PM Groysman announces ambitious customs reform from Jan 1

"We will submit motions to the National Reforms Council for the approval of a strategy for reforming Ukraine's customs agencies, and we'd like to kick off this large-scale process from January 1, 2017," he said at a National Reforms Council meeting on Tuesday.

Since August 2016, the Ukrainian customs offices have been demonstrating positive dynamics in collecting revenue for the budget, he said.

"There are positive signals, but they aren't enough. We need serious, large-scale changes," he said.

Read alsoNo single scanner at Ukrainian customs, all damaged by customs officers – GroysmanGroysman said the large-scale reform is very important, as grey imports and smuggling may destroy the country's economic potential.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the reform of the customs sector, which has been implemented by the Ukrainian government actively since summer 2016, has already boosted customs payments to the budget by UAH 8.5 billion in recent months.

In July 2016, Groysman announced drastic changes in the customs offices' work, which were dictated by the requirements of the business sector and recommendations given by international financial organizations.

In May 2016, Ukraine and the United States signed the Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement providing for cooperation between Ukraine's Fiscal State Service and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to curb illegal actions that harm economic interests of both countries.

The agreement is one of the stages of a two-year project for reform of Ukraine's customs with $4 million in financing. The project was approved in spring 2016.

Read alsoAdditional UAH 4 bln monthly due to anti-smuggling measures at customs houses, Nasirov estimatesGroysman predicted in May 2016 that customs payments to Ukraine's budget might hit UAH 50 billion per year.

Ukraine's State Customs Service reported that tax and customs payments to the country's consolidated budget in 2015 stood at UAH 587.1 billion.