Tariffs on Plywood will Help Build Back Kyiv Power Grid

Tariffs collected on Russian and Belarus plywood imports will be used as part of a fund to help repair Ukraine’s Kyiv power grid following repeated Russian attacks on the capital city.

In a show of support for the people of Ukraine, the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, said Canada will transfer $115 million collected as tariff revenue after revoking Russia and Belarus’ Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status on March 2, 2022.

Freeland’s office says the tariffs stem from Canadian purchases, besides plywood, that are mostly fertilizer, tires and nickel. Canada will provide the sum of expected tariff revenues on Russian and Belarusian goods to Ukraine through the World Bank’s Restoration Project of Winterization and Energy Resources (Re-PoWER Ukraine). This fund was recently established to facilitate grant contributions from international partners to enable the restoration of essential energy services in Ukraine.

“Putin and his henchmen are war criminals, and they are attempting to use the cold as a weapon to break the spirit of the remarkable people of Ukraine,” the Deputy Prime Minister stressed. “They will not succeed, and this support will help ensure that Ukraine can secure its energy infrastructure and make it through the difficult winter to come.”

On March 2, Canada became the first country to revoke the MFN status for imports from Russia and Belarus, which resulted in tariffs of 35 per cent being applied to virtually all goods entering Canada from these two countries.

Since the beginning of Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion, Canada has already disbursed $2 billion in direct financial assistance to Ukraine so far in 2022, and committed an additional $500 million through the Ukraine Sovereignty Bond earlier this month. Canada has also committed more than $2.5 billion in military, humanitarian, and other assistance to Ukraine this year.