According to ESBU materials, a local resident will be tried in Zakarpattia for the illegal manufacture of cigarettes

 Detectives from the Territorial Office of the Economic Security Bureau in Zakarpattia region have completed a pre-trial investigation into the illegal manufacture of excisable goods. The materials of the criminal proceedings have been sent to the court.

During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that a resident of Uzhhorod had set up an illegal tobacco workshop on the premises of a garage cooperative. He installed special equipment in his own garage and set up a full-fledged production of filtered cigarettes. The products were manufactured without any permits and were intended for sale on the domestic market of Ukraine.

During the inspection of the scene, detectives of the ESBU seized machines for manufacturing and packaging tobacco products, several thousand ready-made cigarettes, filter tubes for filling with tobacco, cardboard packaging blanks, and other related materials.

The defendant's actions are classified under Part 1, Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal manufacture, storage, sale, or transportation for the purpose of selling excisable goods, punishable by a fine of 5,000 to 10,000 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens with confiscation and destruction of illegally manufactured goods) and Part 2, Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal manufacture, storage, sale, or transportation for the purpose of selling excisable goods, committed by a group of persons, repeatedly or on a large scale, punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to five years with confiscation and destruction of illegally manufactured or purchased goods, means of production, and raw materials for their manufacture).

Currently, the illegal production has been stopped, the pre-trial investigation has been completed, and the indictment has been sent to court.

Operational support was provided by employees of the Strategic Investigations Department in the Zakarpattia Oblast of the National Police of Ukraine and the Strategic Economic Protection Department of the Territorial Administration of the Security Service of Ukraine in Zakarpattia Oblast.

The proceedings were supervised by prosecutors from the Zakarpattia Oblast Prosecutor's Office.