Ukraine's largest vertically-integrated mining and steel group Metinvest has announced that it has learned that in November all of its enterprises will be disconnected from the automated VAT reimbursement system.
The state’s outstanding amount of VAT due for reimbursement to Metinvest as of November 1 was already UAH 2.33 billion ($102.10 million). Tax bodies have yet to confirm that another UAH 1.1 billion ($48.20 million) will be reimbursed through the automatic system. The group is not confident either that this amount will be reimbursed manually.
“We have become aware that none of our enterprises were included into the approved list of entities for automatic VAT reimbursement in November. If there is no reimbursement, given the current market situation the holding might have to stop operations at its enterprises. This could lead to the shutdown of the entire metallurgical sector in the country and layoffs to tens of thousands of employees. We call on the State Fiscal Service, the cabinet of ministers and the president of Ukraine to prevent this situation and to reimburse legitimate outstanding amounts,” stated Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Metinvest Group’s chief executive officer.