7 September 2011 Answers to Questions of Ekonomicheskaya Pravda Daily

I Am Committed To Doing More For Ukraine. On Top Of Taxes I Pay

Q.: Do you believe that any representative of Ukraine’s major business may initiate taxes increase for themselves as some of their Western colleagues did?
 
A.: I am supportive of initiatives of businesspeople committed to investing in the well-being of their country. Irrespective of the taxes amounts, what is particularly critical for our country is purpose-specific assistance when you can make a concrete difference in lives of people surrounding you in a quick and timely manner. The people around me are several hundred thousand men and women, the families of those working at my companies. In May, I went to Severodonetsk, the city being home for one of the country’s largest chemical industries, Severodonetsk Azot. I became its owner as recently as just about eighteen months ago. The city’s population is 120 thousand people and each person’s life is in this or that way related to Azot’s operation. I saw citizens commuting to work by trolleybuses that had to have been decommissioned years ago. The Ice Palace was in a shabby state. I decided to completely renew the trolleybuses park. The first batch of brand new vehicles is already in the city. The Ice Palace revamp works have already begun. For Severodonetsk citizens, this is a kind of assistance they can see, the assistance that makes their city a better place to live and their quality of living improved. Examples like this count in dozens. This targeted assistance is being provided everywhere where our companies operate – in Gorlovka, Cherkassy, Rovno, Irshansk, Volnogorsk, Armiansk, Krasnoperekopsk. I have raised my rate of taxation myself. And anyone else can do it by investing not only cash, but also time and efforts into the life of his or her country, city, the people around.
 
Q.: Are you prepared to pay more taxes? Do you appreciate the move of European and US businesspeople? Might you consider moving such an initiative forward?

A.: I am prepared, but it seems to me that targeted assistance is more effective for our country today. I stand ready to do more for my country. I know that many wealthy entrepreneurs think and act the same way. For instance, just recently Rinat Akhmetov invested quite a lot in Rovno Beam Therapy Center. And I encourage everyone to support initiatives of those who invest in their country – the more we do so, the better-off Ukraine will be. I think we all should do for our country and for each other more than we formally are expected to. That is what genuine patriotism is all about.