Four factions of Supreme Rada refuse to vote for budget-2016

The budget and the new tax code do not contribute to either improvement of social standards or normal development of the country.  The factions of the Supreme Rada refuse to support such budget. 

“I’d like to say that Opposition Bloc Party will not support either the draft budget or the draft tax reform, as they do not meet social standards. On the other hand, they do not meet the real economic growth. They just certainly meet the IMF requirements,” Nikolay Skoryk, MP from Opposition Bloc said on the Ukrainian television.

The parliamentarians representing Oleh Lyashko’s Radical Party also refused to vote.  “The faction will not vote for this budget. There is no law saying that if the budget is not passed, all is lost on January 1. If the budget is not passed, the country starts the year with the old budget, MP Oleg Kupriyenko told Ukraine’s 5 TV.

Samopomich Union Party called the budget “a pig in a poke.” “We and our colleagues in the coalition will not vote for the pig in a poke again. Last year we understood that the Cabinet was new - it worked for some 20 days then – and needed our support,” MP Alexander Opanasenko said on the Ukrainian television.

Ihor Guz, MP from the People’s Front, in turn, said “the budget 2016 will be passed by the end of the year.” He said the deputies of the parliaments of different convocations have had claims to the budget within the last 10-15 years. “Even during a very high economic growth, not all were satisfied with the budget,” he said.

The state budget of Ukraine for 2016 is based on the draft of a new tax code in line with the IMF’s recommendations. Both the documents were introduced in the Supreme Rada on December 17 and both were harshly criticized by nearly all the parliamentary factions. The documents were returned for elaboration. Four days are left for the parliament to pass the document – the last plenary meetings of the passing year are scheduled for Tuesday-Friday.