LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -Ukraine’s parliament approved measures on Tuesday to help Ukrainian businesses stay afloat during the war with Russia, including slashing taxes to a single 2% rate, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.
The war – the biggest in Europe since World War Two – has caused a humanitarian and economic shock, with the International Monetary Fund warning this week of a possible 35% contraction in output.
The new bill was backed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has called for the government to ramp up support for small and medium-sized businesses in particular.
The new incentives include a new single 2% tax rate for all businesses with turnover of less than 10 billion hryvnia ($338 million) compared with a previous value-added tax of 20% and 18% tax on profit, Shmygal said in a statement.
“I am confident the decisions will strengthen our economic front,” he said in a statement.
In a later video address, Shmygal also outlined other war-time stimulus measures including a loan programme for farmers worth 25 billion hryvnias ($846 million).
($1 = 29.5474 hryvnias)
($1 = 29.5474 hryvnias)
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets and Max Hunder, Writing by Alessandra Prentice, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
