The Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) has appealed to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, Danylo Getmantsev, and his deputy, Oleksandr Kovalchuk, with a request to facilitate the consideration and adoption of draft law No. 14245 “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and Certain Other Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Improving the Effectiveness of Control over the Production and Circulation of Tobacco Raw Materials.”

In its appeal, the UAC emphasizes that the illegal market for tobacco products has reached enormous proportions, which is particularly critical in the context of war.

“In the context of war, when Ukraine's economy is constantly facing problems caused by the actions of the aggressor state and expenses are growing daily, filling the State Budget of Ukraine is one of the most important tasks today,” the appeal states.

At the same time, the UAС emphasizes that the existence of an illegal market leads to significant budget losses.

“The illegal market leads to a shortfall in the State Budget of Ukraine in the amount of tens of billions of hryvnias,” the document said.

The appeal also draws attention to the situation with agricultural production of tobacco raw materials in Ukraine, which currently remains limited despite the industry's potential.

“At the same time, agricultural production of tobacco raw materials in Ukraine remains minimal, despite the high development potential of this industry, which could contribute to the creation of new jobs, the development of local communities, the replacement of imported raw materials with domestic ones, and, as a result, the localization of production and domestic production of goods with high added value,” the UAС noted.

Having reviewed the draft law, the UAC states that its provisions could help to remedy the current situation.

In particular, the draft law provides for:

• the creation of unique identifiers (electronic excise tax stamps) for each unit of tobacco raw material packaging;
• the introduction of a Unified Register of Tobacco Raw Material Producers;
• the introduction of accounting for the movement of tobacco raw materials from the moment of entry into circulation to use in the production of tobacco products, fermentation, destruction, or other operations.

“We are convinced that the swift adoption of the bill will help achieve its goals, including reducing the shadow segment of the tobacco products market and increasing tax revenues, as well as developing the agricultural sector and increasing the production of tobacco raw materials,” the appeal emphasizes.

The UAC requests that the bill be submitted for consideration at a plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and that it be adopted.