Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says that Ukraine expects to join the common customs area with the European Union within a month.
“We are grateful for the provision by Slovakia of extremely needed military assistance and for humanitarian assistance, which covers almost all areas,” Shmyhal was quoted by the government press service as a result of a meeting in Kyiv with President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Chaputova on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister noted that Ukraine expects to become a full member of the European family.
“Slovakia is one of the largest advocates of Ukraine in the European Union. We appreciate the initiative to unite with our friends to advance the granting of Ukraine the status of an EU candidate. We are grateful for such support,” he said.
The Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine has fulfilled more than 70% of the Association Agreement with the EU.
“We have an ambitious goal of joining the NCTS, the Common Customs Space, within a month. We are ready for all challenges and Denis Shmigal is ready.
Chaputova, for her part, noted that Slovakia had a recent experience of integration into the EU and her country would support Ukraine on this path.
On Monday, the Cabinet of Ministers registered in the Verkhovna Rada draft law No. 7418 amending the Tax Code and other laws on the return of all customs duties and VAT on imported goods, including cars.
According to the draft law registered in Parliament on the revision of certain tax benefits, it is proposed to abolish the customs-free import of cars.
The document also proposes to resume taxation, which was abolished by law No. 2142, for goods imported by single tax payers of the first or third group, since on average the budget loses about UAH 3 billion in import duties on this benefit per month, as well as for enterprises that do not pay import duties – budget losses here average UAH 0.5 billion in import duties.
As for the abolition of preferential auto imports, the government notes that over 119,000 cars were imported during the period of this rule, and budget losses amount to UAH 13 billion, according to the explanatory note to the bill. At the same time, there are not isolated cases of importing premium cars.
At the same time, the bill proposes to exempt those who acquire ownership of electric vehicles from paying the fee for compulsory state insurance.
As noted in the explanatory note, the amount of customs benefits for registered imports of phones amounted to UAH 270 million, clothing and footwear – over UAH 850 million.
A delegation of South Korea’s ruling People’s Power party will visit Ukraine next month, Yonhap reports citing officials.
Party chairman Lee Jung Suk and some party lawmakers will travel to Ukraine in early June as part of a “special delegation of Korean-Ukrainian freedom, peace and solidarity,” they said.
The exact date of the visit has not yet been determined.
“South Koreans deplore the situation in Ukraine and hope for a speedy peace,” the party’s press release quoted the agency as saying.
As noted in the Power of the People, their party will be the first political party in Asia to send a delegation to Ukraine.
Registration of tax invoices, interrupted at the beginning of the war, will resume on Friday, May 27, said Daniil Getmantsev, head of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy.
“Friends, tomorrow we are opening the registration of tax invoices. The system will operate in the pre-war regime with the reservations specified directly in the law. I urgently ask converters, individual tax specialists and other professional evaders not to count on the fact that in the conditions of war the scheme tax credit will go unnoticed,” – he wrote in Telegram on Thursday evening.
According to him, the State Tax Service will react harshly to any such attempts, “according to the laws of war with all the consequences.”
Getmantsev also appealed to businesses with a request to immediately inform them of any local distortions on the part of the tax authorities, if any.
“The tax office has an absolutely unambiguous clear task – to ensure the registration of tax invoices in full compliance with the law and the requirement of white business,” the head of the committee said.
As reported, on May 12, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law (draft No. 7360), which, in particular, completely resumes the operation of the VAT Electronic Administration System (SEA). Registration of tax invoices, according to him, for February-May 2022 is provided until July 15 this year.
According to the document, taxpayers are exempted from liability for late reporting or payment of taxes in the period after the start of the war on February 24, if these tax obligations were fulfilled within 60 days from the date of renewal of such an opportunity. The same concessions are given to taxpayers who switched to a simplified taxation system with the payment of 2% tax.
In addition, the law resumes cameral and documentary audits of tax reporting, as well as budgetary VAT refunds, but
Estonian company Nortal, which is engaged in strategic consulting and technology implementation, has bought the Skelia IT company along with its offices in Eastern Europe, Dragon Capital said in a press release.
“Skelia has established itself as an international leader in building dedicated technology teams in areas where customers want to remain in control of the development process while experiencing the stability of a premium team and quality of service. Their strong presence in western Ukraine and Poland will provide Nortal with an excellent platform for growth. Together, we can further expand our business across geographies and time zones while strengthening our offering and serving customers across the full spectrum of their needs,” Nortal CEO and Founder Priit Alamäe was quoted as saying.
As noted, the companies will focus on creating new synergies and value for customers, as well as creating additional opportunities for Skelia employees in Poland and Ukraine, which will now become part of Nortal.
“By joining forces, Nortal and Skelia will leverage each other’s complementary and individual strengths, as well as provide new career opportunities for our global combined team of more than 1,700 people. Nortal brings us a wealth of experience in building end-to-end solutions and products. This greatly complements Skelia’s longstanding business of building over 200 sustainable cross-border IT and engineering organizations for leading companies in Europe, the UK, the Nordics and the US,” Skelia CEO and co-founder Patrick Vandewalle was quoted as saying.
The amount of the agreement is not reported.
Skelia was founded in 2008 and currently employs over 350 people, primarily in Ukraine and Poland. Skelia serves clients in 10 countries and operates through a network of offices in the Benelux countries, Poland, Ukraine and the USA.
Nortal was founded in 2000. The company has more than 1.4 thousand employees and has 20 offices in Europe, the USA and the Middle East.
Dragon Capital acted as an advisor to Nortal on this deal. Oaklins Sweden acted as an advisor to Skelia.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) intends to invest $1 billion in 2022 and is ready to finance NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, said Bank President Odile Renault-Basso.
“We intend to continue investing $1 billion this year and we are focused on supporting key infrastructure such as the power grid (Ukrenergo), we are reserving a Naftogaz credit line to support their working capital and liquidity,” she said during the discussions at the Ukrainian House in Davos as part of the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.
The EBRD intends to offer an investment plan to support these companies and the private sector in general, provide credit lines for agribusiness and pharmaceuticals and not only, she added.
“We also plan to work with municipalities to help internally displaced people,” said Renaud-Basso.
