The head of Odesa Regional State Administration Mikheil Saakashvili has said that the cabinet resolution which empowers the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine to introduce a single indicative cost of customs service for goods imported to Ukraine will worsen the situation faced by importers and create preconditions for corruption by officials.
“Again the State Fiscal Service is trying to conduct pseudo reform instead of setting fair rules, which worsens the state of business. Ignoring the hopes of importers for fair prices of customs clearance, the prime minister signed resolution No. 724, according to which the customs clearance for all goods began not at the actual [under the customs code] price, but at the price defined by the State Fiscal Service in advance. Today the customs clearance at all customs centers has been paralyzed,” Saakashvili wrote on his Facebook page on Sept. 28.
He said that the resolution was signed to provide equal conditions for carrying out foreign economic operations.
“Businesses would be equal only in being equally powerless before the manipulation of the cost manually by the State Fiscal Service. This resolution obliges businesses to carry out customs clearance for its cargo at the price of the State Fiscal Service. Moreover, the State Fiscal Service is to provide for the use of these indicative costs. I’m sure that they would gladly fulfill this “honorable” task, as this is even better for today’s corrupted officials,” he said.
Saakashvili said that the problem was that the customs clearance costs for imported goods radically changes in different regions.
“We said that cargo should pass customs clearance at the price of the agreement, as is done in all developed countries. However, if it is impossible to define the price, the reserve method could be used under WTO. This method was the instrument for frauds at customs centers, while customs officers could personally bargain with importers on the acceptable price. We insisted that the defining of the price using the reserve method cannot differ between the regions by five times and proposed the approach tested by international society, while they want to resolve this problem by painting with the same brush,” he said.
Saakashvili said that this kills business, and that this requirement conflicts with all international requirements.
He said that “unfortunately, this is another case when under the guise of reforms, the state of business worsens.”
