The general director of Zaporizhstal accused Kiev of repression of the enterprise for "displayed civic stance"

Rostislav Shurma, General Director of Zaporizhstal PJSC Metinvest Group, Rinata Akhmetova, said that the non-refund of VAT is a reaction of state authorities to the civil position of the plant's labor collective during local elections and a way of pressure on the plant and its staff. This was reported in the press service of the enterprise on Thursday.

“Zaporizhstal Chief Engineer Vladimir Buryak won 32% of the votes in the first round and is the leader of the second round of local elections for the post of mayor of the city of Zaporozhye. The non-refund of VAT to the plant in the amount of 1 billion hryvnia is a very tangible and painful blow to the labor collective, it is the equivalent of almost half a year's salary for all employees of the enterprise. The legislation of Ukraine is grossly violated with one goal - to drive the plant into a debt hole, artificially wash the company's own circulating assets, which are used to pay wages to employees, pay for the supply of electricity and natural gas, and modernize equipment. Zaporizhstal is the largest exporter of Ukraine, but we have already exhausted our reserves. If the problem with VAT refunds to the enterprise is not resolved, this will lead to a drop in production, therefore, to a reduction in foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine, which means to an even greater depreciation of the national currency, "Rostislav Shurma emphasized.

The debt of the tax authorities of Ukraine for the refund of value added tax (VAT) to PJSC Zaporizhstal as of November 1, 2015 amounted to more than 1 billion hryvnia. Since May 2015, PJSC Zaporizhstal has been illegally struck off the list of enterprises receiving automatic VAT refunds, despite meeting all the criteria for automatic VAT refunds and an exemplary financial and industrial history.

PJSC "Zaporizhstal" is the largest taxpayer in Ukraine and the Zaporozhye region. For 2012-2015 the Zaporizhstal plant invested UAH 2.7 billion in the modernization of production, which is hundreds of times higher than the requirements of the Tax Code for automatic VAT refunds. At the end of 2014, PJSC Zaporizhstal transferred more than UAH 1.4 billion to the budgets of all levels, for 10 months of 2015, more than UAH 2 billion. In April 2015, the plant increased the wages of its employees by an average of 23%.