MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak: Developments in Ukraine’s parliament on economic reforms, international obligations — Issue 75

Editor's note: This is issue 75 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak's weekly "Ukrainian Economy in Brief" newsletter, covering events from Sept.

29, 2024. The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial programs. The Kyiv Independent is republishing with permission.

Benchmarks and soft commitments in the memorandum with the IMF

The Tax Committee on Oct.

4 will consider a draft law on a tax increase. On Oct.

4, the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy will consider in the final reading draft law #11416-d on the record high increase of taxes. As we reported in Issue 73, the text for the first reading suggests higher tax rates to ensure additional budget revenues of Hr 58 billion (£1.4 billion) till the end of 2024 and Hr 137 billion (£3.3 billion) in 2025.

With few easy options, Ukraine votes to raise taxes on stressed citizens

Ukraine's parliament voted to approve a tax hike for the first time since the full-scale war broke out, turning to a politically unpopular move as the country continually struggles to find new sources of funding for its growing wartime budget. The bill passed in parliament as part of a

Obligations to the EU

Next week the Parliament will consider several draft laws within the Ukraine Plan. During the parliamentary meetings scheduled for Oct.

8-11, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, will consider two draft laws which were designed to fulfill Ukraine's obligations under the Ukraine Facility financial mechanism. First of all, the Parliament will vote on the final reading of draft law #11310 on the basic principles of state climate policy. Second, the Verkhovna Rada will consider in the first reading the resubmitted revised draft law #12039 on plea agreements.

The new draft law was designed to take into account all warnings of the anticorruption experts regarding the previous draft law on this matter #11340.

Other key economic issues

The Parliament is going to consider several crucial draft laws in end-October. At the end-October, during the plenary week which will be held after the next one scheduled for Oct.

8-11, the Verkhovna Rada will vote for the first time for the draft law on the State Budget 2025 with the amendments submitted by lawmakers. The parliament will also consider in the final reading draft law #10044-d on the reform of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine.

The State Security Service arrested Energoatom top-manager for a bribe. The State Security Service caught the top manager of "Energoatom" taking a bribe of Hr 100,000 (£2,400) which was meant to be the first tranche of the bigger sum. According to Ekonomichna Pravda (EP), the service arrested Oleksandr Skopych, director of control and audit work in Energoatom whose duty was to prevent corruption in state-owned enterprises.

According to Yurii Nikolov, co-founder of the "Nashi Groshi" project, Skopych was detained near the office of the company from which he demanded a bribe. According to the EP's sources, he demanded a bribe for solving the issue with fuel supplies.

Energoatom confirms detention of company official on bribery charges Ukraine's state nuclear energy agency Energoatom on Sept.

28 confirmed that one of its officials had been detained for accepting a bribe. The official, who leads the control and audit department, was apprehended near Energoatom's office in Kyiv while accepting a bribe of UAH 100,000 (£2,400). The m...

Yaroslav Zhelezniak is the first deputy head of Ukraine's Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy.

He is also the co-chair of the Ukrainian Chapter of the Parliamentary Network of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.Read more