Member of Parliament Dmytro Kysylevskyi said Ukraine is considering introducing a levy on non‑critical imports to capitalise an insurance fund that would compensate businesses for war risks.
Which goods could be taxed
According to Kysylevskyi, the levy would target non‑critical goods — in particular mobile phones, clothing and premium items. He explained that alongside critically important imports such as weapons and fuel, the country also imports substantial volumes of these goods.
The MP noted there is a trade imbalance, with imports significantly exceeding exports, and a levy on non‑critical imports could become an additional source of revenue for the fund.
Existing insurance programmes and the scale of the problem
Kysylevskyi recalled two existing war‑risk insurance programmes but noted their limitations: “At present we effectively have only two war‑risk insurance programmes: one is for frontline regions, the city of Kyiv and Kyiv region, where coverage of losses is up to 30 million hryvnia. The second part is compensation of the insurance cost up to 5 million hryvnia,” Kysylevskyi said.
He added that the scale of destruction exceeds the capacities of these programmes, so the government is proposing to create a fund that would also allow financing from international partners: “Roughly speaking, one hryvnia from the state and 2–3 hryvnias from partners, so that this fund would be truly large and solve the insurance problem,” the MP said.
An alternative to raising value‑added tax (VAT) and uncertainty over parameters
According to Kysylevskyi, the government proposed raising the rate of value‑added tax (VAT) by one percentage point, but that initiative does not have unequivocal support, so alternatives are being considered, including a levy on non‑critical imports. Some businesses support raising VAT, while others are opposed.
The specific size of the levy and the list of taxable goods have not yet been determined; before that, he said, it is necessary to clarify the volumes of financing from partners and the state contribution. “Then it will be possible to calculate the funding need, what percentage this import levy should be, and accordingly which goods could be covered by this import levy,” the MP noted.
Kysylevskyi also emphasised: “The government now understands that the idea of raising VAT by one percentage point does not have unequivocal support. The government is looking for alternatives and this is precisely one of them,” he added.
