Ukraine finance minister urges tax authorities to check his records

Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk invited tax
authorities to review his records as soon as possible “to prevent destabilization
ahead of Ukraine tapping international capital markets and the next stage of
negotiations with the IMF” in an Aug. 3 blog post. As local media reported
on July 31, the Prosecutor General’s Office named Danylyuk a suspect in
violating tax laws in 1998-2016 and urged authorities to investigate. In his
response that day, Danylyuk denied all accusations in tax evasion.

The Poroshenko administration’s pressure on Danylyuk
might stem from his opposition to a proposal to refund part of VAT to exporters
via local bonds instead of cash (in the amount of about UAH 4.6 bln), which was
promoted by parliamentary tax committee head Nina Yuzhanina, according to an
Aug. 2 article on the rbc.ua
news site.

Alexander Paraschiy: The investigation of Danyliuk’s tax history going as far back as 1998
looks strange, given that the statute of limitations for tax cases is just
three years in Ukraine. What is certain is the tension between the finance
minister and power brokers, who want him to leave his post. Yet replacing him
ahead of negotiations with the IMF and other Ukrainian creditors, expected to
start in September, does not look desirable for the president. So we expect
Poroshenko will keep Danylyuk’s enemies at bay so that he could take care of
the nation’s business.