CIS

Home page

CIS

Thousands protest tax law changes in Ukraine

26 November 2010 03:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. About 6,000 people protested in Ukraine’s capital Thursday on the fourth day of demonstrations against tax law changes, part of a nationwide wave of rallies that are the biggest since the Orange Revolution of 2004, APA reports quoting businessweek.com website.
Demonstrators have set up tents in defiance of a ban on rallies in Kiev. Rallies also took place elsewhere in the country Thursday in the largest wave of protests since President Vikor Yanukovych took office in February.
Though smaller than the phalanx of tents set up in the Orange Revolution, the encampment in Kiev’s main square echo the large-scale demonstrations that erupted after Yanukovych was counted as the winner of a fraudulent presidential election. He lost a rerun of the that vote, but attained the presidency this year.
The government says tax reforms are necessary to increase government revenues in the country whose economy contracted by 15 percent last year.
Protesters say the changes would cripple small businesses by depriving them of tax breaks. They demand that Yanukovych vetoes the bill.
Parliament adopted the tax bill last week, but Yanukovych is hesitant to sign it, fearing it would take a serious toll on his popularity. He vowed to meet with the protesters this week and take their demands into consideration.
Later in the day, the protesters will rally at the president’s and prosecutor general’s offices and Central Elections Commission headquarters, accusing officials of abusing power.
They also demanded to oust the Cabinet and hold the early vote.
"They have declared war against the people, and we take a dare," co-organizer Oleksandr Danylyuk said.
Around 1,500 police were on duty to keep order at the Kiev demonstration. No violence was reported.
Ukraine’s tax system ranks among the three worst in the world, according to a study of 183 nations conducted by the World Bank group.