The State Fiscal Service of Ukraine has supported the initiative of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on criminalizing the illicit movement of excisable goods across the Ukrainian border.

The press service of the State Fiscal Service has reported, with reference to a statement by its first deputy head Serhiy Bilan, that this was announced during a meeting of the heads of security forces and law enforcement agencies in the western regions of Ukraine under the chairmanship of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

"Criminalization will not only increase revenues to the national budget but also improve the image of Ukraine to the EU countries, because EU residents are the ultimate consumers of tobacco products, which are moved with customs control evasion by our state," he said.

As reported, during a meeting with the heads of security forces and law enforcement agencies in Lviv on June 2, Poroshenko demanded that law enforcement agents should "stop the permanent festival of smuggling on the western border of Ukraine."