A group of lawmakers has proposed to annul the requirement foreseeing temporarily suspension of VAT refunds for exports of rapeseeds and soybeans.
Bill No. 7403-2 amending the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding some issues of VAT taxation for oilseeds exports was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on December 29, 2017.
The authors of the bill are 27 lawmakers. They believe that return of VAT refunds for exports of rapeseeds and soybeans would allow avoiding the loss of farmers who plant these oilseeds and would not allow violation of international commitments of Ukraine to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the European Union (EU).
As reported, the temporary limitation for refunding VAT for exports of soybeans will be in effect from September 1, 2018 until December 31, 2021 and rapeseeds from January 1, 2020 until December 31, 2021.
The sales of new Toyota cars, which in 2017, as well as a year earlier, became the leader of the Ukrainian car market, grew by 26% compared to 2016, to 9,696 units with the growth of the car market as a whole by 25%, to 82,300 cars, according to the Ukrautoprom association.
According to the report, during the year Toyota was in the lead in the nine out of twelve months, and three months this position had been held by Renault, which over the year ranked second with 8,671 registered cars and an increase of 36%.
Volkswagen, as in the previous year, ranked third. It sold 6,525 cars, and the sales growth was 30%.
The fourth and fifth positions were held by Skoda with 5,675 cars sold (37% up) and KIA (5,320 cars, 34% more).
Thus, the five leaders of the market did not change compared to last year.
PJSC Pokrovsky ore mining and processing enterprise (Pokrovsky GOK, Dnipropetrovsk region) intends in 2018 to invest more than UAH 247 million in the program of production and technical development, while the plan for 2017 was UAH 350 million.
Board chairman of the company Serhiy Shuvayev said the strategic goal for 2018 is to maintain the plant’s capacity for extraction and production of concentrate.
“Shevchenkivsky quarry has almost finished its work, therefore we need to compensate for this by increasing ore extraction at other divisions, and the year of 2018 will be preparatory to increasing the productivity plan at Pivnichny and Chkalovsky No. 2 quarries,” he said.
According to him, it is planned to overhaul mining equipment.
According to him, the specialists of the plant came to the conclusion that independent charge would allow to not only compensate for the lost volumes of ore, but also increase the productivity of the factory, increase manganese content in concentrate. Due to the increased competitiveness of the plant’s products, Pokrovsky GOK hopes to obtain additional income.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said that in 2017 German companies created 2,000 new jobs in Ukraine.
“In 2017, according to our approximate calculations, German companies created at least 2,000 jobs in Ukraine,” Klimkin said at a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Kyiv on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian foreign minister noted that the German automobile industry alone has created more than 30,000 jobs in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Ministry has announced a tender to select independent members of Ukrenergo’s supervisory board.
According to an announcement on the ministry’s website, applications and documents for the tender can be submitted before March 2, 2018.
The ministry seeks to create the supervisory board consisting of seven members with the following qualification: business strategy and development, regulatory policy on the competitive power market, operations effectiveness, finances and audit, power lines management, risk management, compliance and corporate governance.
As reported, Energy and Coal Industry Ministry resumed the selection of four independent members of the supervisory board of national energy company Ukrenergo in its resolution No. 752 dated December 18, 2017. The tender commission was to draw up and approve the requirements to the candidates to these posts.
The regulation on the principles of formation of the Ukrenergo supervisory board provides that, in general, the council should consist of seven persons. Applicants for four independent candidates should not hold positions in state or local government bodies, nor should they have any material interests with the enterprise and its management. At the same time, it is planned to form the supervisory board from persons with different competence to ensure the widest possible variety of experience and professional skills. If there are two candidates with the same competence and skills, the candidate with experience in companies – system operators of electric power transmission from ENTSO-E will be given preference.
Ukrenergo operates trunk and interstate power grids, as well as performs the centralized dispatching of the united energy system in the country. The company is a state-owned enterprise, it is subordinate to the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry.
PJSC National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (PBC) has signed a sublicense agreement on the purchase of rights to broadcast the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Ukraine with the Discovery Communications media company, whose portfolio includes Eurosport TV channels.
“This will allow the public customer to broadcast the Olympics almost throughout the entire territory of Ukraine. The course of the competition will be broadcast in the SD and HD Simulkast format on the website of the UA:First television channel,” the PBC’s press service reported on Wednesday.
According to Anna Pak Burdin, Discovery Networks North-East Europe managing director, UA:First will broadcast important meetings and final stages of the main competitions, and those who want to follow each competition in full will have access to Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2, and more than 4000 hours of broadcasting in Eurosport Player.
“The agreement with PBC is not just a contract. It is an opportunity to join the international holiday and feel like a part of the multi-thousand audience of the Olympics, see the flag of Ukraine and the national team in national uniforms, cheer for your athletes and get incredible emotions,” she said.
President of the National Olympic Committee and Olympic champion Serhiy Bubka, in turn, said that thanks to television broadcasts, Ukrainians would be able to see the competition “of the strongest athletes and cheer for their compatriots.”
