On Sept. 7, Hennadii Moskal, the Ukrainian president’s permanent representative to the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea, summarized the 2006 resort season’s preliminary statistics for the Crimea. His press consultant Liudmyla Mokhova told The Day that the meeting established that the resort season’s financial results with regard to resort activity, retail trade, and the public food sector — are lamentable.
In 2006 Crimean resort facilities, including treatment at spas and sanatoria, accommodations, and tourist and tour services, generated 71.7 million hryvnias’ worth of tax returns, a mere 5.9 percent of all local budgets’ revenues. The central budget has received 33.8 million from the Crimea, 27.7 percent less than during the same period last year. In terms of food services, legal entities have submitted 7 million hryvnias’ worth of tax returns to the consolidated Crimean budget. The resort sphere registers only 0.6 percent of all taxes collected in the Crimea, and the central budget, a mere 0.3 percent.
Income tax levied on individuals renting out their homes during the resort season is one source of revenue for the state budget. In the Crimea 6,143 officially registered residents rent their homes, paying a total of 871,000 hryvnias in income tax. The republic’s tax authorities have a list of names of 397 individuals — owners of hotels and small resort facilities — who have paid 756,200 hryvnias to the government. Experts believe that this figure represents only one-third of all mini-boarding houses. According to data collected by the Crimea’s resort and tourism ministry, there are over 1,100 privately owned mini-hotels and mini-boarding houses in the peninsula.
President Yushchenko’s permanent representative to the Crimea noted that the peninsula still cannot be regarded as a resort, because it is maintained by trifling revenues from the non-resort sector. The State Joint Stock Company Chornomornaftohaz, which generates 33.4 percent of the state’s revenue, is the main taxpayer. Revenue coming in to local budgets from the resort industry is also insignificant. There, payroll and land taxes prevail, constituting 61.1 and 11.2 percent, respectively.
