VZCZCXRO4099
OO RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHKV #0497 0781501
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 191501Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KYIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7487
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0173
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KYIV 000497 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EUR/UMB, EB/TPP/BTA, EB/TPP/MTA 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR CKLEIN, PBURKHEAD, CMORROW 
USDOC FOR 4201/DOC/ITA/MAC/BISNIS 
USDOC FOR 4231/ITA/OEENIS/NISD/CLUCYK 
USDA FOR FAS/ONA AND FAS/OCRA 
GENEVA FOR USTR 
 
E.O.: 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EFIN WTRO PGOV UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES DECREE TO ELIMINATE 
IMPORT TARIFF SURCHARGE ON MOST PRODUCTS 
 
REFS: A) KYIV 425 
      B) STATE 17765 
      C) KYIV 349 
 
¶1. (SBU) Senior GOU officials announced to the press on 
March 18 that the Cabinet of Ministers eliminated the 13 
percent import tariff surcharge recently introduced by Law 
No. 923-VI (ref C), except for imported refrigerators and 
cars.  (Note: We assume the exceptions are HS codes 8418 
and 8702-8704, although no press reports referred to 
specific HS codes.  End note.)  The move followed 
statements to us by several GOU officials that they opposed 
the tariff surcharge and were attempting to reverse the 
measure (ref A). 
 
¶2. (U) The Cabinet of Ministers Resolution that was 
apparently approved on March 18 has not yet been published, 
however.  Minister of Economy Bohdan Danylyshyn told the 
press that the tariff surcharge would be eliminated 10 days 
after publication of the Resolution.  Volodymyr Baluta, 
head of the Ministry of Economy's WTO Department, told us 
on March 19 that he expected the Resolution to be published 
within a few days. 
 
¶3. (SBU) PM Yulia Tymoshenko announced that the GOU would 
simultaneously introduce a draft law to the Rada 
(parliament) to cancel the tariff surcharge entirely. 
(Comment: It is not clear why the GOU would eliminate the 
tariff surcharge on some products through a Cabinet of 
Ministers Resolution, but on others through a law.  End 
comment.)  In fact, Our Ukraine MP Mykola Katerynchuk 
already submitted a draft law (No. 4206) to this effect on 
March 16. 
 
Comment: A Caveat 
----------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Post cautions that, while the Cabinet of Ministers 
is apparently attempting to repeal the tariff surcharge, at 
least for the majority of goods, the government's legal 
authority to do so is not clear.  The Constitution clearly 
states that only the Rada may alter import tariffs, so it 
is possible that an affected Ukrainian producer could seek 
a court injunction against the Cabinet of Ministers 
Resolution on the grounds that it, and the clause in Law 
No. 923-VI that purportedly grants the Cabinet of Ministers 
such authority, violate the Constitution.  We therefore 
intend to encourage Ukrainian officials to support a draft 
law that fully and unequivocally repeals the import tariff 
surcharge.  End comment. 
 
TAYLOR