The Fuel and Energy Business Association took part in a meeting between the Acting Head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, Lesia Karnaukh, and representatives of the business community.

The main topic of the meeting was the problems of enterprises that suffered destruction, property damage, loss of goods, or suspension of operations as a result of Russian attacks.

Participants discussed how businesses can record incurred damages, restore lost documents, notify tax authorities about the consequences of shelling, and use the tax support mechanisms provided by law.

Special attention was paid to simplifying communication with the STS. The idea is that information about damaged businesses should reach the tax service not only from the taxpayer themselves, but also from the registers of the SES, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, other state bodies, and local authorities.

This should reduce the number of additional requests sent to enterprises during a period when their employees are busy dealing with the consequences of an attack and restoring operations. A separate label in the STS information systems should also ensure a unified approach to the affected taxpayer across all service departments.

An important principle voiced during the meeting is that if an enterprise experiences a drop in sales volumes, profitability, tax burden, or number of employees following asset destruction, loss of goods, or production suspension, such a deterioration in performance should not automatically become a ground for requests or control measures.

The mechanism for confirming the impossibility of timely fulfillment of tax obligations due to the consequences of the war was also reviewed. If an enterprise physically cannot pay taxes on time, submit reporting, or fulfill other obligations, it can submit an application and supporting documents to the STS to apply the statutory procedure.

This tool, often called “tax holidays” by businesses, is not an automatic cancellation of taxes. It refers to a special procedure that makes it possible to take into account the real circumstances of the affected taxpayer and postpone the fulfillment of certain tax obligations in a designated manner.

For the Association, this logic is fundamental: the consequences of the war cannot be assessed by peacetime formal indicators. At the same time, different industries have different recovery conditions, so alongside general support mechanisms, targeted solutions are needed for the most vulnerable sectors.

One such sector is the fuel infrastructure of frontline territories. In hromadas where stationary gas stations are destroyed, damaged, or their operation has become dangerous, the problem is not limited to documenting losses. The hromada must maintain uninterrupted access to fuel.

That is why the Fuel and Energy Business Association consistently advocates for the introduction of a separate temporary legal mechanism for the fuel infrastructure of frontline and high-risk regions.

Such a mechanism should combine two interrelated solutions: the temporary cessation of advance corporate income tax payments for gas stations that are actually non-operational due to damage or are undergoing restoration, and the ability to temporarily resume fuel supplies through mobile refueling points.

The Association notes constructive working communication with the State Tax Service. It is important that on issues of supporting damaged gas stations and temporarily supplying fuel to frontline hromadas, the positions of FEBA and the STS largely coincide.

In particular, the STS had previously approached the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine with a proposal regarding the possibility of exempting licensees who do not actually engage in fuel retail sales—specifically due to being in active combat zones or temporarily occupied territories—from paying advance income tax payments.

This proposal has not yet received the necessary support from the Ministry of Finance, because under current rules, the obligation to pay is tied to the mere presence of a valid license. Therefore, the final settlement of this issue requires appropriate legislative amendments.

The second part of the mechanism is the ability of licensed operators to promptly restore fuel supplies in hromadas where stationary infrastructure is lost, via mobile, portable, or automated refueling points.

From the very beginning, it was fundamental for the Association that such a solution should not become an alternative to the legal market or a tool for weakening state control.

We are talking exclusively about a clearly defined, targeted, and temporary mechanism for conscientious operators who already hold valid licenses and have lost the ability to operate at a stationary facility due to the consequences of the war.

The position of the STS in this regard corresponds to the approach proposed by business. The State Tax Service sees the possibility of introducing a special temporary mechanism for retail fuel trade through mobile refueling points only for business entities that already hold a valid retail fuel license.

At the same time, such a mechanism should operate only in territories of possible and active hostilities. This is not a general legalization of mobile or automated gas stations across all of Ukraine, but an anti-crisis solution for territories that have lost their fuel infrastructure.

For a quick launch, a declarative mechanism is proposed instead of a full re-issuance of the existing license. An operator must submit a declaration on the use of a mobile gas station to the licensing authority, indicating the license details, vehicle license plates, RRO data, and other identification information.

At the same time, simplifying the procedure does not mean weakening control. Requirements regarding licensing, safety, fiscal and excise accounting, the origin and quality of fuel, as well as control over the actual operating location must be maintained.

The STS also confirms the technical capability to ensure full fiscalization of fuel trade through mobile objects. Specialized RROs designed for fuel dispensing can be registered to a mobile economic unit.

Thus, mobile gas stations can be a legal and controlled tool rather than a “grey zone” of the fuel market. To achieve this, rules do not need to be canceled; instead, a separate legal route must be created for operations under conditions for which current regulations were not designed.

For frontline hromadas, this issue goes far beyond the interests of an individual operator. Fuel in wartime is essential for the operation of emergency services, generators, municipal transport, businesses, agricultural producers, critical infrastructure, and the ability of the hromada itself to remain viable after another attack.

That is why a backup fuel supply mechanism must be created before a shortage arises, rather than after the stationary network has already stopped working.

The State Tax Service also expressed readiness to participate in drafting the relevant bill if the issue of using mobile, portable, or automated refueling points in frontline regions is brought to the legislative level.

For the Association, this means that the discussion is gradually shifting from the question of “is such a mechanism needed?” to “what exactly should it look like?”

At this stage, it is important to maintain a balance: the solution must be temporary, targeted, and controlled by the state, while at the same time being truly suitable for practical application by businesses in hromadas that live daily under the risk of new attacks.

The Fuel and Energy Business Association will continue working with state authorities so that affected businesses receive a clear and accessible mechanism for interacting with the STS, and the fuel infrastructure of frontline territories gets legal conditions for operation and recovery.