Fifth President of Ukraine and current member of the Ukrainian parliament Petro Poroshenko does not want to cooperate with the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) on the investigations into thirteen criminal proceedings in which he is a witness, SBI Director Roman Truba said. “Petro Poroshenko should understand that it is in his interests to testify so that the investigators can study the circumstances as soon as possible […] Unfortunately, the ex-president does not agree on that. We are offering cooperation, but he offers opposition. We are proposing to him an investigation into all circumstances of the case, he is engaging in politics near the SBI office,” Truba told a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.
A testimony is needed first and foremost for Poroshenko himself, Truba said.
The SBI is investigating 13 criminal proceedings in which Poroshenko is a witness and he is being questioned in that status, Truba said.
Philip Morris Ukraine, British American Tobacco, JTI and Imperial Tobacco in Ukraine are mulling the possibility of decreasing production and later closing the tobacco factories on the territory of Ukraine over the adoption of the legislative requirement on the government regulation of markup on their goods by the Verkhovna Rada.
“The fact of adoption of this bill will have serious consequences for the industry. This is the absence of a transition period and implementation mechanisms. In the near future, this will expose our business to risks. We will be forced to consider the issue of producing our goods at other factories, since we do not even fully understand how to execute this bill,” Director of British American Tobacco Ukraine Simon Welford said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
He said that bill 1049, passed at second reading, introducing a single account for paying taxes and duties, the single social security contribution, sets a fixed markup for wholesale and retail traders of tobacco products at 7% and 13% of the maximum retail price per package.
General Manager of Imperial Tobacco in Ukraine Rastislav Cernak said that these legislative initiatives could entail an increase in the volume of illegal trade in tobacco products from 8.4% to 20%. At the same time, he said that over the past three years, the volume of the “shadow” tobacco market has grown by about seven times and this annually cost UAH 5 billion the national budget.
At the same time, Cernak predicted a 25% reduction in cigarette production. “Such a 25% drop, according to our estimates, will cost the national budget about UAH 7 billion. Therefore, we urge the Verkhovna Rada to revise bill No. 1049 and remove the amendment that establishes the regulation of the markup. We request that transparent lawmaking in Ukraine along with an open dialogue with major investors start working, as such significant changes in taxation force us to rethink our business in Ukraine,” he said.
State debt of Ukraine from 2009 till 2019 (mln UAH)
National bank of ukraine’s official rates as of 09/10/19
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of October 09
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Ukraine in January-September 2019 increased revenue from electricity exports by 14.4% (by $34.105 million) compared to the same period in 2018, to $271.49 million, in particular, in September this figure was $31.263 million.
According to the State Fiscal Service, electricity for $167.111 million was supplied to Hungary in the nine months, power worth $61.237 million to Poland, while Moldova received electricity for $32.814 million, other countries for $10.328 million.
In addition, Ukraine imported electricity for $31.174 million in January-September 2019, including for $14.791 million from Slovakia, $13.063 million from Belarus, $2.434 million from Hungary, and $885,000 from other countries.
As reported, in 2018 Ukraine exported electricity worth $331.942 million, in particular to Hungary for $189.958 million, Poland for $78.763 million, Moldova for $53.144 million, other countries for $10.078 million. In monetary terms, Ukrainian electricity exports in 2018 increased by 40.9% compared to 2017.
In natural terms, Ukraine in 2018 increased exports of electricity by 19.3% (by 999.4 million kWh) compared to 2017, to 6.166 billion kWh.
According to the updated forecast balance, in 2019 Ukraine plans to export 5.832 billion kWh of electricity, which is 5.4% less than in 2018 (6.166 billion kWh). Imports are expected to amount to 1.488 billion kWh.
