The Verkhovna Rada supported the exemption from VAT and customs duties for demining machines

At the June 18 meeting, the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) voted in the first reading for draft law No. ​​11258, which proposes amendments to the Tax Code regarding exemption from value added tax and customs payments on the import of goods for the needs of manufacturing and/or repairing mechanized demining machines.

The MP from the "Voice" faction Yaroslav Zheleznyak reported that 308 MPs supported the document as a basis.

The explanatory note states that due to the war, Ukraine is one of the most mined countries in the world: almost 174 000 square kilometers are already mined, and this area will expand due to constant fighting and shelling from Russia. Ukraine needs robotic demining machines, but the main manufacturers of such equipment are abroad. Most of the components of such machines are also foreign-made, so their import increases the cost.

Exemption from VAT and customs duties will help develop the production of demining machines in Ukraine and make this process cheaper.

• In total, 30% of the territory of Ukraine is contaminated by Russian mines. Earlier, the press officer of the State Emergency Service Oleksandr Khorunzhy stated that, according to the approximate calculations of sappers, it will take up to 10 years to demine the entire territory of Ukraine, but these are only preliminary calculations.
• In 2023, sappers demined 343 square kilometers of the territory of Ukraine. In terms of area, it is two Liechtensteins.