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Defence City Bills Clear Key Committee Hurdle

by Roman Cheplyk
Friday, July 11, 2025
2 MIN
Defence City Bills Clear Key Committee Hurdle

Draft tax-and-customs laws create a unique legal regime for Ukraine’s defence-industrial firms—offering zero income tax on reinvested profits, land-tax exemptions, and streamlined export controls through 2036

1. Legislative Status

  • Committee vote: Unanimous approval by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy

  • Next step: First-reading vote in Parliament

  • Champions: Committee Chair Vadym Hetmantsev + Ministry of Defence (MoD)

Bill No. Title Scope
№ 13420 Amendments to the Tax Code & other laws Fiscal incentives for defence-industrial enterprises
№ 13421 Amendments to Customs Code § XXI Customs and export-control simplifications

2. Core Concept — “Defence City”

“Effective defence capability is not only about the front line; it’s about empowering the companies that supply our army.”Vadym Hetmantsev

Key Pillars

  1. Resident Registry

    • MoD maintains a confidential List of Defence-Industrial Enterprises (Defence City Residents).

    • Enterprise data and reporting receive classified-information protection.

  2. Tax Holidays (through 1 Jan 2036)

    • 0 % corporate income tax on reinvested profits

    • 0 % land tax

    • 0 % real-estate tax

    • 0 % environmental tax

    • Continuation of existing VAT exemptions, accelerated depreciation, and benefits for relocated plants and employees.

  3. Customs & Currency Relief

    • Fast-track customs clearance for critical components

    • Simplified export-control regime for military technology

    • National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) empowered to issue flexible FX-control rules

    • Government-supported relocation assistance for facilities in high-risk zones


3. Strategic Impact

Objective Expected Benefit
Scale domestic production Boost capacity from current ≈ US $9 bn to > US $30 bn potential, per MoD estimates
Crowd-in foreign partners “Danish model” lets allies finance Ukrainian-made arms for the AFU and export
Protect sensitive data Confidential registry shields supply chains from hostile intelligence
Long-term certainty 11-year tax horizon aligns with multi-phase R&D and capital-investment cycles

4. What Comes Next

  1. Parliamentary first reading → amendments → second reading

  2. MoD to draft inclusion criteria (defence-contract share, corruption screening, etc.) with industry feedback

  3. Launch of digital Defence City portal for resident applications and compliance reporting


Bottom Line

If the draft laws pass, Ukraine’s defence-industrial base—from munitions makers to aerospace giants—will receive a powerful mix of tax holidays and regulatory fast lanes, positioning the sector as a cornerstone of wartime resilience and post-war economic growth.

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