Tourism enterprises paid UAH 2 billion 49.462 million in taxes in 2023, which is 32% more than in the previous year, but 8% less than in 2021, said Mariana Oleskiv, head of the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine, during a final press conference on Wednesday.
“After a very stressful year of 2022, people just needed time to recover, to reboot psychologically, and it was by traveling, visiting tourist destinations, that they achieved their goals. Interest in their culture is realized through travel,” Oleskiv said.
Hotels accounted for 63.6% of tax revenues, tour operators for 10.1%, other accommodation facilities for 9.7%, and travel agencies for 9.4%. At the same time, the total number of taxpayers in 2023 amounted to 16645, which is 9% less than in 2022 and 25% less than in 2021.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, including its associates and joint ventures, paid UAH 14.6 billion in taxes and duties to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine in 2023.
According to the company’s press release on Wednesday, Metinvest remains the backbone of the country’s economy in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The press release specifies that the largest deductions include a unified social tax, which amounted to UAH 3.3 billion, income tax – UAH 3.2 billion, and personal income tax – more than UAH 3 billion.
At the same time, last year Metinvest’s Ukrainian enterprises increased land payments by almost 10% compared to 2022, to UAH 1.2 billion. Environmental tax payments also increased to UAH 608 million.
In addition, subsoil use fees in the amount of UAH 2.2 billion became a significant source of revenues for the state and local budgets of Ukraine in 2023.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest Group, noted that the company had survived another extremely difficult year of war. Despite the serious challenges for the country in general and Ukrainian business in particular, it managed to survive and rebuild its operations in the new environment.
“Despite the problems with asset utilization and the aggressor’s naval blockade, despite the loss of control over assets in Mariupol, the shutdown of Avdiivka Coke and a significant reduction in the number of employees due to the war, Metinvest remains one of the largest taxpayers in Ukraine. And the refusal of tax benefits due to the company under the law allowed us to allocate additional funds to those areas where it is most needed. We continue to support Ukrainians and the army on their path to victory and call on every business to join in and support Ukraine through taxes, donations, assistance to the Armed Forces and civilians during the challenges we are all facing now,” the top manager emphasized.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The group’s enterprises are located mainly in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovs’k regions.
The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
In 2023, Ukrnafta paid over UAH 25.7 billion in taxes, including UAH 4.36 billion in income tax, said Sergiy Koretsky, CEO of the company.
“By paying taxes, each of us helps the Ukrainian defense forces in the fight against the common enemy. In turn, each hryvnia received by the budget should be transformed into high-quality body armor, uniforms, drones, weapons, ammunition and other important purchases for the army. By paying taxes, we make the best investment together – in our free future!” he wrote on his Facebook page.
As reported, in 2023, Ukrnafta increased oil and condensate production by 3% (by 39.9 thousand tons) compared to 2022 – up to 1 million 409.9 thousand tons, gas production by 5.8% (by 60.4 million cubic meters), up to 1 billion 97.4 million cubic meters.
“Ukrnafta’s strategic goal is to double its oil and natural gas production to 3 million tons and 2 billion cubic meters by 2027, respectively.
“Ukrnafta is Ukraine’s largest oil producer and operator of a national network of 537 filling stations, of which 456 are in operation.
Ukrnafta’s largest shareholder is Naftogaz of Ukraine with a 50%+1 share. On November 5, 2022, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine decided to transfer the corporate rights of the company owned by private owners, which is now managed by the Ministry of Defense, to the state.
Naftogaz Group companies paid UAH 90.2 billion in taxes in 2023.
“Last year, our group of companies transferred: UAH 83.4 billion to the state budget, UAH 6.8 billion to local budgets,” Naftogaz said on its Telegram channel on Monday.
It is specified that, in particular, in December 2023, the group’s companies transferred UAH 6 billion to the state budget and UAH 0.5 billion to local budgets.
“The energy security of our country is one of the key tasks of the Naftogaz Group. However, contributing to Ukraine’s economic development is equally important. We continue to be one of the largest taxpayers for the state,” Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov said as quoted on the company’s website.
At present, Gas Supply Company Naftogaz of Ukraine LLC continues to supply gas to 12.3 million consumers. It has signed 1,242 contracts with 449 district heating companies and 793 condominiums.
In addition, it is noted that 7 CHP plants managed by the group continue to provide heat to thousands of Ukrainians in Kamianske, Kryvyi Rih, Novoyavorivsk, Novyi Rozdil, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Kherson.
“Gas reserves in Ukrainian storage facilities are sufficient for the successful completion of the heating season,” Naftogaz said.
In 11 months of 2023, Ukrhydroenergo paid UAH 7.9 billion in taxes, duties and other mandatory payments to the state budget, including UAH 2.2 billion in dividends.
According to the company’s press release on Tuesday, in addition to taxes, direct assistance to the Armed Forces amounted to more than UAH 200 million during the year.
“In the context of confronting the aggressor, one of the main tasks of all enterprises, regardless of ownership, is to pay taxes in full and on time. This is primarily additional funds for the resilience of the Armed Forces, social support for Ukrainians affected by the Russian armed aggression and the restoration of our country,” Ukrhydroenergo emphasized.
Astarta Agro Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, paid UAH 1.84 billion in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels in January-October 2023, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, more than UAH 1.08 billion of this amount went to local budgets of territorial communities in Poltava, Khmelnytsky, Vinnytsia, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv regions. The agricultural holding transferred over UAH 753 million to the state budget.
“During the full-scale war alone, Astarta transferred over UAH 3.46 billion to the budgets of all levels. We are increasing these volumes from year to year because we are convinced that our taxes support both the budget and the people of Ukraine. This is especially true now, when the lion’s share of budget expenditures is spent on improving the country’s defense capabilities. This is our conscious choice, and I urge all Ukrainian businesses, without exception, to make this decision and pay taxes in good faith under any circumstances,” said Astarta’s founder and CEO Viktor Ivanchyk.
According to the agricultural holding, Astarta, together with Ukrainian and international partners, also continues to implement social initiatives within the Common Help Ukraine humanitarian project. The estimated value of charitable contributions and humanitarian aid provided by the project already exceeds UAH 809 million, of which UAH 56 million was allocated to the development of regional entrepreneurship in the communities where the agricultural holding operates.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex.
In the third quarter of 2023, the agricultural holding earned EUR1.24 million in net profit, down 27.7 times compared to the same period in 2022. Astarta’s revenue decreased by 14.4% to EUR104.75 million, gross profit by 2.7 times to EUR26.96 million, operating profit by 7.6 times to EUR6.79 million, and EBITDA by 42.7% to EUR97.25 million.
Due to significantly better performance in the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year, in the first nine months of 2023, net profit decreased by 9.8% to EUR 55.97 million, while revenue increased by 14.8% to EUR 392.00 million. The company’s gross profit increased by 3.0% to EUR 151.91 million, while operating profit decreased by 15.9% to EUR 79.91 million and EBITDA by 10.8% to EUR 116.63 million.
