Billboards and social media under scrutiny: advertising violations cost businesses nearly UAH 11 million in fines
6 February 12:16
The State Food and Consumer Service conducted nearly 22,000 inspections of advertising media in 2025, which is 14% more than in 2024. The largest number of violations was recorded in businesses in the Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Chernihiv regions, with the total amount of fines amounting to UAH 10.68 million.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to data from ” OpenDataBot.”
21,938 advertisements were inspected last year in Ukraine, which is 14% more than in 2024. After a sharp decline in the first year of full-scale enforcement, the number of inspections of advertising media is growing year by year, although it has not yet reached the level of 2021. Although there are fewer inspections, violations are found by a third more than before the start of full-scale enforcement.
More than half of the inspections last year concerned outdoor advertising — 11,037. At the same time, the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection began to more actively inspect promotions on social networks and websites: 2,695 investigations.
On average, violations were found in every fifth case — 4,085. However, it should be noted that there may be several violations on one inspected advertising medium. Overall, the number of violations increased by one and a half times over the year.
What violations in advertising are businesses fined for ?
About a quarter of all violations relate to advertising using non-state languages — 1,075 cases. In more than half of the cases, the violators were businesses from the Kharkiv region: 672 fines. Other common violations include advertising of alcohol (320 cases), medicines (276), and cigarettes (195).
Businesses in the Kharkiv region led in terms of the number of violations: 1,014 violations were found in 1,248 advertisements examined. This is the highest figure in the country. By comparison, in Kyiv, where the most inspections were carried out (3,256), only 514 violations were found, which is the second highest number. Businesses from Chernihiv region are the third most frequent violators of advertising rules: 304 violations were found in 2,646 inspections.
Record sanctions
In total, almost 10.68 million remarks were issued, which is 4,227 fines. On average, businesses pay UAH 2,526 for non-compliance with advertising rules. The most expensive violations of advertising rules were in the Zaporizhzhia region, where the average fine was UAH 4,500, and the lowest average fines were recorded in the Sumy region — UAH 1,050.
Businesses voluntarily paid 61% of fines, amounting to UAH 6.65 million. Another 17% of violators were fined compulsorily. Only 3% of entrepreneurs were able to appeal the decisions of the State Food and Consumer Service in court, amounting to UAH 455,000.
