Violations of alcohol and tobacco sales regulations in Ukraine: More than 5,000 licenses have already been revoked this year
22 June 15:38
During the first five months of 2026, the State Tax Service revoked more than 5,200 licenses due to violations of alcohol and tobacco sales regulations. Lesya Karnaukh, acting head of the State Tax Service, spoke about this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to the agency’s head, the tax service has learned to effectively detect hidden excess production in the excise sector. As an example, she cited a situation where manufacturers increase production volumes after upgrading their production lines but continue to report only the old production quota on their documents, selling the “surplus” for cash.
“When we see this, we take strict action, up to and including revoking the license. Based on the results of 2025 and the first months of this year, many businesses have lost their licenses because they thought they were going unnoticed. They are being noticed,” Lesya Karnaukh emphasized.
In just five months of this year, based on the results of inspections and recorded violations, the State Tax Service has already revoked more than 5,200 licenses.
The head of the State Tax Service added that Ukraine’s European integration requires the full development of transparent institutions and the harmonization of legislation. As part of this process, the tax service is transitioning to the European system for monitoring excise goods.
“The excise tax system we are currently implementing is also the European Track and Trace system. Excise goods, from the moment we affix the tax stamp until the moment it is ‘used,’ must be traceable regardless of which country this occurs in,” Karnaukh concluded.
It is worth noting that the problem of the shadow economy remains one of the most critical issues for Ukraine’s tobacco industry. According to estimates by Kantar and tobacco industry representatives, the share of the illegal market currently stands at 17.6%.
Due to counterfeiting and illegal trade, the state budget lost approximately 26.5 billion hryvnias in tax revenue in 2025 alone.
A large-scale illegal tobacco market could become a serious barrier to Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Once borders open and a single market is established, Ukrainian counterfeit products could flood into European countries (such as Germany) unhindered due to significant price differences, causing billions in losses to the EU budget itself.
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