The Ukrainian government has proposed reducing the current profit tax in 2014 by one percentage point, to 18%, instead of the 16% envisaged in the Tax Code, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said.

"We decided to decrease the profit tax by 1% next year. It's a difficult decision, but this decision will encourage investment in the modernization of enterprises," he said, while opening a government meeting on Wednesday.

However, he did not mention any possible postponement of the decrease in the value added tax (VAT). The current wording of the Tax Code foresees a reduction in VAT in 2014 from 20% to 17% and the profit tax from 19% to 16%.

Earlier, the IMF mission proposed that the Ukrainian government consider the possibility of postponing a reduction in VAT and the profit tax. Ukrainian government members, in turn, did not rule out that this proposal would be supported.