The official budget of Ukraine for 2015 was adopted on December 29, 2014. 233 deputies voted for the resolution. The decision was not easy. There have been repeated attempts to postpone the decision to 2015. Nevertheless, the financial potential for the development of Ukraine was determined by the government.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk on the budget for 2015
Arseniy Yatsenyuk publicly stated that it is very problematic to call the adopted budget ideal. According to him, 80 billion hryvnias have been allocated for defense this year, and if all additional items of expenditure are taken into account, the amount will be equal to 90 billion hryvnias. Information was publicly presented that starting from January 7, the government will start working with creditors, with parallel information about the situation. According to the Prime Minister, who submitted this bill for consideration, amendments to it should have been made already on February 15. This should have been accompanied by negotiations with representatives of the IMF and persons from other international organizations.
What is the document based on?
The budget of Ukraine, which is an important state document, was formed on the basis of a pessimistic forecast. In the explanatoryThe note focuses on the fact that the forecast taken as the basic development of the state in 2015 is an order of magnitude worse than the situation described by the IMF. The approach ensured risk minimization. The state budget of Ukraine was based on a fall in GDP by 4.3% with inflation of at least 13.1%. All calculations were carried out at a dollar exchange rate of 17 hryvnia. The course itself was presented not by the National Bank of the country, but by experts in the field of economics.
Ukraine's budget in numbers
Income of Ukraine in accordance with the plans should correspond to 475.2 billion hryvnia. Expenses - no more than 527.1 billion hryvnia. The maximum allowable deficit was not to exceed 63.6 billion hryvnia, or 3.7% of GDP. According to preliminary forecasts, the volume of borrowings in 2015 should not exceed UAH 279.68 billion, which is UAH 23.16 billion more than in 2014. The volume of external borrowings will increase to UAH 166.81 billion, which is UAH 82.66 billion more than last year. Domestic debt will remain at UAH 112.87 billion, which is UAH 59.7 billion less than in 2014.
Life in economy
Ukraine's 2015 budget provides for austerity. Political scientists say that this decision will not be accompanied by cardinal reforms. In accordance with the pessimistic scenario, this year it is planned to reduce wages by 4.4%, which will average UAH 3,880. The volume of foreign trade will be reduced by 8.9% in exports and by 12.8% in imports. subsistenceThe minimum will only be raised once. From December 1, 2015, it will be UAH 1,300. At the moment, the indicator corresponds to 1,176 hryvnia. The minimum wage, which currently stands at UAH 1,176, will be increased to UAH 1,378 by the end of the year. The size of the minimum pension is planned to be increased by only 32 hryvnia, to the level of 981 hryvnia. In the future, it is planned to carry out the restoration of Donbass, for which the government has provided 300 million hryvnias. This includes the construction of new facilities, and major repairs, and a comprehensive reconstruction of infrastructure.
Two alternative scenarios for the development of events
Ukraine's budget for 2015 was based on a pessimistic scenario. The positive option, which provides for an insignificant improvement in the state's economy, requires fundamental changes not only in the field of legislation, but also in the tax code. The optimistic scenario, which was decided not to be taken into account when drawing up the budget to minimize risks, provided for a 2% increase in GDP in 2015. Industrial production was expected to rise by 1.9% at best and 0.7% at worst. The budget deficit is not particularly different in the two alternative development options for Ukraine and amounts to 3.7 billion (an indicator of the adopted budget) and 3.5 billion hryvnias, respectively. The budget of Ukraine provided for the state debt not in an optimistic format, in the amount of 100 billion hryvnias, but in a pessimistic one - 112.87billion hryvnia. Changes are envisaged in the tax legislation, in particular, the reduction of the unified state and the reduction of the total number of taxes from 22 to 9.
First amendments made to the budget, or timely wages for miners
The budget of Ukraine for 2015, according to the press service of the head of state, was changed on April 14, after the signing of the relevant bill. Changes, in the future, should completely solve the issue of timely payment of wages to miners. It is planned to restore the level of expenditures of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry in accordance with the budget program (in the amount of 400 million hryvnias) through redistribution. This should improve the financial and economic situation of state-owned coal mining enterprises. In early spring, the Verkhovna Rada came up with a law, according to which the state budget managers are obliged to publish reports on the implementation of the program in open data format.
New taxes
The new budget of Ukraine 2015 in numbers brought many surprises to the people of the country. Since the beginning of the year, owners of their own homes will pay a tax for square meters that go beyond the established norm. For apartments, this is over 60 square meters, and for houses - over 120 square meters. Not only living space will be taken into account, but also storage rooms with parking lots. Residents of the suburbs will pay for sheds, outbuildings and household facilities at a rate of 24 hryvnia per year for eachextra square metre. Since the beginning of the year, commercial real estate has been subject to taxation. Vehicle owners will now bear the cost of paying a 5% import tax and excise duty applicable to trucks and buses. A large percentage of luxury cars will not be subject to the new tax system.
Deposits and more
In accordance with changes in legislation, even deposits will be changed, taking into account the budget-2015 (Ukraine). The amount of deductions to the state treasury from profits on deposits will now be 20% instead of 15%. There is another document that comes into force on August 1, 2015, which determines a lower level of taxation. Lawyers focus on the fact that with a run-up in different laws, the population can follow the standard that is more beneficial to it. Budget-2015 (Ukraine) provided for an increase in import rates. For agricultural products - 10%, for industrial - 5%, which will inevitably lead to an increase in prices in the market. According to the EU, such changes may cause the abolition of the duty-free regime unilaterally for Ukrainian goods, which was approved by the EU a little earlier. A negative reaction to such changes may also form on the part of investors. It is worth adding about the abolition of a number of benefits, in particular, free travel in public transport for participants in the war, the right to free travel twice a year to he alth resorts for a certain group of the population, an increase in food fees in preschool institutions, freetextbooks have been cancelled. Scholarships and meals at vocational schools are provided only to beneficiaries. Part of social payments for child care has been canceled.
