Agro Perspectiva

Yatseniuk: State lacks UAH 289 billion, which is almost identical to amount of State Budget-2014, to cover budget deficit

28.03.2014 09:44 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) — The total amount of the fiscal gap is USD 289 billion. This was stated by the Ukrainian Prime Minister Arsenii Yatseniuk yesterday while presenting to the Parliament the draft laws on the prevention of financial disaster, and creating conditions for economic growth in Ukraine (¹ 4576) and on the amendments to the State Budget-2014 (¹ 4575). «The country is on the eve of economic and financial bankruptcy,» Yatseniuk said. He said that the total fiscal gap is UAH 289 billion, «The country does not have UAH 289 billion to cover the deficit,» he said. According to the PM, this amount is, in particular, the budget deficit of 2014, which amounts to UAH 71.6 billion, and UAH 34 billion of so-called inflated revenues of the State Budget of Ukraine proposed by the Government of Azarov and, which can not be performed as there have been inadequate macroeconomic performances. «The country had fallen down, and they showed that the economy was growing. The industry declined, but they showed that the industry was growing,» Arsenii Yatseniuk stressed. Due to the fact that macroeconomic framework was calculated incorrectly, the losses of social funds in the amount of UAH 2.9 billion are included into the amount of the fiscal gap. The Prime Minister also stressed the funds of local communities in 2014 are actually at the zero index as money of local communities, special purpose funds were stolen by Azarov-Yanukovych Government. «The amount of funds absent on the Single Treasure Account is UAH 79.8 billion,» he said. Arsenii Yatseniuk also highlighted the problem of tax administration. «It comes about two figures. The first figure is overpaid taxes and fees, namely income tax. Ukrainian companies have paid an income tax amounting UAH 37.3 billion for two years in advance. The second figure - concerns non-refundable VAT. Ukrainian companies had been collected a working capital, but VAT in the amount of UAH 21.6 billion was not refunded,» PM informed. Arsenii Yatseniuk also noted that courts are being considered cases concerning additional penalties from the state budget of about UAH 30 billion VAT. «Much of this money is factious VAT. And it was one of the schemes of embezzlement of funds from the Budget when the fictitious company filed declarations to the tax authorities to VAT refund, which no one ever paid,» he said. Due to the fact that the price for Russian gas is $480 per 1000 cubic meter from April 1, the total amount of current deficit of NJSC Naftogaz Ukraine will be UAH 33.4 billion. Also, as he said, UAH 9.2 billion of the total amount is funds that remained from the so-called local budget imbalance. «UAH 5.2 billion - unbalanced local budgets; UAH 2.3 billion - a public debt service associated with the devaluation of the national currency and UAH 1.7 billion - compensation of rates for heating,» the PM informed. «So, the country lacks UAH 289 billion in 2014, which is almost identical to the amount of the State Budget for the current year,» Arsenii Yatseniuk said. «The Ukrainian government will not allow the bankruptcy of the country. The package of very unpopular, very complex, hard reforms that must be passed not yesterday and not the day before, but in past 20 years, now are offered to the Parliament,» he said. Arsenii Yatseniuk noted that these legislative initiatives are «not ideal.» «How we can think up the perfect law, when we can get 300 billion simply from nowhere, when 70 billion dollars were brought in offshore for three years? But those are the things and the steps that Ukraine must do this year in order to resume gradual economic growth in 2015 and 2016,» the Prime Minister emphasized.