The Cabinet of Ministers proposes to the Verkhovna Rada to adopt the bill “On Amending the Customs Tariff of Ukraine regarding the temporary application of import duty rates on certain types of grain crops.”
Relevant bill No. 3310 was registered in parliament on April 7, 2020.
The text of the bill is not yet available on the Rada’s website. However, an informed source on the market, explained in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine that it was about canceling duties on the import of vegetables and cereals before July 1.
The Aurum Group has said that it is necessary to annul the land tax in April 2020 to support business for the period of quarantine. The group paid attention of the government that ambiguous interpretations of the provisions of the so-called “anti-crisis law” adopted on March 30, according to which, in particular, the employer can be exempted from paying a fee for the use of property, will increase the loss of business from the consequences of quarantine.
“In March, in connection with the quarantine, the business was exempted from paying land tax, but in April, when the situation became even worse, the corresponding changes were not made,” the press service of the group told Interfax-Ukraine.
“Given the specifics of the activities and location of Aurum Group enterprises, the proportion of land tax of the tax burden of some companies ranges from 15% to 70%. In addition, in some regions, the land tax rate has doubled since January 1, 2020,” the press service said.
According to the company, the law on additional social and economic guarantees in connection with the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) provides an opportunity not to pay rent in commercial relations. However, in April, business must pay for renting land and real estate tax to the state.
Lemons could disappear from the shelves of Ukrainian supermarkets in the middle of April due to the closure of the Turkish market and possible difficulties with supplies from Spain, Development Director at the Ukrainian Horticultural Association Kateryna Zvereva has said.
“Ukraine imports annually around 55,000 tonnes of lemons (54,300 tons in 2019). Deliveries from Turkey account for more than 60% of the total. Due to the closure of the Turkish market, products from this country will be replaced by products from South America (Argentina is second largest supplier of lemons to Ukraine after Turkey), “she told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Zvereva, in the middle of April, a situation when consumers will not be able to find lemons on the shelves of Ukrainian supermarkets may arise.
“Deliveries of lemons from Turkey are limited due to the closure of the market. Deliveries from Spain are also a big question (due to the strong spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 pandemic in the country). And lemons from Argentina simply will not have time to reach the country by sea physically,” the expert said.
The development director of the Ukrainian Horticultural Association said that lemon prices have doubled over the past month. At the beginning of March, the average price was UAH 40-45 per kg, now it is UAH 80-90 per kg.
“Now it’s difficult to predict the price increase as the situation is developing rapidly and it is not clear what will happen tomorrow. But, it’s also worthwhile to understand that Turkish lemon is the cheapest. If the consumption level does not change, it is likely that the price of lemon may increase and reach over UAH 100,” Zvereva said.
The initial registration of electric vehicles in Ukraine (new and used) in January-March 2020 increased by a third compared to the same period in 2019, to 1,700 units, Ukrautoprom reports. At the same time, in March, registrations of passenger cars fell by 16%, to 386 units, and commercial vehicles by almost 40%, to 23 units.
“Such a drop in registrations in the electric car market is due to the fact that its lion’s share is formed by used cars imported from abroad, the registration of which was suspended in the middle of last month due to quarantine,” the association’s press service explains.
At the same time, the share of imported used cars in March registrations of electric cars amounted to 86% (333 units), while in the commercial segment all 100% (23 units).
At the same time, Ukrautoprom draws attention to the fact that, despite all the restrictions due to quarantine measures, registrations of new passenger electric cars in March increased by 36% compared to March 2019, to 53 units.
The undisputed leader in the electric car market remains Nissan Leaf: last month 129 cars of this model (all used) passed Ukrainian registration.
State-owned enterprise Ukrspyrt has supplied Ukrainian producers of sanitizers with almost 300,000 liters of disinfectant on April 2-5. “Over a short term we have supplied producers of sanitizers with around 300,000 liters of disinfectant. We have relevant contracts with 32 Ukrainian companies,” the press service cited Acting Director General of Ukrspyrt Serhiy Bleskun.
He said that cooperation with producers of sanitizers and medical institutions is a priority task for the state enterprise in April, while other directions go next. On April 2-5, Ukrspyrt shipped 300,000 liters of disinfectant to the following companies: MDM LLC, Aqua Cosmetics Group LLC, BKHIM LLC, Advent Invest LLC, Ecoplant LLC, private company Alliance of Beauty, private company Pharmstandard, Astra-Cosmetic LLC, Win Stream LLC, Difrano Union LLC.
Bleskun said that Ukrspyrt provides producers of sanitizers, which have worked with retailers in the Ukrainian market before and have relevant production plans for the production of sanitizers in various volumes, with raw material.
As reported, on March 30, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted bill No. 3275 amending some legal acts aimed at ensuring additional social and economic guarantees in connection with the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), which, inter alia, permitted Ukrspyrt to produce disinfectant (raw material for sanitizers) at its plants.
Ukrspyrt will produce disinfectant at its enterprises until April 30.
Kvass Beverages plant (Zaporizhia), the manufacturer of non-alcoholic drinks, which belongs to Ascania group of companies, adapted part of the production capacity for the production of disinfectants. According to the company’s statement on Monday, April 6, the first batch of disinfectants will be transferred to medical institutions in Zaporizhia.
“Given the critical situation with the supplies and production of disinfectants in Ukraine, we decided to reformat as soon as possible some of the equipment for the production of disinfectors in order to support efforts to combat coronavirus (COVID-19) spread,” owner of Ascania Group Valeriy Horban said in a statement.
Now the company is working on the organization of continuity and non-stop production process of disinfectant concentrate. The output of disinfectants was launched in early April.
Kvass Beverages is one of the largest producers of kvass, cider and other soft drinks in Ukraine. Its capacity is 4 million liters per month.
Ascania Group unites 12 companies. Among the areas of activity are import, production and distribution of food products, processing and export of honey (five types, about 30 SKU), logistics services, electricity supply, production of small arms, security and training services for security personnel of private and public structures, agriculture (growing roses).
The group has offices throughout Ukraine, offices in Berlin (Germany) and Guangzhou (China). The total number of Ascania Group employees is more than 2,500 people.
