The UAC members met with Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy. The main topic of the meeting was the fight against corruption in the tax authorities and the establishment of transparent agribusiness.

"With the outbreak of a full-scale war, Ukrainian citizens have lost all tolerance for corruption in government. This is especially worrying farmers on the eve of the resumption of tax audits of businesses on July 1, as it is proposed in the draft law No. 8401, which was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada as a basis in late May. Farmers do not plan to wait for the Victory to make changes, they need to act today," said Andrii Dykun, Chairman of the UAC.      

Danylo Hetmantsev spoke on the situation connected with corruption:

"There is a fight not only at the front line, there is a struggle between the new Ukraine and the system that has been formed for many years. Our joint efforts against corruption and the clan system is important - then we will have the Ukraine of our dreams, where there will be no bribes.

I fully share the zero tolerance of the UAC to corruption. Only in 2022 we changed 28 heads of territorial bodies of the State Tax Service, which is even more than the number of regions in the country, because sometimes we changed them several times a year."

People's Deputy Oleksandr Kovalchuk, who also came to the meeting with farmers, said: "In our opinion, the best method of fighting corruption from the fiscal side is the following: if someone from the bottom receives an illegal benefit, the head should be dismissed. Then there will be no abuse."

Danylo Hetmantsev urged farmers to report any violations and abuses by the tax and law enforcement authorities. "We consider each case and figure them out," he assured and emphasized that he appreciates cooperation with the UAC.

At the meeting also discussed some of the current initiatives of the UAC on legislative work, in particular:

• Eliminating gaps in the licensing system for fuel storage by farmers;
• Draft Law No. 4457-1 on patronage dividends in agricultural cooperatives;
• Irrigation reform - exemption from VAT on the free transfer of property by the state to Water Users’ Organizations

The parties agreed to hold an additional trilateral meeting with the participation of the Ministry of Finance next week to coordinate positions on the above initiatives.