Photo from UNIAN
A pilot project aimed at combatting smuggling brought to the national budget almost UAH 37.5 billion in customs payments from June 21 to July 30.
The State Fiscal Service of Ukraine (SFS) says over UAH 3 billion (US$112 million) in additional income was transferred to the national budget in July 2018 from the implementation of measures to combat smuggling at Ukraine's customs.
In particular, Ukraine's customs offices in July 2018 channeled UAH 29.7 billion ($1.1 billion) to the state budget, which was UAH 3.8 billion ($142 million) up year-over-year (y-o-y) and UAH 3.2 billion ($119.6 million) more than in June 2018, according to the SFS press service.
A pilot project aimed at combatting smuggling brought to the national budget almost UAH 37.5 billion ($1.4 billion) in customs payments from June 21 to July 30.
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"The increase in revenue is not the only result of the struggle with 'shadow flows.' Due to the reduction in 'gray' commodity flows, the market share of legal importers has been increasing. By blocking illegal imports, we create conditions for investment in Ukrainian production development. Therefore, the result of our fight against smuggling is not only about filling the budget, it's also about new jobs and economic growth," SFS acting head Myroslav Prodan said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's Cabinet on June 20 approved a plan to combat smuggling, which provides for the coordination of all law enforcement agencies and the State Fiscal Service. In particular, the government granted the right to officers of the National Police to operate at customs checkpoints around the clock to reveal violations.
According to the government, about UAH 100 billion ($3.7 billion) may be transferred to the national budget due to an effective fight against smuggling.