The Ukroboronprom state concern has proposed to the Ukrainian president to summon a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine devoted to the financial healing of the defense industry.
“So that we have a comprehensive approach, including writing off debts, so that we do not pay to cities for many hectares, so that the cities take the social sphere what they need,” Ukroboronprom Director General Aivaras Abromavicius said at a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kharkiv.
According to him, there are five enterprises in the state concern that especially require such movement assistance, including debt relief: state-owned enterprise (SOE) Kharkiv Aviation Plant, which has UAH 3.5 billion of debt and SOE Malyshev Plant with debt of Hr 1.5 billion being in the state of bankruptcy.
“We need a strong-willed decision of the Finance Ministry [on debt relief]: it knows that it will never receive this money. A month ago we were close to writing off 85 percent of the debt of the Kharkiv Aviation Plant, but the Finance Ministry could not just do it at the last moment,” Abromavicius said.
He also criticized the plans of the Cabinet of Ministers on paying of 90 percent of the profits received by the enterprises of the state concern to the national budget next year. According to him, during the year of the enterprises of Ukroboronprom in addition to Hr 6.5 billion of taxes pay another Hr 1 billion of dividends.
“I propose that dividends should not be paid in such a difficult period,” the general director of the state concern said.
He said that in total, Ukroboronprom has 137 enterprises, of which 21 are in the temporarily occupied territories. Of the remaining, 70 are profit-making and 46 are loss-making. In total, 68,000 employees with an average month salary of Hr 12,900 are employed: from Hr 59,000 in Kyiv Design Bureau Luch to Hr 3,500 at the Kharkiv Aviation Plant.
