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to February 24. In December-February, total revenue reached UAH7.6bn. Of this amount, the receipts from excise tax totalled UAH4.3bn, while VAT tax receipts amounted to UAH2.6bn.
“The budget revenue surge from the customs vehicle amnesty will vanish as the grace period when owners could pay the discounted 50% of excise tax ended on February 24. These revenues won't be used as a reserve for future budget payments as the government already decided to use these receipts for one-time payments for pensioners receiving the lowest state pensions ahead of the elections,” Evgeniya Akhtyrko of of Concorde Capital said in a note. “ Net VAT receipts surged in February even amid significant growth of VAT reimbursement to exporters. At the same time, customs collections remained weak among the generators of state revenue despite the amnesty gains because they were categorized separately (as part of the special fund).”
6.1.1 Budget dynamics - funding
Ukraine has received a second loan, for €529mn, under a World Bank guarantee , reports the Finance Ministry. Funds were provided in two tranches - €240mn with a maturity of four years, and €289mn with a maturity of 10 years. The loan was arranged and provided by Deutsche Bank. Since December, a World Bank guarantee of $750mn has allowed Ukraine to attract about $1bn from international markets.
Ukraine is placing additional eurobonds for $350mn due in November 2028 , according to a posting on the website of the Finance Ministry of Ukraine. Thus, the total nominal volume of the eurobonds grew to $1.6bn. The coupon rate is 9.75% per annum. The cost of the placement is not disclosed. Payments to investors are scheduled for March 21, 2019. J.P. Morgan international investment bank acts as organizer of the issue. As reported, Ukraine in October 2018 placed $750mn five-year eurobonds and $1.25bn 10-year eurobonds. Premiums on the first issue were 9% per annum and on the second one – 9.75% per annum. BNP Paribas, Citi, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan organized the issues.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) sees no threats to the further cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to February's cancellation by Ukrainian Constitutional Court of the criminal responsibility for illicit enrichment of the country's officials, following a meeting with IMF officials this week. "The mission was technical. Indeed, the issue of the Constitutional Court decision was discussed. But today, no decisions have been made," Interfax news agency quoted the NBU's governor Yakiv Smolii as saying on March 14. "We continue to work as usual and do not see any risks in this to cooperation with the IMF and receiving next tranches." The move has triggered worries in Kyiv about the country's further cooperation with the IMF. The parliament passed the law on criminal responsibility for illicit enrichment of the nation's officials in 2015 as one of the conditions for Ukraine to receive a visa-free regime with the European Union (EU) and to continue its cooperation with the multinational lender. According to the country's main anti-graft body, the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the Constitutional Court's move will lead to the closure of all criminal proceedings under this article, and it will be impossible to resume relevant investigations in future. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the country's opposition leader and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko has registered
32 UKRAINE Country Report April 2019 www.intellinews.com