The three bills tabled are: No. 5501 on amendments regarding taxes and excise; No. 5502 on cancelling the law on creating the free economic zone and making relevant amendments to legislation; No. 5503 on amendments to the Customs Code in connection with the abolition of the free zone.

The proposed changes include:

• removal of tax and customs restrictions on residents of Crimea, in particular, they will again be considered as residents of Ukraine in legal relations in these areas;
• for those entering or leaving Crimea, a list of prohibited items will be determined instead of a permitted list;
• opportunity to receive free secondary legal aid for residents of the temporarily occupied territory without a certificate of IDPs;
• the ability to complete inheritance cases that were initiated but not completed before the occupation, etc.

Along with the restoration of the rights, the existing restrictions on doing business in Crimea are maintained and strengthened: 

• in pursuance of the Strategy for De-occupation and Reintegration of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, it is proposed at the level of law to establish a ban on water supply to Crimea prior to its de-occupation and restoration of the constitutional order of Ukraine;
• any supply of goods to/from the occupied territory are prohibited;
• licenses and special permits issued before the occupation are invalid and cannot be renewed without re-registration;
• excise stamps and certificates of goods of Ukrainian origin, etc. may not be issued for goods produced in the occupied territory.

The Mission is one of the drafters of the bills and welcomes the legislative initiative of MPs, which is a long-awaited response to public demand and is aimed, in particular, to eliminate discriminatory legislation against our citizens living in the temporarily occupied territory of the peninsula. We hope that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will consider and adopt the bills as soon as possible.