Vladimir Gunchnik, General Director of JSC "LuAZ", at a press conference expressed his opinion regarding the new draft law "On the Development of the Automotive Industry in Ukraine", which provides for the preservation of privileges only for two manufacturers - AvtoZAZ and LAZ - and for the operation of the remaining automotive enterprises under the full tax burden regime that exists under our legislative framework.
In his conviction, this draft Law provides for "quite interesting figures related to taxation at various levels." Thus, the import duty on engines and bodies for industrial assembly imported into Ukraine should be no less than 20 percent, while at the same time the duty on finished automobiles is proposed at 15, 12, and 10 percent. "That is, what is the point of importing components and producing automobiles when it is more profitable to import finished ones?!" - asks Vladimir Gunchnik rhetorically.
Reference: According to information from the press bureau of JSC "LuAZ", in 2003 LuAZ paid more than 8 million hryvnias to budgets of all levels. Over 10 months, the plant produced goods worth more than 194 million hryvnias. During this time, almost 11 thousand VAZ vehicles came off the assembly line, about one thousand UAZ vehicles, 800 IZH automobiles were converted, a pilot batch of KIA autos was manufactured, and by the end of the year the first automobiles of the new partner from Japan - "Isuzu Motors" - will be assembled.
The plant's activity plans for 2004 provide for the manufacture of more than 30 thousand automobiles, including over 25 thousand passenger cars, about 2 thousand 0.8 - 2.5 and 4-tonne trucks, and the same number of small, medium, and large class buses. For this, the enterprise needs investments of 300 million hryvnias in the form of equipment, working capital, as well as components that LuAZ receives from its suppliers in the form of commodity credit.