News

Newsletter – November 4, 2024

·       Draft State Budget 2025

·       Financial Monitoring Guidelines for Preventing Tax Evasion and Money Laundering

Draft State Budget 2025

The Verkhovna Rada has voted in the first reading for the draft State Budget for 2025.

This draft budget includes the following provisions:

• The minimum wage from January 1 will be set at 8000 UAH.
• The subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons is planned to remain at 3028 UAH throughout 2025.
• Annual inflation is projected at 9.5%.
• The exchange rate is set at 45 UAH per USD.

Financial Monitoring Guidelines for Preventing Tax Evasion and Money Laundering

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) issued guidelines to financial institutions on financial monitoring, aiming to prevent tax evasion, money laundering, and terrorism financing. It highlights the misuse of business “splitting” by some legal entities, where businesses are fragmented through other entities, including individual entrepreneurs (FOPs) using simplified tax schemes. Such practices reduce tax revenue, impacting Ukraine's budgetary capabilities.

The NBU identified key indicators of possible tax evasion, including shared addresses, ownership, or resources between entities and FOPs. Financial institutions are encouraged to detect these links during client assessments and ongoing monitoring. This includes verifying business premises, online platforms, and transaction purposes.

The NBU advises adopting a risk-oriented approach, continuously updating internal anti-money laundering protocols, and addressing suspicious activities. This includes analyzing client operations to detect financial discrepancies and notifying authorities when necessary. Financial institutions should use these indicators as part of a comprehensive risk management strategy to ensure compliance with financial monitoring laws and minimize financial misconduct.