Since the beginning of the year 2024, detectives of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine initiated 423 criminal proceedings over illegal tobacco trafficking, 231 cases have been sent to court, and 137 verdicts have been handed down. Based on the ESBU materials, 3 well-known tobacco companies were deprived of their licences.

As a result of the searches, the ESBU detectives seized 16 cigarette production lines, 5 of which belonged to companies that had the appropriate licence, but produced cigarettes including those with and without counterfeit excise stamps.

The inspections and searches resulted in the seizure of nearly 7.8 million packs of cigarettes, over 300,000 kilograms of tobacco and 16 tobacco production lines. The estimated value of the seized goods is UAH one billion.

Thanks to the measures taken, in October this year, revenues through cash registers in the tobacco industry increased by UAH 3.029 billion compared to January.

In addition, according to Kantar Ukraine, the share of the shadow tobacco market decreased from 25.7% at the end of last year to 14.6% in July 2024.

To prevent illegal activities, the State Tax Service of Ukraine has set up posts and video surveillance at companies engaged in the production of tobacco products and/or fermentation of tobacco raw materials since 1 October.

In accordance with the Law of Ukraine «On State Regulation of Production and Circulation of Ethyl Alcohol, Alcohol Distillates, Bioethanol, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco Products, Tobacco Raw Materials, Liquids Used in Electronic Cigarettes and Fuel», representatives of the State Tax Service of Ukraine must exercise constant direct control:

- to monitor compliance with the procedure for registration of equipment for the preparation or processing of tobacco, tobacco raw materials, and industrial production of tobacco products

- receipt of tobacco raw materials, their release, storage, processing and use in the production of fermented tobacco raw materials and/or tobacco products

- compliance with the norms of losses and waste of unfermented tobacco raw materials during storage, transportation, production of fermented tobacco raw materials, losses and waste of fermented tobacco raw materials during its storage, transportation and use in the production of tobacco products, consumption of fermented tobacco raw materials for the production of tobacco products

- the use of excise tax stamps and payment of excise tax.

These amendments should make it impossible for official manufacturers to manufacture and sell cigarettes outside the scope of the State Tax Service of Ukraine.