Ukraine will attract capital as soon as there are stable and predictable economic conditions here - Zhevago

Investor and entrepreneur Kostyantyn Zhevago shared his opinion with Espreso.

"In our country, there are no special criteria or conditions that would differentiate us from other civilized countries. The conditions are the same - we need to create a predictable legislative framework and not change it every few years. Today they talk about tax reform - we have already undergone so many tax reforms. Yanukovych came - tax reform, those who came after him - tax reform, today they came up with '10-10-10' tax reform, tomorrow after the war, it will be '5-5-5' or '12-18-28.' We cannot live like this," he said.

Zhevago added that Ukraine should have a predictable tax and fiscal system.

"We have a good one - everyone should work with it and comply with it. When someone doesn't pay taxes on cigarettes, it's a loophole in the tax system, the same situation when VAT (value-added tax) is not refunded - some get it back, some don't, as was the case during Yanukovych's time. They didn't refund VAT worth 50 billion hryvnias. Today, we are facing the same situation when tax declarations are not accepted, and businesses are not refunded VAT. This is also an unpredictable situation. We don't need to change the laws; we need to execute them properly. Every time we cooperate with the IMF (International Monetary Fund), whenever we receive the next tranche, we fulfill something according to their conditions, especially in the economy. We pass laws that are supposedly for the better. But then why is the result not the best? We all pass good laws, but unfortunately, no one complies with them," the investor believes.

In his opinion, everyone today is trying to shift responsibility from the state onto someone else.

"To say that they don't like the tax legislation and pass a new one tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, another new one. Customs, and everything else. We don't need that - create stable conditions. As soon as stable and predictable conditions are established in the economy, capital will naturally come to the country. Ukraine is developed, prosperous, has great labor resources, a well-developed infrastructure and logistics. It has understanding, scientists, and all those who create products that will be sold in domestic and global markets. Create unified and predictable conditions - legislation, regulation of law enforcement pressure, consistent customs legislation, and then entrepreneurs will take care of the rest. And most importantly, for me at least - remove incompetent officials from economic regulation," Zhevago concluded.