MOSCOW - Claims that Ukraine plans to levy new taxes on the Russian Black Sea Fleet's Sevastopol base are wrong, Russian Foreign Ministry Information and Press Department Deputy Director Maria Zakharova told Interfax.
"Ukraine did not raise the question of taxes on Russian Black Sea Fleet sites in Sevastopol," she said.
The newspaper Kommersant said earlier that the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers discussed the fleet issue linked with gas in Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday.
"Ukraine demands taxation of a number of the [Black Sea Fleet] base sites, which are not used directly for fleet purposes or their return to Sevastopol," a Ukrainian delegation source told the newspaper.
He also said that Ukraine wanted to tax some of the commodities imported from Russia for the fleet needs. "Russian representatives tell us they bring nothing but food wrap. Could it be yachts? We must make sure," he said.
"Ukraine did not raise those questions. I can say the same about ‘yachts imported under the food wrap disguise’," Zakharova said.
Russia insists on the cancellation of taxes, which are currently levied on fleet imports, she said.
