Ihor Smilyansky believes that the introduction of a tax on small international shipments will not reduce the outflow of currency and will rather push up prices in retail. The head of Ukrposhta is ready to support the changes only on the condition of simultaneously blocking «gray» imports through individual entrepreneurs.
Ihor Smilyansky believes that the introduction of a tax on small international shipments will not reduce the outflow of currency and will rather push up prices in retail. The head of Ukrposhta is ready to support the changes only on the condition of simultaneously blocking «gray» imports through individual entrepreneurs.
As the CEO of Ukrposhta wrote in his Telegram channel, the National Bank’s justification of «reducing pressure on the balance of payments» will not work in reality: demand for typical imported goods (from computer mice and power banks to power stations) is equally converted into foreign currency payments to the manufacturer, regardless of whether the consumer buys in a foreign marketplace or in a Ukrainian network, which then imports the batch in bulk. Smilyansky emphasizes that only real competition with local production, which is currently absent in most such categories or does not have a price advantage, could have an effect.
The logistics arguments stand apart: the delivery of single air parcels is often more expensive than the share of VAT in container imports. That is why the head of Ukrposhta suggests that the initiative is primarily beneficial to large retail chains that seek to drag demand from marketplaces to their shelves.
«This initiative is, first of all, an initiative of large retail chains so that people buy mice from them, and not from AliExpress. Because, as they say, Ali does not pay VAT, but they do,» he wrote.
At the same time, he names the key prerequisite for any tightening of rules: the simultaneous closure of channels of «gray» imports through individual entrepreneurs, otherwise the new tax will only hit those who buy legally, without affecting shadow schemes.
Smilyansky formulated one position as directly as possible: «Forcing people who honestly buy on Ali to pay 20% more, even though they can buy the same thing at the market without this 20%, will not lead to the desired result.»
Additionally, he recalled that in the EU, postal services are classified as basic and are not subject to VAT, while in Ukraine VAT is charged even on stamps.
The head of Ukrposhta reinforced the social context with a recent example from the Donetsk region: despite the closure of the last bank in Druzhkivka on October 30, the postal operator continues to work: it issues cash, replenishes cards, and accepts orders for medicines. In his opinion, the regulator should focus on the urgent issues of financial accessibility and stability before the winter period, rather than on «delicate manual regulation of parcels.»
The National Bank, according to Smilyansky, publicly explains the initiative as a fight against the import of «non-critical» goods, but has not yet voiced any proposals for the systematic blocking of shadow channels.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how the NBU updated the procedure for performing interbank payment transactions in Ukraine in hryvnias through the Electronic Payment System (EPS).
