OREANDA-NEWS  The Ministry of Industry and Trade is going to support the initiative to abolish VAT on expired products that retail chains will distribute to charity. This is reported by TASS with reference to the statement of the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Yevtukhov.

He said that the date of consideration of the bill has not yet been set, but expressed confidence that the department will support it. According to the Deputy minister, without simplifying the process of foodsharing, market participants have no economic incentive to rationally handle such goods.

Yevtukhov believes that stimulating food-sharing will help solve humanitarian issues, as well as problems of waste accumulation.

Earlier, representatives of the LDPR faction sent to the State Duma a bill on the abolition of VAT for the free sale of expired goods. In the explanatory note to the document, it was noted that currently about a fifth of products from total production are lost at the stage of retail trade and consumption.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade supported the idea of free distribution of still usable products in the summer of 2022. The department said at the time that it could save about one million tons of food per year.