The list of import goods that will be imported to Ukraine without payment of import duty and VAT for winter included: electric generating sets, transformers, electric batteries, equipment for switching or protection of electric circuits or for connection to electric circuits for voltage over 1000 V, consoles, panels, distribution boards, equipment and devices for water filtration or treatment.
The Economy Ministry said Friday that the relevant Cabinet of Ministers decree No. 1260 to expand the list of preferential imports in connection with the Covid epidemic was made public on the government website on Friday.
The Ministry of Economy clarified that the relevant tax changes were initiated on the instructions of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
According to the Ministry, the abolition of VAT and import duties will reduce prices and saturate the Ukrainian market with goods that will help citizens and businesses to survive periodic power outages this winter season.
At the same time, according to deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development Dmitriy Kisilevskyy, even before the abolition of import duties and VAT on such goods, the government should have gathered domestic producers of this equipment and provided them with priority access to credit 5-7-9%, canceled the duties on components and raw materials and formed a reserve fund of equipment and materials.
“The government is implementing the abolition of import restrictions solely on finished products – without components and raw materials, not to mention other steps. As a result, a generator produced in Ukraine will, by definition, be 20-30% more expensive than an imported one,” the MP wrote in a column in NV.
According to him, in the absence of such steps, the adopted import privileges are an unbalanced policy.
As the MP specified to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, among Ukrainian producers of such products are, in particular, Power Generation LLC, Geko-Center, Compressors International, Hyatt Ukraine, Darex-Energo and Equiwes.
Ukraine’s Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade (ICIT) decided on November 2 to apply a provisional anti-dumping duty of 31.37% to imports into Ukraine of glass containers originating from Belarus, Ilyashev & Partners law firm said on Friday.
“The application of such measures is the result of the Ukrainian government’s timely response to the unfair competition of Belarusian manufacturers in the glassware market in Ukraine and will allow national manufacturers to resume work more quickly to eliminate the consequences of dumping imports of goods,” firm partner Olena Omelchenko said in the release.
“Ilyashev and Partners clarified that they represented the interests of the Association of glass industry enterprises “Glass of Ukraine”, as well as its members.
According to the message, the duty will be charged on the following goods: glass vessels (canning jars, bottles) for food and beverages of 0.15 liters or more, but less than 2.5 liters, which are classified according to the UKTVED by codes 7010 90 41 00, 7010 90 43 00, 7010 90 45 00; colored glass jars of nominal capacity of over 0.33 liter, but less than 1 liter, which are classified according to UKTVED under the code 7010 90 53 00.
This decision is the first decision of the Commission on the application of restrictive measures on imports to Ukraine after February 24, 2022, the law firm said. It has noted that application of provisional anti-dumping measures is an extremely rare interim result in the practice of anti-dumping investigations in Ukraine. The last time such measures were applied by the ICMT was in 2020.
Preliminary antidumping duty is applied for a period of four months and will accrue from the date of publication of the ICMT’s decision in the Uriadovyi Kurier newspaper.
The decision on the violation and anti-dumping investigation based on the results of consideration of the complaint filed by Glass Ukraine, prepared by Ilyashev & Partners, was made by the ICMT on December 22, 2021.
The Association of Glass Industry Enterprises “Glass of Ukraine” is a public organization that unites Ukrainian manufacturers of glass containers, flat glass, glassware, art glass, as well as suppliers of equipment, materials and services for the glass industry. The Association was founded in 1997. Members of the Association produce more than 80% of glass products in the country.
Imports to Ukraine of foreign alcoholic products labeled “Cognac”/”Cognac” have been suspended since November 1, 2022, as this name no longer meets the technical conditions for this drink, provided for by the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.
As reported on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine on Tuesday, this agreement, which entered into force on September 1, 2017, provides for mutual protection between the countries of a certain number of geographical indications (GI) in Ukraine, among which there is Cognac.
Thus, from November 1, the use of the name “Cognac” / “Cognac” in Ukraine for products originating from third countries no longer meets the technical requirements for the production of the drink “Cognac” and is now prohibited on the territory of Ukraine.
It is recalled that on January 24, 2022, as a result of the adoption of new regulations that include GI protection, the name “Cognac” / “Cognac” was included in the customs register, which is a prerequisite for the introduction of GI protection on the territory of Ukraine.
In addition, a transitional period has been established so that importers can change the labels on their products to comply with this GI. The transitional period has been extended until October 31, 2022 (inclusive), taking into account the aggression of the Russian Federation and the imposition of martial law in Ukraine.
