Svyrydenko announced a meeting on combating counterfeiting and smuggling
Next week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko will hold a meeting with representatives of relevant agencies and the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine to discuss countering counterfeit products. She announced this during question time to the government at a plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, responding to a question from MP Petro Pavlovsky of the Servant of the People faction.
Svyrydenko stressed that the problem of counterfeiting is systemic and has been accumulating for years, rather than arising in the last few months. According to her, the relevant tasks have already been set for the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, customs, the tax service and the new leadership of the ESBU.
During the discussion, the MP drew attention to the scale of sales of counterfeit cigarettes and alcohol, particularly in Kharkiv and other regions, and raised the issue of losses to the state budget. In response, the Prime Minister noted that the responsibility for the failure to overcome smuggling and counterfeiting lies not only with the executive branch, but also with legislators, as this is a common problem for the state.
Svyrydenko invited MPs to join a meeting to discuss the current situation, the measures taken and the initial results of the fight against the illegal circulation of excise goods. According to her, the meeting should become a platform for frank discussion between all the structures involved.
According to the project "Monitoring of Illegal Trade in Tobacco Products in Ukraine" conducted by Kantar Ukraine, the share of illegal tobacco products has increased and reached 17.8% compared to 15.4% in July 2025.
According to estimates by the Growford Institute, the budget loses about UAH 5 billion annually due to the illegal market for electronic cigarettes. The International Monetary Fund recently emphasised that combating shadow schemes and tax evasion is a key condition for continuing financial support to Ukraine. Ukraine has promised the IMF to strengthen measures to combat the shadow economy, but losses from "grey" schemes in excise markets amount to 38 billion per year.
"The Economic Security Bureau and the State Tax Service are unable to cope with illegal petrol stations," said Danylo Getmantsev, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy.
However, the reboot of the ESBU is currently on hold: for six months, Tsivinsky has been unable to determine how to evaluate detectives and analysts.
Svyrydenko, Getmantsev, Pavlovsky, ESBU, Kantar Ukraine, State Tax Service, IMF
