The management of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih took part in a round table organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. The meeting was devoted to the problematic issues of business in interaction with tax authorities. In addition to the member companies of the chamber, representatives of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the State Tax Service of Ukraine also joined the discussion.
On behalf of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Artem Filipyev, Deputy General Director for Legal Affairs, Government Relations and Communications, shared his vision of problematic issues for business with experts. This is, first of all, the unrecognizable, according to ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, the opening of criminal proceedings by various law enforcement agencies, including by the SBU under Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Intentional evasion of taxes, fees ...”). In accordance with legislation and judicial practice, uncoordinated amounts of tax liabilities, for example, those that are at the stage of judicial appeal, cannot be a basis for opening criminal proceedings under this article, since there is no corpus delicti. The same position, in particular, in its systemic recommendations is adhered to by an independent organization - the Business Ombudsman Council.
In addition, Artem Filipyev drew attention to the need to maintain an independent procedure for administrative appeal of additional charges as a result of tax audits. This is an affordable and transparent way of settling disputes in the pre-trial order, which saves time and money on court proceedings not only for business, but also for state authorities.
Artem Filipyev, Deputy General Director for Legal Affairs, Interaction with Government Bodies and Communications, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih:
- Unfortunately, recently in the territory of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, investigative actions of the SBU took place again, which caused an active discussion in the media and among experts. This criminal proceeding regarding tax evasion is unfounded and should be closed due to the lack of corpus delicti. And the investigative jurisdiction of this production of the SBU, the body that should deal with the prevention of threats to national security, at least causes surprise and harms not only the company's business, but also the country's overall investment attractiveness. Ukraine's international partners have been informed about the details of this case and are already expressing their concerns in communications with the Government. This is an untimely and unoptimistic signal ahead of the Ukrainian-German Forum in Berlin and the World Economic Forum in Singapore, where Ukraine traditionally encourages foreign investment.
