The Verkhovna Rada supported in the second reading and as a whole the bill No. 5762 on simplification of conditions for the production of distillates by small business entities, the head of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy Daniel Getmantsev said.
“The law should bring the current legislation in the sphere of production and circulation of alcoholic beverages and distillates in line with EU requirements, as well as relax the regulation in this sphere for small business entities,” he wrote in Telegram on Thursday.
In the law ¹ 5762 “On amendments to the TCU and some laws of Ukraine on the simplification of the conditions of production of distillates by small business entities” the definition of small producers of distillates and requirements for their material and technical base are presented.
Small manufacturers of distillates are allowed to report on the volume of products manufactured and sold quarterly (instead of monthly), as well as reduced fines for failure or incorrect submission of such reports from 17 500 to 1 020 UAH.
The document reduced the cost of licenses for wholesale of alcoholic beverages for small producers of distillates from 500 thousand UAH to 30 thousand UAH, it is also allowed to use all alcoholic distillates, derived from agricultural products for the production of alcoholic beverages.
The law cancels the mandatory certification of alcohol, distillates, bioethanol, alcoholic beverages, explained the head of the financial parliamentary committee.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada, which defines English as the language of international communication in Ukraine, and also promotes the study of English by Ukrainian citizens.
The corresponding bill, No. 9432, was sent to the Verkhovna Rada committee on Wednesday for consideration.
According to a comment by deputy chairman of the Humanitarian Policy Committee Yevgeniya Kravchuk, the bill also defines categories of positions for which candidates are required to speak English.
“In order to occupy a position, civil servants, prosecutors, persons in senior positions in the police will be required to pass an examination in English,” – said in a message published in the Telegram channel of the Verkhovna Rada.
In particular, emergency units will have to provide assistance to foreigners and persons who do not speak the state language, in English. In addition, medical professionals must also be able to provide assistance in English or with the help of an interpreter.
Under the bill, information in transportation must be dubbed in English; foreign films whose original language is English must be shown in theaters in their original language with subtitles in the state language.
In turn, the commander of the United Forces of the AFU Lieutenant General Sergei Naev said that Zelensky’s initiative to submit this bill to parliament is “very timely.”
“At the moment, servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are undergoing training in a number of European countries, participating in military maneuvers in the UK. The other day the Sea Breeze series of exercises started, in which the personnel and ship personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Navy are involved. A total of 24,000 Ukrainian servicemen have already been trained in EU countries,” said a statement published in the Telegram channel on Wednesday.
Naev noted that almost all technical documentation of weapons and military equipment supplied to Ukraine by partner countries is in English.
“I believe that if before the issue of military personnel learning English was a recommendation, now it should be enshrined at the legislative level,” the commander stressed.
The Verkhovna Rada has supported in the first reading the government’s bill #8401 on the abolition of a flat tax of 2% and other benefits for entrepreneurs starting July 1, 2023. This is one of the conditions for cooperation with the IMF and the dragging out of the bill has caused concern.
According to information on the website of the Rada, 227 people’s deputies voted for the adoption of the bill, with the required minimum of 226 votes.
“The adoption of the bill will increase revenues to the state and local budgets in 2023 in the amount of about 10 billion UAH,” Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko commented on the parliament’s decision.
According to published information, the bill proposes to cancel the possibility for sole proprietors and legal entities to be single tax payers of group III with the application of the single tax rate of 2% of income and to resume payment of single tax for groups I and II FLP.
The bill provides for the resumption of documentary checks, but during martial law they will be held in the presence of safe access to areas, premises and other property used for economic activities and / or taxable objects, as well as documents and other information related to the calculation and payment of taxes and fees.
The ministry noted that it is proposed to resume the application of penalties for violations of tax laws, the correctness of the calculation, calculation and payment of a single fee for obligatory state social insurance and the use of BPR / BPR and resume the terms defined in the tax law.
Marchenko stressed that the bill does not provide for an increase in taxes and does not introduce new tax rates, and the rules are aimed primarily at bringing the tax laws back to their pre-war state.
The law is expected to take effect July 1, 2023 – as stipulated by agreements with the IMF.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the bill is one of the 19 structural beacons of the four-year, $15.6 billion EFF program for Ukraine, which was approved by the IMF Board of Directors on March 31.
The program’s schedule calls for three tranches of SDR664 million ($893 million) to be disbursed to Ukraine after the first tranche in mid-June and October this year and in late February the following year after the first, second and third revisions, when commitments are evaluated for the end of April, June and December this year, respectively.
The IMF mission on the first review of the program is currently working in Vienna. Its results may be as early as the end of May.
The Verkhovna Rada intends to allow the forced seizure of property during the war.
The relevant bill No. 7605 “On Amendments to Certain Laws Regarding the Optimization of Certain Issues of Forcible Expropriation and Seizure of Property under the Legal Regime of Martial Law” was supported by the people’s deputies in the first reading (256 votes in favor) at the plenary session on Friday, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said (fraction “Voice”) in Telegram.
The bill proposes to allow the forcible seizure of equipment that can be used for the purposes of the military-industrial complex. Such actions are carried out on the basis of a decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on a proposal agreed with the regional military administration.
The document provides that compensation for the alienated property is carried out at the expense of the state budget (within 5 subsequent budget periods).
According to the bill, movable and immovable property can be transferred to the management of the National Agency for the Detection, Search and Management of Assets Obtained from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA).
The Verkhovna Rada may at the next plenary session consider the issue of appointing its Commissioner for Human Rights, Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk said.
“I think that personnel issues will be raised there (at the next meeting of the Verkhovna Rada), in particular, I hope that the parliament will be able to appoint a new ombudsman… and Ukraine will get a normal and full-fledged ombudsman,” the speaker said on air of the #UA national telethon on Saturday.
At the same time, he noted that there is no other candidate in the parliament, except for the head of the parliamentary committee on human rights, de-occupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories, national minorities and interethnic relations, Dmitry Lubinets (deputy group “For the Future”).
“The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada or 118 people’s deputies has the right to nominate (the candidature of the Ombudsman). Only I have exercised my right to nominate a candidate, so it will be entered into the hall, ”Stefanchuk specified.
Earlier, First Vice Speaker Alexander Kornienko explained that, according to legislative procedures, the Rada could vote for the appointment of a new Commissioner for Human Rights no earlier than the beginning of July.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed Lyudmila Denisova from the post of her Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights. The corresponding decision was supported by 234 people’s deputies at the plenary session on Tuesday. The Rada appointed her to this position on March 15, 2018.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk announced on June 21 that he proposed to appoint People’s Deputy Dmytro Lubinets (for the Maybutne group) to the position of Commissioner for Human Rights.
Dmitry Lubinets is a Ukrainian politician and lawyer, People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the 8th convocation (from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc) and the 9th convocation (outside parties). In 2019, he entered the Verkhovna Rada as a non-partisan self-nominated candidate in constituency No. 60 (Donetsk region) and became a member of the For the Future parliamentary group, which became a party on June 2, 2020.
The Verkhovna Rada at a meeting on Friday adopted a law on the full guarantee by the state of deposits of individuals for the period of martial law and three months after its completion. According to the head of the committee Daniil Getmantsev in the Telegram channel, the law also establishes that subsequently the maximum amount of compensation on deposits will be UAH 600,000 compared to UAH 200,000 now.
In addition, the Rada adopted in the first reading bill No. 7233 amending the Tax Code and other laws regarding the collection of a single fee and accounting for denatured ethyl alcohol and chemical and technical products. The bill is aimed at providing favorable conditions for the production of denatured ethyl alcohol, bioethanol, chemical and technical products.
