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The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine did not adopt in the first reading a bill which cancels the additional duty on the majority of imported goods at a rate of 5-10% introduced in February 2015 and effective until February 20, 2016.
A total of 188 deputies, with 226 votes required, voted for the adoption in the first reading of draft law No. 2674 on recognizing invalid the law "On measures to stabilize the balance of payments of Ukraine in accordance with Article XII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994."
According to the authors of the bill, the law, which introduced additional import duties, has lost its relevance, as the government's target of UAH 17 billion in budget revenues from these duties had already been collected in September this year.
Therefore, the duty could be canceled ahead of the planned date, as noted. Cancellation of additional import duty will not only reduce prices for imported goods purchased by the population, but also reduce the cost of imported raw materials for domestic manufacturers.
Read alsoWeek’s balance: economic growth, Russian embargo and NBU’s forex injectionsAccording to Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy Nina Yuzhanina, the additional import duty has adversely affected Ukrainian producers that depend on imported raw materials, resulting in reduction of imports of such raw materials and, accordingly, the output of products. Thus, lesser amounts of value added tax and excise duty revenues were transferred to the state budget of Ukraine, according to Yuzhanina. Therefore, it is expedient to cancel the duty before February 20, 2016.
At the same time, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship Viktor Halasiuk mentioned bill No. 2553a that was submitted for consideration of his committee, providing for cancelation of import duties on raw materials for domestic manufacturers.
Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Groisman suggested the reconsideration of bill 2674, but there were not enough votes to pass the motion.
Read alsoRestless hryvniaAs UNIAN reported earlier, in February 2015, the Ukrainian parliament decided to impose duties on imported goods, after holding consultations with international partners and acting pursuant to the law adopted on December 28, 2014, on measures to stabilize the balance of payments at a legislative level. The duty was applied to 100 commodity groups. The Finance Ministry had estimated that import duties would generate UAH 17.6 billion in budget revenues.
In April 2015, eight deputies from the Batkivshchyna parliamentary faction, which is a member of the parliamentary coalition, registered bill No. 2674 envisaging abolition of import duties.