Duplicate receipts and ‘self-checks’: how the UVAPE shop in the capital works (VIDEO)
Following the ESBU’s large-scale crackdown on the vaping market, the editorial team at ThePublic decided to check whether Uvape is currently operating. After all, it is this company that has repeatedly been accused of tax evasion and the illegal sale of excise goods.
“As part of a large-scale operation to stop illegal activities, ESBU detectives carried out over 70 searches at retail, manufacturing and warehouse premises, as well as at the residential addresses of individuals involved in the scheme. During the investigation, the operation of illegal production and distribution of vaping products was documented,” the agency reported on 13 April 2026.
“One more scheme down,” commented ESBU Director Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi on the operation, a statement immediately backed by politicians, journalists and business associations, who thanked him for his work.
How Uvape is operating following the Economic Security Bureau’s raids
However, as it turned out, the scheme is working successfully. There are no issues with selling goods online, where searches took place two weeks ago. At least not in the shop located in the centre of the capital. It was right outside this shop that a ESBU detective posed in a press release about the dismantling of the illegal vaping market.
This outlet is situated near the Khreshchatyk metro station and is quite popular with visitors.
The staff are well aware that their products are banned, yet they stress that nothing has changed as a result. It’s just that from now on, ‘DIY kits’ are sold separately, though the staff immediately offer to help put a kit together.
“Here, the kit includes a food-grade flavouring, to which glycerine and a booster are added. That’s exactly how it’s sold now. Because previously we sold ready-made kits, but since ready-made ones were banned, along with disposable vapes, now everything is sold in this format. But it’s exactly the same as it was before,” explains the sales assistant.
You can pay for the goods by bank card. The cheapest pod system, flavouring and nicotine costs 1,370 UAH. Payment is made in a single transaction. However, the most interesting part is the receipts. There are two of them – a fiscal receipt and a bank receipt. The amounts differ by a factor of three. On the fiscal receipt, it is only 475 hryvnias, as it contains information solely about the purchase of the pod system.
This is a typical tax evasion scheme.
It is impossible to trace the recipient via online banking – the receipt only states that it is UVAPE. In contrast, the fiscal receipt contains more information. According to its details, the funds were received by Dictris LLC, which is supposedly located at the shop’s address.
The company was registered on 8 November 2025 in Kyiv. Its authorised capital amounts to 20,000 UAH. The enterprise is engaged in retail trade in non-specialised shops, science, activities in the field of education, and a dozen other areas listed in the Classification of Economic Activities (KVED).
So, the effectively illegal scheme on which the chain operates is plain to see. Yet, for some reason, all attempts to root it out end only with sensational headlines about yet another ‘victory’ for the ESBU.
What is Uvape
According to publicly available information, Uvape is one of the largest chains on the Ukrainian e-cigarette market. It has over 150 retail outlets.
Its main feature is a registered brand that can be officially transferred under a franchise agreement, alongside a parallel shadow business.
The chain has repeatedly been accused of illegally selling excise goods.
A scheme similar to the one uncovered by ThePublic is described in court rulings: the customer ostensibly buys an electronic device or flavouring, but receives the nicotine-containing liquid ‘as a gift’. In this way, the sale of excise goods is concealed and taxes are not paid.
However, despite “prosecution” by law enforcement agencies, UVAPE is actively expanding.
“An innovative company striving to change the world by offering an alternative to traditional smoking. We are not just a chain of shops selling e-cigarettes and accessories, but a team of professionals who believe in the quality and safety of our products,” company representatives state in a recent job advertisement.
The Economic Security Bureau’s failed attempts to shut down the largest vape distribution network
The Economic Security Bureau has reported on the liquidation of the chain at least twice: in August 2025 and in April 2026.
In its cases, the ESBU accuses UVAPE of tax evasion and deriving profits from the illegal sale of excise goods. This specifically refers to nicotine-containing mixtures and liquids used in electronic cigarettes.
Law enforcement officers carried out the latest searches in the network in early April. At the time, the director of the Economic Security Bureau described it as a large-scale special operation.
“One less scheme for the illegal production, storage, transport and sale of liquids for e-cigarettes,” wrote Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi on his Telegram channel.
However, just over a week later, journalists from the Telegraph publication discovered that despite the network’s “shutdown”, the online shop was still operating.
As it turned out later, it wasn’t the only one. So the ESBU’s “large-scale strike” was carried out exclusively on social media, whilst it had no impact whatsoever on the operations of the controversial network.
“It seems that beyond these activities in the form of searches and seizures, the case has not progressed any further for the detectives. Despite the seemingly successful raids, there is no news of the network’s dismantling or the perpetrators being brought to justice,” commented journalist Yevhen Plinskyi on the results of one of the ESBU’s latest raids.
Vapes, nicotine, flavourings: what the law says
Under the law, the wholesale and retail trade in tobacco products and liquids used in electronic cigarettes within Ukraine may only be carried out if the business entity holds the relevant licences.
Furthermore, from 11 July 2024, the sale of flavoured vapes and liquids for them has been banned in Ukraine.
And from 1 October 2025, both the retail sale and the free distribution of tobacco raw materials, raw materials for liquids used in electronic cigarettes, and/or nicotine (a toxic alkaloid extracted from tobacco or obtained by chemical synthesis) will be prohibited.
The law also provides for liability for tax evasion.
How much does the budget lose due to the illegal vape market?
According to research firm Kantar, the share of the illegal e-cigarette market in Ukraine stands at 93 per cent.
“In the e-cigarette category as a whole, the share of illegal products stands at 93.6%. The highest level of illegality is in the segment of disposable devices and e-cigarettes with refillable cartridges, where the share of illegal products is approaching 100%,” the latest study states.
As a result, in 2025, the state budget lost out on 34 billion UAH due to the illegal trade in tobacco products and e-cigarette liquids. This staggering figure includes 7.5 billion UAH in losses from the “grey” market in e-cigarette liquids alone.
According to experts’ forecasts, in 2026 the vape market risks failing to pay as much as 10 billion hryvnias in taxes to the budget.
Last year, the International Chamber of Commerce even issued an open statement to the IMF, the US Embassy and the EU Delegation in Ukraine regarding the illegal cigarette market. The organisation called on the Ukrainian authorities to focus on combating illicit trade rather than increasing pressure on legitimate businesses.
The European Business Association also appealed to the G7 countries, asking them to influence law enforcement agencies to step up the fight against the illegal trade in excise goods.
However, beyond a few raids and a handful of fines imposed on sellers, the fight against the illegal market has made no further progress. Such inaction on the part of the Economic Security Bureau is costing the budget tens of billions of hryvnias.
As previously reported by ThePublic, against the backdrop of record budget losses from the illegal cigarette market, the ESBU has not announced a single suspicion of smuggling of excise goods.
