THE STATE LOSES TO SHADY BUSINESS: WHAT TO DO?

According to the research of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, in 2017 the volume of smuggling from only 7 neighboring countries that came through the land border amounted to $ 5.93 billion.

In 2018, the total volume of “gray imports” and smuggling has already amounted to 11.9 billion USD, and $ 13.5 billion forecasted for 2019 according to calculations of macroeconomists of Ukraine Economic Outlook.

This indicates that the state loses to the shady business, whose potential is growing every year and accumulates powerful financial resources to organize resistance to any changes in the regulation or blocking of smuggling opportunities.

If shadow finances are redirected to the budget, the country can completely give up external borrowing and free itself from debt obligations.

Yevhenii Enin, Deputy Executive Director and Head of the anti-smuggling programme of the UIF