Ukrainians were cheated out of the fuel excise tax
On the initiative of the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, until September 1, 2018, income from excise taxes on fuel, cars and spare parts simply did not reach the road fund.
Former Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kava stated this on air on the 112 channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Before September 1, 2018, there was not a single link between the funds that motorists pay for the excise tax on fuel and the funds that the state allocates for roads,” he said.
“You are the first person from whom I heard this, for me it is a shock! I’ve been driving a car for years, I was sure that I was paying excise tax on road renovation,” the presenter Peter Maga was surprised.
“When this tax was introduced, the idea was, indeed, to abolish the transport tax and instead fill the road fund with excise taxes. However, the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada very quickly realized that this was a large cash flow that could be used for anything,” said Kava.
“This is about 60 billion hryvnia per year. This year, 50 percent of the revenue from these excise taxes is allocated to the road fund - on fuel, cars and spare parts. Next year it should be 75 percent, and in 2020 it should be one hundred percent,” he added.
“50 billion hryvnia is almost two billion dollars. This is already something,” the presenter noted.
“If we compare it with what has been allocated in neighboring countries for many years - for example, in Poland, 19000 billion hryvnia are allocated annually for roads of national importance (150 km) alone,” the ex-official said.
“They don’t have Koncha-Zaspa,” explained Pyotr Maga.
Ukrainians were cheated with the fuel excise tax.