Legislation review

Responsibility for the production, wholesale and retail sale of fuel without a license has grown since July 1! How much?

The Law of Ukraine of 23.11.2018 p. No. 2628-VIII "On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and some other legislative acts of Ukraine to improve the administration and revision of the rates of certain taxes and fees" (hereinafter - Law No. 2628) amended the Law of Ukraine of December 19, 1995, No. 481/95-BP "On state regulation of the production and circulation of ethyl alcohol, cognac and fruit alcohol, alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and fuel" (hereinafter - Law No. 481), in particular Article 17, of which established liability for violation of the Law №481.

Thus, for violation of the norms of the Law No. 481 on the production and trade of ethyl alcohol, brandy and fruit and grain distillate, ethyl grape alcohol, fruit ethyl alcohol, grape alcohol, distilled fruit alcohol, bioethanol, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, fuel and storage fuel officials and citizens are held accountable under applicable law.
In addition, financial sanctions in the form of fines are applied to business entities in the event of:

  • fuel production without a license - UAH 1,000,000;
  • wholesale trade in fuel or storage of fuel without a license - 500000 hryvnia;
  • retail fuel without a license - 250,000 hryvnia;
  • retail trade in alcoholic beverages or fuel through an electronic cash register (accounting book) not specified in the license - 200 percent of the value of products sold through such a cash register (accounting book) products, but not less than 10,000 hryvnia.

However, the Law of Ukraine of 06.06.2019 p. No. 2744-VIII "On Amendment to Article 18 of the Law of Ukraine" On State Regulation of the Production and Turning of Ethyl Alcohol, Cognac and Fruit Alcohol, Alcoholic Drinks and Tobacco Products "(hereinafter - Law No. 2744 ) deferred liability in the case of storage of fuel without a license until December 31, 2019.

The main reason for adopting Law No. 2744 was the practical implementation of Law No. 2628 (No. 481).
So, to obtain a license, a business entity must submit an application of an arbitrary form, a receipt for the annual license fee, as well as independently certified copies of the following documents:

  • documents confirming the right of ownership or the right to use the land plot of any purpose, on which the fuel storage facility is located;
  • the act of commissioning facilities at the fuel storage site or by 2022 a document confirming the ownership of all facilities at the fuel storage site;
  • permission to start work of increased danger and the beginning (use) of machines, mechanisms, equipment of increased danger.

The availability of such documents for the operation of fuel storage sites is mandatory in accordance with land, city planning legislation and labor protection legislation.

However, in preparation for the practical implementation of the Law No. 2628 (No. 481), it turned out that a large number of business entities (including agricultural enterprises, mining and motor transportation enterprises) do not have some of these documents (their receipt requires a certain amount of time), which will make impossible to timely, before July 1, 2019, obtaining a license for storing fuel, the absence of which entails the application of financial sanctions to such business entities.