PM urges businessmen to operate legally in response to tax reduction

Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk has instructed Minister of Finance of Ukraine Natalia Jaresko together with Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Pavlo Rozenko to prepare data on the payment of the single security social tax and the pace of payroll increases, as well as salary levels in the real sector of economy and creating jobs. This was discussed at the Government’s meeting on Wednesday, 23 March.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk recalled that the Cabinet of Ministers decided to halve the single security social tax.

He underlined that double tax reduction worth UAH144 billion to be financed from the budget, "We as the Government actually took over responsibility for the deficit-free Pension Fund."

Arseniy Yatsenyuk has appealed to businessmen to legalize employment arrangements and increase salaries.

He has urged trade unions, labor groups, businessmen, large business to hold meetings on the issue: "You possess resources. Some resources should be spent on salary increase in the real sector of economy. Some –on the development of your business. This is fairly. This is the basis of our policy - the introduction of the principle of justice, including budgetary and fiscal justice."

Arseniy Yatsenyuk has urged businessmen to operate legally. He is confident that backdoor salaries do not benefit.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk also stressed the need to begin immediately preparations for the fundamentals of fiscal policy and the new state budget for 2017: "We must conduct a serious discussion in the Parliament about the fact that the only right recipe and only correct approach is the one that Ukraine has been applying for the last two years."

"That's why the International Monetary Fund is cooperating with us. That is why the Government of the United States gives loan guarantees, the European Union is also ready to continue helping Ukraine - as we take difficult decisions. Someone says they are unpopular. Today, perhaps unpopular, but we don’t live for a moment. We must take thought for the morrow. In order to see the successful morrow, we have to take these decisions today," he said.

The Head of Government has noted the work of the Ministry of Finance, personally Finance Minister Natalia Jaresko and the entire Cabinet of Ministers "that unanimously passed the draft laws on the state budget as well as all right decisions for the new administration of VAT, the new system of governance of state-owned enterprises, payment of value added tax by all business entities, including agricultural enterprises."