Today, the illegal movement of goods, namely their illegal import to Ukraine, is the most significant tax evasion/avoidance scheme in Ukraine in 2022, and the volume of “gray” imports in 2022 is estimated at UAH 270-450 billion.
In addition to reducing state budget revenues, illegal imports devastate domestic competition and the country’s investment attractiveness.
In 2023, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law that reintroduced criminal liability for smuggling of goods (customs clearance).
The provisions of the Law on criminal liability for smuggling of excisable goods came into force on January 1, 2024, and on July 1, 2024, for all goods in large quantities.
The adoption of this Law was conditioned by EU Directive 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating fraud against the financial interests of the Union by criminal means, as well as by the EU’s requirement to receive macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of EUR 1.5 billion at the end of 2023.
To determine the level of efficiency of the judicial and Law enforcement systems and the functioning of the rule of Law, the Center for Social and Economic Research CASE Ukraine has launched a project to monitor the enforcement of the Criminal Code in terms of the inevitability of punishment and the effectiveness of sanctions for smuggling goods.
The monitoring should show the presence or absence of dysfunction in the judicial and Law enforcement systems. In case of detection, detailed recommendations for correction will be provided, strengthening Ukraine’s integration into the European Union.
The project “Assessment of the Criminalization of Customs Smuggling in Ukraine from the Perspective of EU Legislation” is being implemented by the Center for Social and Economic Research CASE Ukraine as part of the USAID/ENGAGE activity, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact. The contents of this project are the sole responsibility of Pact and its partners and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.