It will become difficult to export "black grain": Odesa region's experience is to be extended by law to the whole of Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine is strengthening controls over grain exports to combat tax evasion and ensure proper documentation and taxation, extending the experience of Odesa region to the entire country.
At the end of November this year, the Verkhovna Rada supported draft laws aimed at combating the export of "black" grain. The draft laws provide for amendments to the Tax and Customs Codes in terms of taxation of grain and oil exports during martial law. Thus, the draft law No. 10168-2 proposes to cancel the export security regime for foreign economic operations involving the export of the relevant goods. It also proposes to clarify the requirements for the details of the tax invoice; the peculiarities of the registration of tax invoices and adjustment calculations. Draft Law No. 10169 obliges exporters to include information on the details of the relevant tax invoice in the customs declaration. It also proposes to authorize the Ministry of Agrarian Policy to set minimum export prices for grain and oil. The documents are based on the order of the head of the Odesa Regional State Administration, Oleh Kiper, to introduce a "white" mechanism for the supply of grain abroad, UNN reports.
Details
The relevant order was published on August 18. It was then that the new corridor started operating, and it turned out that some grain for export was not accounted for.
"We saw that some grain is not accounted for. It goes according to documents, but unscrupulous exporters create fictitious one-day companies, export, then close the company, the foreign currency proceeds are not returned, and taxes are not paid," Kiper said during a press conference.
Then the DIA decided to develop and to introduce a "white" export mechanism. The relevant order was published on August 18.
"We gathered the business, offered them, let's say, to work in the white. We agreed on everything, everyone supported us, and signed a memorandum. When we put all the agreed processes into operation , there were a lot of complaints. I don't understand why, because during the meeting with the business, everyone unanimously supported the proposals. We endured it. I reported the situation to the president personally. Then the Cabinet of Ministers got involved . Today the draft law on exports is already in the first reading, and it completely duplicates our order. There was only one issue: tax invoices are not submitted after the declaration is closed, but are submitted with the opening of the customs declaration so that we can see the origin. If there is no origin, we understand that the grain was bought in the cache, it has no documents and, accordingly, no taxes. We do not allow such grain to be loaded," Kiper said.
Currently, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and the Ministry of Economy have worked out a mechanism whereby an exporting company must be verified and receive a certificate in order to ship grain. One of the conditions is that the company must have been registered before the war.
"Western regions have also issued such orders. They are also trying to regulate the grain market the way they did in Odesa. By my order, I changed the procedure for grain clearance," Kiper added.
The head of the DIA noted that he was looking forward to the adoption of the draft law as a whole.
"The document is extremely important. You know that logistically, Odesa feeds the whole country. Logistics that goes through our region is a powerful economic resource for our country," he summarized.
