Ukraine to lose IMF program if current tax laws remain – Jaresko

Speaking at a meeting of the U.S.-Ukraine business council (USUBC) in Kyiv on Monday, she said that the IMF program states that large agriculture enterprises must switch to the general taxation system. The minister told reporters that the 2016 budget will lose UAH 12 billion if Ukraine fails to implement this requirement of the program. Jaresko believes that a solution to this could be the adoption of the draft tax reform drawn up by the Finance Ministry. She said that the loss in national budget revenue in this case would fall to UAH 60 billion next year, which would require the reduction of the budget expenses by the same sum. Jaresko admitted that the government has thus far not worked out how to reduce expenses, adding that defense and social spending cannot be reduced. She said that she does not know when the IMF mission to Ukraine will arrive. Jaresko said that the IMF is waiting for the final decision of the government on the tax reform package and the 2016 national budget.