Budget losses amount to more than UAH 1 billion: Hetmantsev says illegal coffee market is booming in Ukraine
20 November 2025 10:12
Both markets and large retail chains divided into individual entrepreneurs are involved in schemes to sell illegal coffee for cash, with losses to the budget reaching more than UAH 1 billion.
This was stated by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy Danylo Hetmantsev, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
“Problems begin at the stage of customs clearance: every third ton of coffee is smuggled every year – under the guise of chicory or without declaring it at all. Kyiv and Lviv customs offices are the leaders in customs clearance,” stated Getmantsev.
According to him, for 9 months of 2025, the industry shows disappointing indicators:
– the VAT payment rate, although it increased to 1.45% (0.28 percentage points by 2024), is still 0.46 percentage points lower than in 2023;
– corporate income tax fell to 0.85% (-0.09 percentage points by 2024).
Also, as emphasized by Mr. Hetmantsev, the most obvious evidence of the shadowing of the industry is the level of wages:
- The average salary in the industry is only UAH 12.9 thousand, while the market salary, according to work.ua, reaches UAH 22.0 thousand. Overall, 89% of payers pay below market wages.
- In more than 18% of enterprises, the average salary is below the minimum wage, which directly indicates the use of tax evasion schemes.
“It is obvious that a significant part of the industry is in the shadows. I have a question for the tax authorities: what’s going on, what’s with tax control, where are the cash registers/PTRs? I call on the BES and the State Tax Service to take urgent measures to de-shadow the industry,” the statement said.
As a reminder, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” controls the market, fighting illegal schemes, and the system of labeling, electronic invoices and photo fixation makes the process as transparent as possible.
