Attempts to repeal a government decree on a temporary "zero" quota for scrap metal exports look like a step backwards in the fight against corruption. This was written by political scientist Taras Semenyuk.
After the high-profile corruption scandal in the energy sector, the European Commission is monitoring the situation in key sectors of the Ukrainian economy much more closely. Scrap metal exports are no exception, in particular, given that Ukrainian companies receive EUR certificates of origin for duty-free exports to the EU.1, which are automatically recognized by the European Union. At the same time, a lot of questions have accumulated about the procedure for issuing them.
According to Semenyuk, the government's decision to temporarily restrict scrap metal exports was aimed not only at stabilizing the domestic market, but also at stopping possible abuses. He notes that the rapid, nine-fold increase in exports of strategic raw materials can hardly be explained solely by market factors.
The political scientist emphasizes that attempts to bring back the old rules look like attempts to revive shadow schemes. In his opinion, if this happens, the consequences can be much broader than just economic losses, because we are talking about the EU's trust in Ukraine as a partner that implements transparent and fair rules of the game.
Separately, Semenyuk drew attention to the statements of certain pro-Russian Polish politicians about the return to the previous customs regime of trade in Ukrainian scrap. In the context of European integration, such signals, according to him, cannot be ignored.
