Yuliia Svyrydenko: International donors’ approach of helping Ukraine from within stimulates growth of Ukrainian economy
By ordering humanitarian aid or equipment for Ukraine from Ukrainian producers, foreign partners will deliver aid faster, cheaper, more efficiently and stimulate the country’s economic growth. This was stated by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, in her column for the Kyiv Independent.
“This approach improves the effectiveness of donor aid to Ukraine in three ways. First, the involvement of Ukrainian producers guarantees that Ukrainians will have jobs, the budget will receive additional taxes, and aid recipients will receive the goods they are already used to. Most importantly, up to 40% of the money spent on domestic production is later returned to the budget in the form of taxes and fees. This is an additional opportunity to support our security and defence sector,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine cited the example of Switzerland’s order for Bohun-2 all-terrain vehicles from QUADRO INTERNATIONAL in Kyiv for the State Emergency Service, and Denmark’s order for school buses for communities in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions from the Etalon plant in Chernihiv. Another example is the donation by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to Kharkiv region of three machines for soil preparation for mine clearance, purchased from a local manufacturer in Kharkiv. According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, one of these machines costs UAH 5.6 million. So the total cost of purchasing these three machines will be around UAH 7 million, which will be returned to the budget in the form of taxes.
In general, the “helping Ukraine from within” approach has enabled thousands of people to be employed in the companies that received the order and in related sectors that provided the necessary components for the implementation of this order. The Government is therefore interested in expanding this approach, as it will contribute to Ukraine’s economic self-sufficiency.