The illegal tobacco market in Ukraine has grown to 18% due to the low effectiveness of the BEB
People's Deputy Danylo Getmantsev stated that the illegal tobacco market in Ukraine has grown from 12.6% to more than 18%. In his opinion, this is due to the low efficiency of the Economic Security Bureau.
The parliamentarian made this statement in an interview with Ukrainski Novyny.
The head of the Verkhovna Rada's tax committee, Danylo Getmantsev, is convinced that the work of the ESBU under the leadership of Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi is more focused on the media component than on de-shadowing the economy.
"On the one hand, we do not see any results from the activities of the Economic Security Bureau, and on the other hand, we see attempts to create a parallel reality of success that has nothing to do with reality," the MP notes.
As an example, Danylo Getmantsev cites the discussion of new amendments to the legislation initiated by the director of the ESBU against the backdrop of the growing market for illegal cigarettes and the operation of illegal petrol stations.
"They are discussing complete nonsense. And this at a time when the illegal tobacco market in our country has grown from 12.6% to more than 18% in 2025. The question arises: what are we all doing then? And at this time, the ESBU reports on achievements in the de-shadowing of the fuel market. If de-shadowing did take place, it was solely thanks to the decisions made in the Verkhovna Rada in 2024, and before that, by the Tax Service. But it certainly did not happen because of the ESBU," explains Danylo Getmantsev.
According to him, the Bureau of Economic Security ignores obvious crimes. In particular, this concerns the fragmentation of one of the supermarket chains into individual entrepreneurs or illegal petrol stations. At the same time, Danylo Getmantsev is convinced that it is possible to bring order to the excise markets.
"We can do it and have already shown how it can be done in 2022-2024. In three years, we have managed to significantly de-shadow all major markets. Yes, we still have a lot of work ahead of us. Unfortunately, in some areas, such as smuggling and trade, we have not yet managed to pass the point of no return. But we have significantly de-shadowed some areas, such as the gambling business, the fuel business, and the tobacco market," he notes.
However, the MP emphasises that further de-shadowing requires coordinated work between the ESBU and the Tax Service, rather than commissioned media campaigns and PR.
As previously reported by ThePublic, in recent months, dozens of posts have appeared on Telegram channels with millions of subscribers about the achievements of ESBU Director Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi, which contain signs of commissioned publications.
