MP Dmytro Kysylevskyi, the deputy head of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Development, has said that the localization policy in Ukraine should be expanded and that there is practically no alternative to the localization policy.
Kysylevskyi was speaking at the VI International Conference "Ukrainian Railways: Development and Investment," which took place in Kyiv on 20 February, the CFTS portal reports.
"This is important for several reasons. The first is jobs. The adoption of the law on localization before the invasion and its introduction in mid-2022 ensured that tens of thousands of Ukrainian citizens had jobs during the war, stayed in the country, continued to support their families, and donated to the armed forces. The second is the availability of technology. If a country has a machine-building industry, even if it is civilian, it will be able to work for the defense sector in the future," Kysylevskyi said.
According to him, the economic factor is also important. When Ukrainian goods are purchased, up to 40% of the cost of the goods goes to the state treasury as taxes. "Different goods may have different proportions of imported components, but it is important that the money also goes to our budget," he said.
He added that there was no alternative to the localization policy. "That is why both the parliament and the government are discussing expanding the list of goods to which this requirement will apply," he said.
According to him, this does not mean imposing restrictions on foreign producers but giving preference to domestic companies.
As the CFTS portal reported earlier, the minimum level of localization required for public procurement of engineering products in Ukraine increased from 15% to 20% from January 2024. "This means that at least 20% of the components used in the manufacture of every conventional bus purchased by government agencies, communities, and state-owned companies must be Ukrainian," Kysylevskyi said.
