KYIV. Sept 3 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada has amended the national Customs Code and Tax Code to simplify imports of defense products.
Bill No. 4555a amending the Customs Code regarding the simplification of imports of defense products was supported on Tuesday by 234 Ukrainian parliamentarians.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Petro Mekhed said in presenting the bill at the parliamentary session on Tuesday that the amendments proposed by the government would cut the expenditures involved in imports of defense products to the Ukrainian customs territory.
In voting for the legislation, the parliamentarians took into account amendments proposed by Batkivshchyna faction member Serhiy Teryokhin, who suggested that the Customs Code indicate codes of groups of defense products exempted from customs duties and that these duties be lifted not for a certain period of time, be it a special period, an emergency situation, or the antiterrorist operation, but in general.
The Rada also supported bill No. 4556a-1 amending the Tax Code regarding the simplification of imports of defense products.
Teryokhin, the author of the legislation, said the amendments envisioned codes of groups of defense products exempted from VAT, which would apply to both imported and domestically-manufactured defense products.