Ukraine’s employers urge government to seek delay in CBAM payments

The Federation of Employers of Ukraine has urged the president and government to make delaying the financial component of CBAM a priority, UNIAN reported on October 8. Its director general, Ruslan Illichov, also called for a review of restrictions on Ukrainian industry in the EU market.

Illichov said industry faced both the effects of war and new EU regulatory requirements. The federation estimates potential losses from CBAM at 4.8% of Ukrainian GDP; UNIAN’s report did not specify the period covered by that estimate.

He argued that Ukraine had legal grounds to invoke wartime force majeure and seek a delay in paid CBAM certificates. He also criticised reduced quotas for Ukrainian goods and the European Commission’s default emissions values, which he said were twice actual levels for Ukrainian cement clinker.

The federation also proposed retaining enterprises’ critical status, additional payments to workers during downtime and temporary employment at other companies. UNIAN’s report described these demands but did not report approval of a CBAM delay or the workforce measures.