The second VAT rate increase in seven years, scheduled for 2026, will place Russia among the top 20 countries in the world in terms of this tax. This was announced by analysts at the Gaidar Institute.
Only a few EU countries or countries belonging to the EU single market will have higher VAT rates than Russia: 27% in Hungary, 25% in Denmark, Croatia and Sweden, 24% in Finland, Estonia and Greece, and 23% in Slovakia and Ireland.
In the largest EU economies, VAT will be lower than in Russia: 20% in France and 19% in Germany. Among countries outside Europe, Russia will rank first in terms of VAT and will share this position with Uruguay (where the rate is also 22%).
In China, VAT is only 13%, in Japan – 10%, and in the UAE – 5%, experts add for comparison.
The Ministry of Finance plans to collect 1.4 trillion roubles in additional taxes for the budget thanks to the new VAT, which spends every third rouble on the war – a record share since the days of the Soviet Union.
However, the plans of the ruling regime in the Russian Federation may not come to fruition, warn experts at the Gaidar Institute: the increase in VAT will result in a short-term increase in consumer prices, a decrease in consumer demand and a decline in the purchasing power of both businesses and the population. The budget may lose 600 billion roubles in VAT alone.
Russia is facing a ‘tax spiral,’ according to Russian economists, who predict that the government will have to raise taxes again next year.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence, robotics, and the defense industry is expected to drive a sharp increase in global demand for copper, while existing mining capacity may prove insufficient, Reuters reports, citing a study by consulting firm S&P Global. According to analysts’ estimates, global copper demand will reach 42 million metric tons per year […]
Trade between Russia and China, which became a key pillar of the Russian economy under Western sanctions, began to decline in 2025 for the first time since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. From January to November, China cut purchases of Russian crude oil by 7.6% to 91.5 million tonnes. In value terms, […]
Swedish automaker Volvo Cars has announced the recall of 413,151 vehicles in the United States due to a malfunction involving the rearview camera, Reuters reports. The issue stems from software that may cause the camera to operate incorrectly. The fix will involve a software update, which will be provided free of charge either at dealerships […]
Turkey and Azerbaijan have signed a long-term gas agreement for a period of 15 years, under which Ankara will receive 2.25 billion cubic meters of gas annually from the Absheron field. This was announced by Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, Haber 7 reported. The new agreement with Azerbaijan covers a total […]
In January–November 2025, Ukrainian steelmakers increased imports of coke and semi-coke by 3.2% year on year to 642.8 thousand tonnes. Almost the entire volume was supplied by Poland, accounting for 94%, GMK Center reported, citing its own calculations based on data from the State Customs Service. Last year, Ukraine imported 602.01 thousand tonnes of coke […]
In December 2025, nearly UAH 20 billion was credited to the National Bank of Ukraine’s (NBU) special account to support the defense forces, bringing the total for the year to almost UAH 97 billion in equivalent terms. More than UAH 88 billion was transferred to defense needs over the year, the NBU reported. Overall, since […]
Washington will be able to recover all — or even “more than all” — of the money spent on Ukraine during the Biden administration, U.S. President Donald Trump said while speaking to reporters. According to him, the war in Ukraine currently costs the United States nothing, and Washington is instead making money from it. “What’s […]
Automaker Tesla has lost its title as the world’s leading seller of electric vehicles, уступing it to China’s BYD, Bloomberg reports. In 2025, Tesla’s vehicle deliveries fell by 8.6%, while fourth-quarter sales dropped by 16% to 418,227 units. By contrast, BYD delivered 4.6 million vehicles last year, up 7.7% from 2024. Nearly 2.26 million of […]
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has adopted the concept of a simplified merger of banks. This was announced by the Head of Department of registration and licensing issues of the NBU, Alexander Bevz, writes the FinClub. At the same time, before that the regulator has tightened the requirements for small banks. Those who will […]
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There are several factors which will affect trade and economic relations, as well as the investment component between Ukraine and Germany in 2019. POLITICAL FACTOR 2019 is the year of elections in Ukraine. Until the presidential race on March 31, the business environment of both countries will be expecting the elections results which will define […]
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Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) plans to conduct an experiment to introduce automatic track gauge change technology for freight railcars. This was discussed during a meeting between representatives of the company and the business community. The company is currently working to expand the TEN-T corridor network within Ukraine, in particular by developing standard-gauge (European gauge) rail lines. This […]
