The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a program for compensating business property, but Hetmantsev points out critical limitations
Photo: Valentyna Polishchuk

On November 24, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted resolution on partial compensation for the value of property of enterprises destroyed or damaged as a result of Russia's armed aggression. However, the program has numerous limitations that may discredit the idea, reported Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance Danylo Hetmantsev.

"The government has finally adopted a resolution on providing partial compensation for the value of property of business entities destroyed or damaged as a result of Russia's armed aggression. This is an issue that I have been insisting on resolving for several years," Hetmantsev wrote in his message.

The program is scheduled to start on January 1, 2025, but the draft budget allocates only 1 billion hryvnias for it.

"It's a drop in the ocean, considering that as of January 1, 2025, the direct damage, according to RDNA4 estimates, reached $172 billion. As the experience of humanitarian demining shows, without sufficient funding, there is no result," Hetmantsev noted.

The second problem is that compensation will only be provided for property damaged or destroyed after the 1st day of the month following the date on which the government decree comes into force.

The maximum compensation amount is 10 million hryvnias, but not more than the amount of direct damage. "It's not a lot, it may not cover the losses for many," the deputy noted.

"The collection of applications for compensation will stop when their volume exceeds the UAH 1 billion allocated in the budget. This means that if only 100 applications for compensation of UAH 10 million each are received on the first day of the new year, the program will be put on hold," Hetmantsev explained.

Another restriction concerns entrepreneurs who have previously received state aid. "If an entrepreneur had the misfortune of receiving a microgrant from the state for the development of their own business, a 'veteran's grant', received aid for relocation, used a grant for the creation or development of processing industry enterprises, and their property is destroyed, the amount of previously received state funds will be deducted from the compensation amount," the deputy said.

Hetmantsev noted that participation in the program involves paying a fee of 0.5% of the total amount of probable damage for all declared property. At the same time, he expressed the opinion that such payment should not be tied to the value of the property and it would be more appropriate to replace it with a fixed payment.

Danylo Hetmantsev