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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
My Christmas “gift” for the oligarchs
The government under the tree of every Ukrainian family has left gifts: taxes, anti-social budget, removal of benefits and who knows what else. Yatsenyuk did not dare to greet the oligarchs with such gifts. They remained with almost the same preferences. More about my Christmas present for the oligarchs.
Buckle up. Under this exact slogan the government invites ordinary Ukrainians to get through this year. Tax on pensions, on real estate, on deposits… Meanwhile the oligarchs continue their Dolce Vita. They were even allowed not to pay tax on cars, making exceptions for BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz ML, Porsche Macan, Cayenne, Panamera, Range Rover Sport… They can be seen under the Rada and the government. In general, the tax reform affected the “fat cats” only indirectly. The only ones who “suffered” were grain traders. They were deprived of VAT refund. In 2014 year this would cost the state budget 18 billions of hryvnias. And the government looters-corruptors would earn 20% commission. That’s 3,6 billions. To save that amount, Ukrainians were going to raise the retirement age.
The initiatives of Yatsenyuk did not touch the oligarchic groups that export iron ore and metal. And this sphere in Ukraine is consistently controlled by Rinat Akhmetov, Kostyantyn Zhevago, Vadim Novinsky, Viktor Pinchuk, Serhiy Taruta, Oleh Mkrtchan, Volodymyr Boyko, and this list can be continued. In just a year they managed to triple their fortunes because the exchange rate of the dollar rose threefold. Ordinary people did not fare so well. Nobody indexed their salaries. Oligarchs buy for hryvnias, sell for foreign currency. Oligarchs get rich, people become impoverished.
Therefore I proposed depriving these “gods” who export iron ore and metal of the right to receive VAT refunds. The corresponding bill with changes to the Tax Code I have already registered in the parliament.
VAT refunds are a business of premiers. I have repeatedly said that half of the VAT refunded goes back to specific oligarchs. And not only this issue unites the government and the oligarchs. Just remember the scandal with financing the coal industry in the occupied territories. The latest reports also confirm that someone has their snout in the trough. The largest recipients of VAT refunds in December this year were the Alma refinery plant located in the territory not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities, which received more than 271 billion hryvnias.
There is a large oligarchic lobby in the Verkhovna Rada. The authorities lack the will to set these scoundrels the “rules of the game” by ordinary Ukrainians.
However, the corrupt turnover of VAT refunds amounts to 20 billion hryvnias. The savings for the budget will be 100 billion. And this is a path to a deficit-free budget. I will push for this decision, including through the labor movement.
Season’s greetings, “dear” fat cats!
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Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Мій Різдвяний «подарунок» для олігархів". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
