KIEV: Estonian companies have also encountered some unpleasantness and definitely also some economic loss,” Mikser told BNS. “This incident definitely harms the economic relationship between Estonia and Ukraine. The issue has to be solved quickly in order for it to not become a political problem between our two countries.” According to Mikser, the note is a letter by Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance Dmitri Jegorov to his Ukrainian colleagues in which, responding to Ukraine’s request, he explains the peculiarities of the Estonian tax system. “Estonia’s position is that us being put on the list is a mistake, because our tax system doesn’t allow hiding profit or avoiding paying taxes,” the foreign minister said. “Hopefully these explanations will help us reach the goal of Estonia being removed from the list. According to the explanations of the Ukrainian side, the list was supposed to only apply to Ukrainian companies that have subsidiaries in Estonia and not Estonian exporters,” he continued. “Our position is that us being included on the list is neither justified nor reasoned.” Although according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman the decision to put Estonia on the list of tax havens only concerns Ukrainian residents, practice regarding Estonian companies unfortunately tells a different story, Toos told BNS. She added that the ministry will continue working toward Estonia being removed from the list. Last week, thanks to our high contacts, we were able to hopefully come to a solution to the most pressing problem of our companies, as the National Bank of Ukraine sent a letter to banks in which it stated that transactions with Estonia should not be viewed as risky and transaction parties should not be made to present piles of documents regarding their beneficiaries as is done in the case of real tax havens,” Toots said. Prime Minister Ratas’ meetings took place on Thursday and Friday, and in the course of these, we received confirmation from the Ukrainian side that they are working on solving the problem,” the press officer said, adding that at the same time, talks between booth countries’ respective Ministries of Finance regarding solving the problem would also continue.
Turkish president to attend meeting with Ukraine
Turkey's president will attend the eighth meeting of a high-level strategic council with Ukraine in its capital Kiev. The Turkish...