Danish model for purchasing weapons for Ukraine under threat due to VAT, import duties – MP
Weaponry purchases under the Danish model, where foreign partners directly finance the work of the Ukrainian defense industry, are under threat due to a change in the classification of such procurements, which entails the collection of value-added tax (VAT) and import duties on imported parts, stated Halyna Yanchenko, head of the Verkhovna Rada temporary investigative commission on investor rights protection and MP (the Servant of the People).
"Years of work by our diplomats could go down the drain because someone decided that from now on such purchases ‘are not defensive’ and VAT and import duties on imported parts must be paid on them – which is +30% to the cost," she wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
"Can you imagine the eyes of our partners when they were told that their aid would be taxed?" Yanchenko added.
According to the MP, to resolve the problem, she, along with parliamentary committee heads Danylo Hetmantsev and Oleksandr Zavitnevych, prepared amendments to the Tax and Customs Codes so that partners can purchase weapons for the Ukrainian military without taxes.
Yanchenko recalled that in this and last year, foreign states directly purchased weapons from Ukrainian manufacturers worth over EUR 1 bln: artillery, drones, and ammunition – dozens of contracts.
As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the day before that in 2026, Ukraine will be able to purchase domestic defense industry products worth EUR 30 bln, while its production potential is already twice as large – EUR 60 bln.