OREANDA-NEWS. May 22, 2008. A meat deficit in domestic market of some 200 thousand tons may be satisfied with its deliveries on "clear" import with payment of VAT and duties without providing preferences to the State Committee on Public Material Reserve. The opinion to this effect was expressed by Agrarian Policy Minister Yuriy Melnyk.

The ministry has no objection to the purchase of import meat by the State Committee on Public Material Reserve, but based on the market price, Y. Melnyk noted. According to him, Ukraine's WTO accession and reduction of import duties on meat to 10-15 percent will enable to refuse from the early proposed benefit scheme of meat import with deferral of the import duty payment.
Last year, meat import to Ukraine made 250-280 thousand tons, and it was brought in Ukraine based on the benefit schemes to special economic zones and priority development areas or on the give-and-take schemes.

On May 7, the Ukrainian Government provided a deferral of the import duty payment when importing meat and sugar till the end of the fiscal year. The Cabinet of Minister also instructed the state-run enterprise ResursPostach to sell meat bought this spring to a number of enterprises to be defined by the Economics Ministry at the price set as a difference between the cost of meat purchase and the import duty sum.