Budget losses from the black market for vapes could reach 10 billion hryvnia in 2026
According to research firm Kantar, the share of the illegal segment in the vaping market has reached 93.6% and is close to 100% in the disposable device segment.
In total, Ukraine’s budget lost 34 billion hryvnias to the black market for cigarettes last year. However, this year, according to various expert estimates, losses from vapes alone could reach 10 billion hryvnias.
“The paradox: the vaping market is growing, having gone underground. The level of illicit trade in e-cigarette liquids is heading towards 100%. Tax losses from this in 2025 amounted to 7.5 billion hryvnias, and in 2026 could exceed 10 billion hryvnias,” says Tetyana Koshchuk, a tax expert at the Growford Institute.
Meanwhile, the director of the Economic Security Bureau (ESBU), Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi, recently stated that the illegal vaping scheme had already been dismantled. However, it later emerged that the network referred to in the ESBU’s posts operates both online and offline.
Journalists from ThePublic purchased excise goods at the UVAPE shop on Khreshchatyk. As it turned out, customers receive two receipts upon purchase. The fiscal receipt shows only the cost of the device, whilst the remainder of the amount is channelled “past the till” via a bank terminal into the accounts of various companies, including Diktris LLC.
Thus, the ESBU’s “massive crackdown” on the vape market took place only in press releases. Meanwhile, the billions of hryvnias needed for the country’s defence continue to end up in the pockets of the owners of illegal networks.
Due to the inaction of law enforcement agencies, the International Chamber of Commerce and the European Business Association have appealed to the G7 and the IMF. The business community is calling on the Ukrainian authorities to focus on genuinely combating the shadow economy, rather than increasing the tax burden on legitimate taxpayers who cannot compete with the grey market.
As previously reported by ThePublic, Ukraine’s budget loses up to 400 billion hryvnias annually due to illegal schemes.
