President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the development of the Ukrainian cashback program "Buy Ukrainian", under which Ukrainian citizens will be able to get a refund of a part of the money spent on the purchase of certain Ukrainian goods and services. The Head of State made the announcement during the opening of the "Made in Ukraine" event in Kyiv.
"We must do everything possible to ensure that as many Ukrainian businesses as possible are able to maintain and scale up their operations. And I have instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to come up with several practical steps," the President said in his speech.
According to him, the Ukrainian cashback program "Buy Ukrainian" is being prepared, when Ukrainian citizens will be able to receive a refund of a part of their money to a special card for purchasing certain types of domestic goods and services.
"Our task is to ensure that Ukrainian money stays in Ukraine and works in Ukraine. These are taxes. These are the salaries of our warriors. These are the capabilities of our state, including defense. The parameters of the Ukrainian cashback – financial and technical – are already being prepared, and we must do our best to make this program work this year," Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.
According to the President, the Ukrainian government will develop and present appropriate steps to expand the localization of production in Ukraine, in particular the production of weapons and military equipment.
In addition, the Head of State emphasized that the barriers that have been preventing the creation of new and expansion of existing production facilities for decades, such as too long procedures for connecting to networks or changing the designated purpose of land, should be eliminated.
"I have just signed a law that simplifies the change of land use designation to attract investment for the rapid reconstruction of Ukraine," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
According to the President, work is underway on specific government programs that will enable Ukrainian producers to scale up their operations. In particular, these include state grants, loans, stimulation of production and demand, and assistance in foreign markets.
In his speech, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal added that the practice of consuming Ukrainian products should become part of the everyday culture of every Ukrainian.
"We are not talking about restrictions on foreign goods, which is very important. We are talking about incentives that will help Ukrainian entrepreneurs to take their niches in the domestic market and enter foreign markets. We are talking about the economic patriotism of citizens in the context of buying their own goods – goods with the label "Made in Ukraine," said Denys Shmyhal.
In particular, according to the Prime Minister, support for domestic producers will be provided through the public procurement mechanism – the list of categories of goods to be purchased from local producers will be expanded. An additional incentive will be the intensification of the School Bus program, which will provide for the purchase of buses from Ukrainian manufacturers. The budget for the current year also envisages UAH 1 billion to compensate for the purchase of Ukrainian-made agricultural machinery, which will help create new jobs and increase tax revenues to the state budget. In addition, it is planned to adapt existing government programs to the goals of the Made in Ukraine platform.