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moratorium on inspections until the end of the quarantine period will remain in place, said Yaroslav Zhelezniak, the deputy head of the parliamentary tax committee.​ ​The legislation was modified by the tax committee after it was submitted by President Zelenskiy on November 30. “For more than three weeks, we have observed people outside parliament. We can agree with them, we can argue, but it’s these people who are standing at the Verkhovna Rada building in a time when they are also profit. So for as long as they are here, the majority of their businesses are not working. And it’s our obligation to vote for changes today that can partly correct the situation,” said Zhelezniak, an MP with the neoliberal Voice party.​ ​The legislation didn’t satisfy the thousands of protestors at the parliament building, who demanded that the electronic cash registers be cancelled altogether. They remained after the bill was passed and swarmed MPs who exited the building when session ended, prompting the police to form cordons to allow them to pass. Protestors were also reported to be blocking traffic in front of the parliamentary offices.
6.1.3​ Budget dynamics - funding
With the Democrats returning to power in the White House, David Arakhamia, head of the Servant of the People Rada faction, hopes that Joe Biden will resume an Obama era practice of extending US guarantees to $1bn in Ukrainian 5-year Eurobonds​. The Obama Administration did this three times at the height of Ukraine’s post-Maidan financial crisis – in May, 2014, in May, 2015 and on Sept. 23, 2016, just before the election that brought in Donald Trump. With the US guarantee, the last bond carried the lowest rate in Ukraine’s history -- 1.471%. With Ukraine’s reserves recovering the Trump Administration refused to refinance the first two issues. They were repaid in full.
Ukraine has only received half of $6bn international funding expected for this year​, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said last night on the Right to Power talk show. Alluding to foot dragging by the Rada and obstructionism by the Constitutional Court, he blamed “non-adoption of laws in time, and because of decisions of judges.”
The EU is ready to provide €1.2bn in aid to Ukraine – if Ukraine complies with a list of conditions similar to the IMF’s list​. Matti Maasikas, head of the EU delegation to Ukraine, tweeted this message yesterday after meeting with Yuriy Aristov, head of the Rada Budget Committee. Maasikas said: “The fiscal challenges facing Ukraine are huge, and the EU is ready to provide macro-financial assistance under well known conditions.”
Ukraine’s PPP system is being developed with the advice of the World Bank’s IFC Group​. Since 2014, IFC has advised governments on 147 public-private partnerships, an effort expected to draw $33bn in private financing. In Ukraine, IFC advised on the recently completed concession contracts for Kherson and Olvia ports, contracts that are to bring in investments totaling $137mn. Now, IFC is advising preparation of a tender for the concession of a container terminal in Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port and is analyzing concessions at rail stations. This project that could bring in over $150mn, says Jason Brett Pellmar, the IFC’s regional manager.
The World Bank will loan $100mn to rebuild roads and to promote farming and small business investment in the government-controlled half
43​ UKRAINE Country Report​ December 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com