Fiscal service says over 246,400 cars brought from abroad remain in Ukraine illegally

The State Fiscal Service of Ukraine (SFS) says more than 246,400 cars with foreign registration plates have remained in the territory of Ukraine illegally.

"In 2017, over 958,500 vehicles with foreign registration plates were brought to Ukraine. Of these, more than 209,600 cars were imported in the 'transit' mode, while almost 748,900 cars – in the 'temporary import' mode," the SFS wrote on Facebook.

"As of January 31, 2018, there had been almost 425,400 vehicles with foreign registration plates on the territory of Ukraine, including 246,400 cars, whose legal stay has expired. So, over 82,200 cars out of 100,900 cars imported in the 'transit' mode have actually remained in the customs territory of Ukraine with violation of terms, while there are more than 164,200 vehicles out of 324,500 cars imported in the 'temporary import' mode," it said.

Read alsoU.S. ambassador urges Ukraine to step up fight against corruption – Kyiv PostThe SFS also reported Top-5 EU member states, where the vehicles had been imported from as of January 31, 2018, namely Poland (110,700 cars), Lithuania (51,700), Germany (19,800), Bulgaria (14,100), and the Czech Republic (13,100).

In general, in 2017, the SFS customs recorded 18,394 violations under Article 470 of the Customs Code of Ukraine (violation of transit terms), having collected UAH 109.3 million, or US$3.9 million, in fines.

At the same time, 4,360 protocols totaling UAH 56.3 million ($2 million) in fines were compiled according to Article 481 of the Customs Code of Ukraine (violation of the terms of temporary imports).

As UNIAN reported earlier, owners of cars with European registration protested on Kyiv's Khreshchatyk Street on February 4. Participants demanded that the custom clearance cost be reduced and corruption practices at customs halted. According to the police, some 1,000 people took part in the rally.

In early September 2017, owners of cars with foreign registration plates from across Ukraine held similar protests in Kyiv at that time blocking the streets in the center of Kyiv.

Subsequently, the SFS informed of the initiation of an investigation by the Lithuanian customs authorities at the request of Ukrainian colleagues into the legality of imports and use of vehicles with Lithuanian registration plates in the territory of Ukraine.

December 22, 2017, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said that cars imported into Ukraine from Lithuania and other European countries should be cleared on general grounds.