensive foreign equipment without confidence in tomorrow,” stated the businessman.
The Prometey Group provides services for the storage, processing and logistics of crops. Before the Russian aggression the holding owned 34 elevators in the regions of Nikolaev, Kirovograd, Kiev, Khmelnytsky, Zaporizhzhya, Sumy, Odessa, Kherson and Dnepropetrovsk.
By the end of 2021, the group planned to receive $45 mln EBITDA, while in 2020 this figure reached $32.6 mln and in 2019 – $30.5 mln.
Ukrnafta PJSC on December 27 announced a tender for services of compulsory civil liability insurance for owners of motor vehicles (CMTPL).
As reported in the electronic public procurement system “Prozorro”, the expected cost is 2.884 million UAH.
Documents will be accepted until January 4.
Problems with logistics and electricity in the export of agricultural products from Ukraine during the war make it unprofitable to grow crops, so in 2023, the total yield in the country will reduce three times compared to the record prewar level – to 40 million tons from almost 120 million tons.
Reducing the harvest to such low levels is already inevitable due to the current economic situation in the country, but by financing the agricultural sector, Ukraine can achieve by 2024 to increase the harvest up to 70 million tons, said the owner of the grain trading holding Prometheus Rafael Goroyan in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“Last year we harvested 120 million tons of grain and oilseeds, this year we have already fallen to 60 million tons, and next year, according to my forecast, there will be 40 million tons, that is a fall of 300%! At the same time, the entire infrastructure of Ukraine is sharpened under the harvest of 120 million tons or even more, is what we have achieved for 30 years of independence. The entire infrastructure is designed for 120 million tons – cars, wagons, stations, ports, elevators – and there will be no goods!”, – stressed the head of Prometheus in an interview.
“There will be a very sharp shortage of wheat, barley and corn. Sunflower and soybeans will be enough, these are high-margin crops, and corn will not be sown. Now it is expensive to dry it, this year’s crop cannot be harvested, cannot be exported – and then, when we win the war (and I think this will happen very soon), the ports will open, the light will appear, and we will have a shortage of products,” he added.
According to Goroyan, a reduction in the grain harvest will lead to a collapse in the value of infrastructure assets in Ukraine, such as ports, elevators and vehicles, as well as a sharp increase in world prices of wheat, corn and barley. In this sense, the reduction of the wheat harvest is especially serious because it is a “politicized” crop, linked to global food security, the shortage of which will lead to an increase in its quotations on major world exchanges.
Thus the government has to urgently begin issuing state-guaranteed loans to agrarians in order to prevent stagnation in gross harvest for several years after 2023. This will allow Ukraine, by investing relatively small funds, to avoid a reduction in the harvest and the associated decline of the farming and grain trading industries, as well as the bankruptcy of logistics and infrastructure companies.
“We need to do this so we don’t see a sharp drop in exports in two years, and we’re likely to see one. Then there will be no agribusiness in the country, the country will be without currency, we will face serious unemployment, big inflation and all things will go wrong. I believe that we need urgent subsidies from the state to the agricultural producer, very urgently, literally for yesterday. And this should be done in light, without complicated formalities, because the average and small Ukrainian farmer does not like to formalize anything”, – said Goroyan during the conversation.
As it was reported, Ukrainian agrarians harvested 71.72 million tons of major crops from the total area of 17.05 million hectares by December 23. This figure is given including sugar beet, which was harvested 9 million tons from 179 thousand hectares.
The final yield of wheat in this season amounted to 19.4 million tons from 4.7 million hectares, barley – 5.6 million tons from 1.6 million hectares, rape – 3.2 million tons from 1.1 million hectares, pea – 261 tons from 115 thousand ha. In addition, on December 23, a total of 20.2 million tons of corn from 3.1 million hectares (+0.2 million ha), 10.1 million tons of sunflower from 4.6 million ha, 3.7 million tons of soybeans from 1.5 million ha, 157 tons of buckwheat from 115 thousand ha and about 100 tons of millet from 43.5 thousand ha were collected.
Ukraine in 2021 collected a record harvest of cereals, legumes and oilseeds at 106 million tons: 84 million tons of cereals and legumes and 22.6 million tons of oilseeds.
A total of 32.4 million tons of wheat, 40 million tons of corn, 10 million tons of barley, 581.5 thousand tons of peas, 191 thousand tons of millet and 110 tons of buckwheat were harvested last year. Sunflower harvest amounted to 16.3 million tons, soybeans – 3.4 million tons and rapeseed – 2.9 million tons.
