The Ukrainian parliament has postponed for an indefinite period its consideration of a draft law on the introduction of a 15% fee to the Pension Fund from the sale of cash foreign currency by individuals.

"I propose to postpone the consideration [of the document], to study it thoroughly and discuss it," Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said at the parliamentary session on Tuesday during the discussion of the inclusion of the draft law into the session's agenda.

Lytvyn said that the consideration of the document was postponed at the suggestion of the profile committee.

Opposition lawmakers insisted that the parliament vote for the postponement of the consideration of the bill.

Lytvyn said that if the proposal does not have the support of 226 and more votes, there would be a chance to put the draft law on the agenda of the parliament's session on December 4, 2012.

Vice Speaker Mykola Tomenko said that this is "a bill on a tax for the Yanukovych family."

A lawmaker from the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense faction, Anatoliy Hrytsenko, called on the speaker not to allow the adoption of the law.

"This tax cannot be introduced after the budget year has started. This is economically absurd, and revenge," he said.

A lawmaker from the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense faction, Stanyslav Arzhevitin, said that such laws are passed when default is announced in a country officially.

"While default is yet to be announced, let's not to adopt such laws," he said.

The Communists also opposed the bill. A member of the Communist faction Spiridon Kilinkarov said that this was a corrupt law in the interests of conversion centers. He said that the adoption of the law would lead to the currency market going deeper into the shadows.

As reported, the Verkhovna Rada has been proposed to introduce a fee to the Pension Fund on the sale of foreign currency at 15% of the transaction amount. A respective bill (No. 11433) was registered in parliament on November 16.

In particular, the fee does not apply to transactions by individuals on the sale of foreign currency transferred from abroad in an amount not exceeding the equivalent of UAH 150,000 per month.

It does not also apply to operations on the sale of foreign currency withdrawn by individuals from deposit accounts that were opened at least 30 days before the withdrawal of funds.

In addition, the 15% tax will not concern transactions on the sale of foreign currency received during the payment of coupon income and from the sale or redemption of treasury bills and government bonds denominated in foreign currency.

According to the bill, individuals will be exempted from the payment of the fee only if they sell a respective amount in foreign currency for cash hryvnia at the moment of receipt.