“Starting from November 1, 2022, the Ukrvinprom Corporation, together with the National Interprofessional Bureau of Cognac, is responsible for the protection of the State Institution Cognac in the country and abroad and will take the necessary measures against products imported and presented under the name Cognac / Cognac “if they do not meet the technical conditions established for this GI in accordance with the Association Agreement signed between the EU and Ukraine,” summed up the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
Import of goods to Ukraine in % to the previous period in 2021 and 2022
SSC of Ukraine, graphics of the Club of Experts
Ukraine in January-August 2022 imported fruits and nuts for a total of $398 million, which is 16% less than in the same period in 2021, according to the website of the National Research Center “Institute of Agrarian Economics” (IAE) on Friday.
At the same time, deliveries to Ukraine of products of the “fruits and nuts” commodity group accounted for the largest share among other types of agricultural products imported into Ukraine – 10%, mainly citrus fruits, bananas and exotic fruits were imported.
According to the IAE, Turkey has been the main supplier of fruits and nuts to Ukraine for more than 10 years, from which over 126 thousand tons of these products were imported during the eight months of this year. Its share in the cost of domestic fruit imports amounted to 27.1%.
Ukrainian companies also made significant purchases of fruits and nuts in Ecuador (15.3%), Egypt (6.8%), Greece (6.0%), Colombia (5.5%), Spain (4.9%) and Costa Rica (4.1%). Together, these seven countries formed almost 70% of the value of imports of this group of products to Ukraine.
“The greatest demand among fruit and berry products in our country is traditionally enjoyed by citrus fruits and bananas, which formed almost 3/5 of the value of imports in January-August 2022. If more than half of the volumes of citrus imports consistently belong to Turkey, then Ukraine purchases bananas mainly in countries Latin America, in particular in Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica, which this year provided 95% of the value of supplies,” said Bohdan Dukhnitsky, senior researcher at the Department of Economics, whose words are quoted in the message.
In January-August this year, Ukrainian enterprises reduced imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 61.7% compared to the same period last year, to $41.745 million.
According to customs statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine, exports of copper and copper products over the specified period decreased by 55.3% to $64.143 million.
In August, copper and copper products were imported in the amount of $7.337 million, exported – in the amount of $4.442 million.
In addition, Ukraine in January-August 2022 reduced imports of nickel and products from it by 42% compared to January-August 2021 – to $44.635 million (in August – $7.438 million), aluminum and products from it – by 29.7 %, to $207.180 million ($35.390 million). At the same time, it reduced the import of lead and products from it by 63.7% – to $2.249 million ($151 thousand). The import of tin and products from it fell by 5% – to $2.468 million ($247 thousand), and the import of zinc and zinc products – by 56.2%, up to $26.135 million ($2.460 million).
Export of aluminum and products from it for eight months of 2022 decreased by 36.4% compared to January-August 2021 – to $66.455 million (in August – $8.798 million), lead and products from it by 64.3% – to $8.686 million ($0.199 million), nickel and products – by 59.3%, to $1.339 million ($0.073 million).
Export of zinc for the reporting period amounted to $1.302 million (no export was carried out in August), while in January-August 2021 it was $70 thousand. Export of tin and products in January-August 2022 amounted to $396 thousand (in August – $5 thousand). ) against $17 thousand for January-August-2021.
As reported, Ukraine in 2021 increased copper imports in value terms by 59% compared to 2020 – up to $183.161 million, exports of copper and copper products over the specified period increased by 2.4 times compared to 2020 – up to $206.390 million.
In 2021, Ukraine also increased the import of nickel and products from it by 45.8% compared to 2020 – up to $119.154 million, aluminum and products from it – by 30.2%, to $511.190 million. At the same time, it reduced the import of lead and products of it by 7.8% – up to $8.512 million, increased imports of tin and products from it by 75.2%, up to $4.977 million, and also increased zinc and zinc products – by 62.9%, up to $93.635 million.
Exports of aluminum and products from it in 2021 increased by 53.9% – to $169.094 million, lead and products from it by 52.8% – to $38.229 million, nickel and products – by 55%, to $4.856 million.
Zinc exports last year amounted to $550 thousand, while in 2020 it was $69 thousand (an increase of eight times). Export of tin and products in 2021 amounted to $346,000 against $117,000 in 2020.
