ESBU Deputy Director Maksym Kuterha took part in a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna.

During the event, representatives of government authorities discussed the implementation of Cluster 1 "Fundamentals of the EU Accession Process" of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the European Commission's recommendations presented in the Ukraine's Progress Report under the European Union's 2023 Enlargement Package.

One of the key tasks assigned to the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine in this block is to implement the provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine on the Criminalization of Smuggling of Goods".

According to Maksym Kuterha, the ESBU detectives are currently investigating 32 criminal proceedings on smuggling. Ten people have already been served suspicion notes. The estimated value of the seized property in the framework of these criminal proceedings is over UAH 154 million.

At the same time, to implement other steps envisaged by the first Cluster, the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine joined the Interagency working group to coordinate the implementation of the SOCTA assessment system in the activities of central executive authorities, approved the draft CMU Order "On Approval of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Asset Recovery Strategy" and joined the development and approval of the updated Methodology for Assessing the Threats of Organized Crime in Ukraine.