The Cabinet of Ministers proposed to the National Bank to allow tour operators and travel agents to spend the currency purchased in Ukraine on settlements with foreign partners for tourist services.
This was stated by the Minister of Economy Yuliya Svyridenko, noting that the ban on currency transfers for tour operators led to the fact that “most of them are forced to conduct their activities on the territory of other countries.”
Svyridenko noted that if the problem is not resolved, taxes from their activities will be transferred to the budgets of other countries.
The estimated amount of the need for cross-border currency operations for 2023 is $250-300 million. According to the calculations of the Ministry of Economy, this will ensure receipts to the state budget from $55 million to $70 million.
The Government proposes to include the following services in the NBU list for cross-border transfers:
- accommodation services, as well as related services (hotel services,
- food organization services in catering establishments, services with
- organization of leisure time in cultural and entertainment institutions, organization and provision of transfers, rental of transport);
- services for purchasing tickets, booking and paying for cruises, renting sea and river boats, boats, and other vessels;
- services for the organization of excursion services, international sporting, exhibition, business, and event events;
- booking services for tourist service packages.
Tour operators and ticket payments
In January 2022, the largest tour operators of Ukraine were suspected of price manipulation. It has been reported that 10 companies post inaccurate information on the cost of services on their websites.
On January 28, the administrative board of the Kyiv regional branch of the Ukrainian Communist Party of Ukraine started considering the case.
December 2, 2020 The Antimonopoly Committee obliged travel operators in Ukraine to indicate the price of tours on their websites in hryvnia without the so-called “own exchange rate”.
On December 24, 2020, Ukrainian tour operators began to publish their prices in hryvnias, although previously tour operators indicated the cost of tours using the “domestic” exchange rate of the dollar.