A number of European Business Association (EBA) member companies, which “have Chinese roots,” are concerned about the imposition of sanctions by Ukraine against the Chinese shareholders of PJSC Motor Sich and will temporarily refrain from investing, EBA Executive Director Anna Derevyanko has said.
Chinese investors have temporarily put on hold all the issues related to investing in the country, she said at a meeting of the Global Economic Review of Ukraine association, when its participants raised the issue of these sanctions and their possible consequences for trade and economic relations with China.
According to Andriy Horokhov, the director general of UMG Investments, in 2020 Ukraine was lucky with the conjuncture in agriculture and metallurgy, and a large part of the products of these industries went to China. He added that the Chinese market is also expected to grow in 2021.
“I understand for sure that you have to be more careful with a trading partner with a turnover of about $ 10 billion,” he said.
“If suddenly we make mistakes in this direction, then we will need to understand where we will compensate for our sales markets, given the situation in Europe and the United States and the uncertainty with the pandemic. I hope there will be wise and balanced decisions here, and people will professionally approach this issue,” he said.
The European Business Association (EBA) has addressed Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal with a request to resume the work of the system of state registration of pesticides and agrochemicals, which was suspended in late May 2020, according to a statement posted on the association’s website on Tuesday.
According to the member companies of the EBA Agrochemical Committee, the problems have become relevant since the renaming of the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine and the establishment of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources.
“At the end of May, the Scientific Expert Council at the Ministry recommended 100 chemical products as a result of the meeting. However, as of today, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources has not yet made a decision on their registration. Therefore, the abovementioned chemical products are not included in the State Register of pesticides and agrochemicals approved for use in Ukraine,” the EBA said.
The association also noted that if chemicals are not included in the State Register, Ukrainian and international importers and manufacturers of plant protection products will not be able to provide farmers timely with a significant number of next-generation products.
“Due to this situation, legal businesses suffer losses as they fail to sell their products. As the result, the state budget lacks revenues from taxes and customs duties estimated at millions of hryvnias,” the association said.
In addition, the EBA noted that the use period of PPPs is quite short. Accordingly, the farmer will buy what is available on the market.
“Due to the lack of high-quality registered PPPs, there is a risk of a significant increase in demand for gray imports and counterfeit products. Thus, the quality and security of the future harvest, and, consequently, the export potential and currency stability of the country may be threatened,” it said.
Therefore, the business community appealed to the prime minister to pay attention to this situation and adjust the work of relevant departments, offices, and divisions of the Ministry of Environmental Protection so that to restore the system of state registration of pesticides and agrochemicals and, in general, to ensure quality conditions for doing business in the country, which is one of the tasks of the reorganized ministry.
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has offered President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine (ACC) Andy Hunder and Executive Director of the European Business Association (EBA) Anna Derevyanko cooperation to develop trade and attract investment, the press service of the ministry said. “In the United States, Asian countries, and EU countries, the protection of internal business abroad, the development of trade, and the attraction of investments are some of the key functions of the foreign ministries. Now we are creating such an effective system of economic diplomacy in Ukraine. I would like to invite the leading Ukrainian business to unite forces,” Kuleba said during a video conference on Tuesday.
Kuleba also told about the relaunch of the Council of Exporters and Investors under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A meeting of the members, 80% of whom were reelected, is scheduled for May 21. Participants will be organized according to industry principles and will develop a joint work plan for the year.
The minister also shared with Hunder and Derevyanko his vision of cooperation between the diplomatic system and business, which will fill the agenda of relations with other countries with real cooperation projects, liberalize trade, expand the geography of exports, and attract investment in Ukraine.
Kuleba believes that successful Ukrainian business is also able to play a key role in establishing an effective system of economic diplomacy. It is, in particular, about professional expert assessment, attracting business to diplomatic education, and conducting special trainings and courses.
