Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal believes that the possibility of selling land to foreigners or foreign companies should be decided exclusively at an all-Ukrainian referendum.
“The possibility of selling land to foreigners or foreign companies should be decided exclusively and solely at an all-Ukrainian referendum,” Shmyhal said on air of The Right to Power program on the 1+1 television channel on Thursday evening.
At the same time, the prime minister emphasized that Ukrainians should have the right and opportunity to dispose of their land. “As for the issue of the possibility of selling state land, this is a matter of discussion in parliament,” the prime minister said.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk has said he hopes that a large-scale building of roads will start on March 1, 2020.
“Since March 1, a large-scale building [of roads] to start…This year it is necessary to prepare for the most early start of the season. We, in turn, will try to complete all the procedures by this moment,” he said during a press conference Roads UA 2020 in Kyiv on Monday.
He also asked the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) to favor this.
“We know that there are certain difficulties, that someone is doing stupid things: disputes every second tender in the Antimonopoly Committee. We ask the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine do not accept such a model of behavior. Respond by the quick, honest work,” Honcharuk added.
The Ukrainian economy will leap forward in 2021, while 2020 will be the year of preparations for this, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk.
“We expect this year to be the year of inventory and personnel renewal, and the next to prepare for the economic leap. We should launch the economy, should have new jobs and production,” Honcharuk said on Freedom of Speech program in the evening on Monday.
According to the head of government, in 2020, the number of civil servants will be reduced by at least 10%.
“But we anticipate the main savings thanks to IT tools, modern databases… We as a state now operate with terribly inaccurate data… Sometimes we, as a state, make decisions blindly. Next year we should have a database that shows for example, how many pupils, students we have,” he said.
He also added that a census planned for 2020 can also be done using online tools.
“Now we are looking for the opportunity of conducting a census as much as possible taking into account online tools, that is, to encourage people to fill out information about themselves online,” Honcharuk said.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine plans to conduct the “deep” tax reform in spring, which will take effect in 2021, Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk has said. “Our tax system is designed so that a good-faith taxpayer loses. If you honestly pay taxes, you are simply forced to optimize on several markets. This is very wrong. We are planning a deep reform of the tax system in the spring, because you cannot change the tax system in the second half of the year,” he told reporters in Kyiv on Friday.
Tax reform should come into force on January 1, 2021, Honcharuk said.
“And this autumn, our main task is to clean up the administration of taxes. We have Mr. Verlanov for this. He is a very decent person. I really count on him,” the prime minister said.
Asked about potential changes in taxation for individual entrepreneurs, he said: “I believe that the system needs to be fixed, but to start doing this should not be from the ‘small taxpayers’ for sure.”
According to Honcharuk, the main problem of the simplified taxation system is that it is used for “smuggled money laundering.”
“Now it is difficult for me to say how the model that we propose will look like. But we will proceed from the fact that the whole country should use the simplified taxation system. That is, taxation should be so simple that it is not difficult for anyone,” the prime minister said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Kyiv on August 18-20 to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, The Times of Israel said. According to the publication, Netanyahu is set to fly to Ukraine for a two-day visit less than a month before the elections to the 22nd Knesset. In Kyiv, Netanyahu will meet with Zelensky and visit the Babi Yar (Babyn Yar) Holocaust Memorial Center.
As reported, Netanyahu in April congratulated Zelensky over the phone on his victory in the presidential elections in Ukraine.
On January 21, Ukraine and Israel signed an agreement on a free trade area (FTA), according to which Israel abolishes about 80% of import duties for Ukrainian industrial goods and more than 9% for agricultural goods. At the same time, Ukraine abolishes about 70% of import duties for Israeli industrial products and more than 6% for agricultural goods.
At that time, Netanyahu welcomed the “strong” Israeli-Ukrainian relations. “These ties have deep historical and cultural roots,” he said.
On July 11, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ratified an international free trade agreement between Ukraine and Israel.
On August 7, Zelensky signed bill No. 0223 on ratification of the FTA agreement into law.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he is holding consultations with people who he potentially sees at the post of the Ukrainian prime minister. He said that these are people who do not have a political past and who are professional economists.
“The Prime Minister … must be an absolutely professional economist who must have no political [past]. I would very much like this to be an absolutely independent person who has never been a prime minister, a speaker or a leader any [parliamentary] faction. I see this kind of person. Honestly, I will tell you. I am already holding consultations, talking … with some people,” Zelensky told reporters at a polling station on Sunday.
The head of state said that he has an unchanged position as for the issue of voiced requirements for the prime minister, but admitted that “some people who go to parliament now may not like it because they see themselves in this post.”
