Expert: I don't know where Hetmantsev gets his figures on the shadow tobacco market from
Kyiv • UNN
The economic expert questioned the statement of the head of the Verkhovna Rada Tax Committee that Ukraine has not received UAH 20 billion in taxes from the tobacco market, noting that the math does not add up, and such a large parallel illegal market is unbelievable given the size of Ukraine's population.
The head of the Verkhovna Rada's Tax Committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, should first create conditions for the legal tobacco market, and only then shift responsibility to law enforcement. This opinion was expressed by economic expert Yuriy Havrylechko in an exclusive commentary to UNN.
The day before, Danylo Hetmantsev said that last year Ukraine lost UAH 20 billion to the state budget from taxes on the tobacco market. According to him, this is a record low for the entire period of independence. At the same time, Hetmantsev said that the problem with the illegal tobacco market in Ukraine can only be solved by bringing to personal responsibility law enforcement officers who do not take the necessary measures to overcome this issue.
"As for the illegal market, it arises when working conditions in the legal market do not allow for earnings. Therefore, instead of talking about some tools for using law enforcement agencies, we need to create conditions for the legal market first, then we won't have to fight the illegal market later," Havrylechko said.
He emphasized that any business usually first tries to work in the "white" sector, if possible, because it is less risky and yields normal profits.
At the same time, the expert questioned the amount of taxes voiced by Hetmantsev, which, according to him, the state did not receive from the tobacco market.
"Where did he get the idea that someone was shortchanged? Let's do some math. 20 billion means that at least 5 times as much goods were sold. Can you imagine a tobacco market worth 100 billion hryvnias, which is still operating in parallel with the existing one? There are only about 25 million people in Ukraine now. Even if we imagine that 40% of people smoke - 10 million people - they have to buy 100 billion worth of tobacco. And that's if we assume that 40% of Ukrainians smoke, and there are definitely much fewer of them. Of course, there are people who smoke a lot, who have the opportunity and spend money on it, but there are simply no such numbers of them physically. I emphasize once again that this figure is despite the existence of a legal market. I don't know where these figures come from," Havrylechko said.