Derevyanko and Hunder, in turn, expressed gratitude for the initiative, which, in their opinion, is able to bring cooperation between business and diplomacy to a new level and contribute to the protection of Ukrainian economic interests. For their part, they confirmed their readiness to cooperate under the Council of Exporters and Investors, as well as in the development of an assessment system and diplomatic education.The parties paid special attention to the subject of encouraging foreign companies that transfer production from other regions of the world closer to sales markets, to locating production in Ukraine.
ACC, EBA, FM, INVESTMENTS
The European Business Association (EBA) has asked Head of the Verkhovna Rada committee for transport and infrastructure Yuriy Kysyl to support a bill proposing new legislation for the taxi market, the press service of the EBA said on Friday. “The adoption of a new model for regulating the taxi market is a significant step in introducing European standards into the life of Ukrainians. We hope that the new law on taxis will allow us to remove transportation from the shadows, get rid of outdated regulations and instead introduce clear and equal rules of the game for market players. For the first time, Ukraine has approached the reform of the taxi services market in such a comprehensive and professional manner that it is undoubtedly a positive signal,” the press service said, citing Advocacy Team Leader at the EBA Igor Gotsyk.
According to the report, the bill proposes the cancellation of obtaining a license for the domestic transportation of passengers by taxi, while at the same time the obligation is introduced to notify the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety, which also provides the functions of the public register of road carriers.
In addition, according to the document, an individual road carrier is not required to register as private entrepreneur. He also does not need to draw up a contract on transportation for each service in paper. He can only draw up a contract in electronic form.
“Given the thoroughness of the above-mentioned provisions and the importance of their adoption in order to increase the transparency of operations by carriers who operate road passenger transport services, we expect fruitful cooperation and hope that the bill will be adopted this autumn,” the EBA said.
The European Business Association (EBA) shares the position of the office of the president regarding the introduction of a nationwide system of electronic timber accounting and stresses the need for all timber makers to join this system. “For a more efficient operation of the electronic timber accounting system, it is critically important that all timber makers are connected to it, regardless of the form of subordination,” Yevhen Kuzmenko, the manager of EBA committees, told Interfax-Ukraine.
He noted that the system shows all the data from logging to timber sale or accepting for processing: who is involved in timber logging and on the basis of what documents, the characteristics of timber, as well as to whom and at what price it was sold.
“This system has already been introduced in forestries subordinated to the State Forest Agency. But it does not apply to other forest users, such as state enterprises of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Environment, municipal companies, and others. They, according to various sources, harvest from 17% to 27% of the total volume of timber,” the expert said.
According to him, this situation allows manipulating the origin of wood.
The European Business Association (EBA) has called to annul the excise label for wine, as it does not help to fight counterfeit products, while creates additional expenses for manufacturers, the press service of the association has reported.
According to the EBA, Ukrainian legislation requires the application of an excise label on all beverages with an ethyl alcohol content of more than 8.5% ABV. At the same time, wines with 1.2-15% ABV are subject to excise tax at a rate of UAH 0.01 per liter, while the value of the label is UAH 0.19 per piece. Alcohol importers also bear the cost of sending labels abroad.
“According to the calculations of the member companies of the association, there are UAH 278.6 of additional expenses per UAH 1 of the paid excise tax. Moreover, the major part of the sum does not go to the budget of Ukraine, but remains abroad,” the EBA said.
According to the EU regulations on labeling and protection of names of origin of alcoholic beverages, which Ukraine will have to adapt, beer from malt, grape wines, vermouth, cider and ethyl alcohol are not considered to be alcoholic beverages. Consequently, their quality control in Ukraine should not take place with the help of excise labels, but according to the general legislation on product safety, the EBA said.
“The products with alcohol content up to 8.5% ABV do not apply the excise labels. However, the safety control of such products is carried out. Therefore, it is reasonable to introduce the same logic for products with 1.2-15% ABV,” the EBA reports.
According to the press service, to abolish the excise labels, it is necessary to make changes to the Tax Code. “The business has already submitted the relevant proposals to the government. We hope that they will be taken into account in the near future,” the EBA said.
