Tax pressure on Ukrainians to increase severalfold if order to retreat from Donbas signed - experts
In the event that an order to retreat from Donbas is signed, the tax pressure on every Ukrainian will increase severalfold, Serhiy Yahodzinsky, Vice-Rector of the European University and political expert, has said.
"The question arises: who will finance this retreat? I will give you the answer. For those people who say today, 'well, it's necessary, let's give it up'—get ready for the fact that after the President of Ukraine signs the order for the troops to retreat—we are not even talking about the alienation of territory yet—the tax pressure on every Ukrainian will increase severalfold. We will not be paying a 5% military tax, but 25%. We will pay not 20% VAT, but 30%," he said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Thursday.
The expert added that Ukraine is ready for and wants peace—"we want open borders, we want a free life, we want to have fun, we want to dance, sing, set off fireworks, and travel"—however, the question is how to achieve this without jeopardizing every citizen of Ukraine.
"Simply calculate rationally and objectively answer the question of why we have clung to Donbas. We haven't just clung to it; it is simply the only guarantee today that we can survive in this war. No one has put any other guarantees on the table. This is effectively a contract where Ukraine pays but receives nothing. The check for this contract is empty; there is nothing in it," Yahodzinsky noted.
He added that Donbas currently plays a significant role in the country's economy.
"Most importantly, it plays a vital role in defense capability because it is metal, it is lithium, it is those rare earth elements that today form the basis of the microchips in our drones. The question is: which of our partners has offered us compensation for this material, even for money?" he said.
In turn, political expert and Candidate of Philosophical Sciences Oleksandra Reshmedilova also emphasized that the industry dependent on Donbas and its minerals is tightly linked to defense.
"If we understand that our defense capability needs constant replenishment, then the question is where we will get all of this from," she said at a press conference held at the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
