Dozens of officers of regional departments of the State Customs Service of Ukraine have been suspended from work, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a video statement, following a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) on Friday.
“Dozens of customs officials have been suspended from work. And we are also preparing legislative changes, which will result in the criminalization of inaccurate customs declaration,” the president said.
He said the reason for such a decision is the losses incurred by the Ukrainian budget due to the ineffective work of customs.
“According to experts, losses due to smuggling reach UAH 300 billion, which the state budget lost. More than 100 billion of them [were lost] due to the ineffective work of customs,” the head of state said.
He said that Ukraine will continue to actively fight against smuggling, as it is “economic terrorism.”
