Head of Donetsk administration supports Poroshenko's initiative on special economic zone
DONETSK. Jan 14 (Interfax) - Oleksandr Kikhtenko, head of the Donetsk regional administration subordinate to Kyiv, has expressed support for the initiative of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko concerning the assignment of the status of a special economic zone to the region.
"Donbas should have special status, in particular, on matters of making business," he said on Vesti radio on Wednesday.
According to the press service of the Donetsk regional administration, he stressed that today 80% of companies in areas controlled by the militia are registered in areas controlled by Kyiv and duly pay taxes to Ukrainian state coffers.
He also said that there are problems in the region with delivering local products to other parts of Ukraine. Therefore, the question of realization of such products "must be settled on the legislative level through the assignment of a special status to the business of Donetsk region."
In an interview with France 24 TV Poroshenko earlier said that if elections according to Ukrainian law are held in Donbas, the region may be given the status of a special economic zone. "Ukraine is ready to grant Donbas the status of a special economic zone with its own form of relations with the EU and Russia," he said.