The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine registered an alternative draft law to No. 8166, developed by the experts of the UAC. The new bill eliminates discrimination against legal exporters.

This is an alternative to the Draft Law on Amendments to the Ukraine’s Customs Code and other laws on the implementation of special export procedures No. 8166, which has been registered by deputies on November 1 this year and shook the entire agricultural community. According to it fighting against the foreign exchange earnings return is only the pretext to establish a monopoly on the grain export by large market players and to launder the working capital from small and medium-sized farmers.

The main draft law (No. 8166) stipulates a new export deposit which a farmer is obliged to open before every export and replenish it with an amount of at least 15 percent of the invoice value of the exported goods batch. It also contains absolutely discriminatory norms and allows exporting without the need to replenish export deposits for those who have already previously had a deposit of 35 million US dollars.

The UAC has defensed legal exporters and registered Draft Law No. 8166-1 dated 15.11.2022 "On Amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine "On Foreign Economic Activity" on the implementing the export support regime."

Unlike the main bill, the alternative bill:

• does not "launder" farmers’ working capital for deposits and gives exporters who have a positive tax history (available tax payment and currency return in previous periods) an export overdraft - the amount for which he can export without the need to replenish the account;
• corrects numerous errors of the main bill No. 8166 and closes loopholes for bypassing the system.

In case of adoption of the draft law initiated by the UAC, the state will really get an effective tool to fight against non-return of currency. Legal farmers, in turn, will not feel the burden of such regulation, because they will be able to export goods without a cash deposit for the amount of previously paid taxes and returned currency.

We would like to express our special thanks to people's deputies Oleksandr Kovalchuk, Artem Chornomorov and Serhii Labaziuk, who supported the UAC and became the authors of draft law No. 8166-1.

The main norms comparison of draft laws No. 8166 and No. 8166-1 can be found at the link .