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The Italian antitrust authority (AGCM) has launched an investigation into Meta over the artificial intelligence feature in the WhatsApp messenger. Italy suspects that Meta abused its dominant position in the messaging market by pre-installing the AI function without obtaining users’ consent, according to Euractiv. On Tuesday, July 29, antitrust officials, accompanied by financial police experts, […]
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The World Bank’s Board of Directors has approved a $ 212 million grant to Ukrhydroenergo for the manufacture of hybrid power generation systems. This was announced the day before by the press service of the World Bank. “The project will increase the flexibility of the Ukrainian energy system, which will help synchronize with the European […]
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Monte Paschi Italian bank turned up under the threat of nationalization. It was reported by international business publication Bloomberg, referring to its own sources. According to official information, currently a European financial institution needs an additional capitalization for the amount of 5 billion euros. However, currently it is impossible to realize such a task, due […]
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Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has approved the deal Cyprus company Fundamentum KCG Limited with representative of national business OOO Development Foundation. The decision was published on the official website of the Ukrainian regulator on January, 27 of this year. According to publicly available information, the foreign conglomerate will carry out the acquisition of a controlling […]
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WhatsApp users who do not accept the new privacy policy will be restricted from using the application. The WhatsApp Help Center announced this on Sunday, February 21. Messenger allows users to read the new privacy policy until May 15. If the user does not accept them before, WhatsApp will limit the functionality of the account […]
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Against the background of recent events, the issue of nationalization of enterprises in Ukraine is currently discussed with enviable activity. Even those citizens for whom this issue is not a subject of personal interest, were involved in some sort of discourse on the advantages and disadvantages of this process. What is the sense of nationalization, […]
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Ukraine is known as an active exporter of grain, ferrous metals and other raw materials. However, a smaller proportion of people know that we are also engaged in the export of diamonds, sugar, such as washbasins. Delo.ua source has published a list of countries that bought Ukrainian products most actively in the past 2016 year […]
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On October 20, the Kyiv Art Gallery Tsekh hosted a presentation of the «Keep It Up!» project created by the artist and sculptor Yevgeny Petrov. The LDaily Business Edition became a media partner of this wonderful project, which highlights the theme of sport. The exhibition is currently open to the public and will be exhibited in the gallery until […]
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Ukrzoloto opens the jewelry store under the brand “Golden Place” in Wroclaw (Poland). “For placing the store the company chose a location in the largest shopping center in Wroclaw –“Aleja Bielany” , – says a member of the board of the “Ukrzoloto” Andrei Zhuk. Over 30 thousand jewelry brands: SoVa, Roberto Bravo, Kimberli, Golden Silver, […]
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McDonald’s F 32 has officially announced changes in the process of cooking its burgers. The buns will become softer and darker, and the company will bake them according to three different recipes. McDonald’s promises they will not have flavor enhancers: only natural ingredients to improve texture, frying and taste. The size of the buns was […]
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Ukraine begins 2018 with a fairly stable economic and political platform. In comparison with the catastrophic economic downturn in 2014 and the subsequent recession that lasted until the end of 2015, the economic growth of 2.2% in 2017 looks encouraging. The first step towards the exit from the permanent crisis is made, but the main […]
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The American satellite company Kymeta announced the attraction of $ 85.2 million in the last round of financing. The round was led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who invested $ 78.5 million in the startup. Kymeta develops and manufactures high-speed satellite systems and antennas. The main product of the company is a flat satellite antenna […]
NextA recent study by the Law Society of Scotland has shown a 42% pay gap between female solicitors and their male counterparts, despite women representing half of the legal profession in Scotland. The Law Society found that from the age of 36, women are paid a lower salary, on average £18,000 less, than men of […]
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