Vadim Rabinovich
Opposition MP Vadim Rabinovich , along with two fellow Odesans, Oleksandr Presman and Mykola Skorik , want to push through three bills that would establish a free economic zone (FEZ) in the Odesa region.
According to the draft laws, companies registered in the special zone will be exempt from paying tax on profits earned from investment projects within the SEZ for the first three years. Thus, an experienced accountant will be able to deduct all company profits in the region. For the following three years, the profit tax rate will be 50% of the standard rate. Furthermore, companies and entrepreneurs who invest in the SEZ will be exempt from land tax. Most interestingly, these draft laws make no mention of a period during which land will be exempt from taxation. This likely means that land tax will be exempt forever.
Leonid Klimov owns several Odessa markets, including Novy Privoz, shopping centers and hotels, as well as the sports arena of the Chornomorets football club. He is also very interested in the land tax exemption. One of the co-authors of the free zone bills is Mykola Skorik, who worked at Leonid Klimov's Imexbank and is closely associated with him.
The bills also do not set any conditions for the volume or type of investment required to qualify for the tax break. This will therefore benefit commercial real estate owners in Odesa. As is well known, these owners include friends of the bills' author, Leonid Klimov, and their inseparable partners, Boris Kaufman and Oleksandr Granovsky.
Bill No. 1731 stipulates that imported goods will be exempt from import duties, with VAT levied at zero. Of course, the document stipulates that this only applies to goods necessary for the implementation of the investment project, and that they will not be allowed to leave the SEZ. Otherwise, all import taxes will have to be paid. To this end, the deputies propose installing checkpoints and fencing along the border throughout the Odesa region.
Bill No. 1731 proposes assigning the right to decide who will be included in the free economic zone to the Odesa Regional Council. Under its current composition, friends and business partners Alexander Granovsky and Boris Kaufman will have the best chance of having their business projects approved.
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