Imports of goods into Ukraine from January through September 2026 increased by 25% in monetary terms compared to the same period in 2025—from $60.1 billion to $75.1 billion, while for all of 2025 they totaled $84.8 billion, according to data from the Telegram channel of the State Customs Service (SCS) of Ukraine.
At the same time, exports remain at the level of the same period in 2025—$29.6 billion for the first nine months of 2026, compared to $29.5 billion last year ($40.3 billion for all of 2025).
“The tax burden per 1 kg of taxable imports in January–September 2026 amounted to $0.62/kg,” the agency added.
As in 2025, the largest sources of imports to Ukraine were China—$22.6 billion, Poland—over $7.1 billion, and Germany—over $4.9 billion.
Exports from Ukraine, also unchanged compared to 2025, were highest to Poland—$3.7 billion, Turkey—over $2.2 billion, and Germany—$2.1 billion.
Of the total volume of goods imported in January–September 2026, more than 73% fell into the categories of machinery, equipment, and transportation—nearly $34.4 billion (customs clearance of these goods generated nearly 191.5 billion UAH in revenue for the budget, or 29% of customs revenue), fuel and energy products—over $10.8 billion (with over 224.9 billion UAH paid, or 34% of customs revenue), as well as chemical industry products—over $10 billion (with 83 billion UAH paid upon clearance, or 13% of customs revenue).
As for the top three most exported goods from Ukraine, the categories remain unchanged compared to 2025: food products—$17 billion; metals and metal products—$2.9 billion; and machinery, equipment, and transportation—$2.7 billion.
The State Tax Service added that during customs clearance of exports subject to export duties, nearly 1.5 billion UAH was paid to the budget from January through September 2026.
On October 5, Romania’s National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) carried out a large-scale operation as part of an investigation into possible corruption among border police and customs officials on the Romanian-Ukrainian border.
According to “Golos Karpat”, law enforcement officials conducted 96 searches across six Romanian counties—Satu Mare, Bihor, Sălaj, Maramureș, Cluj, and Mureș.
The investigation focuses on border police and customs service officers who worked, in particular, at the Halmeu border crossing, which provides road access between Romania and Ukraine. On the Ukrainian side, it corresponds to the “Dyakovo” border crossing in Zakarpattia Oblast.
According to the DNA, the investigation concerns possible corruption offenses committed in 2025–2026. Investigators are looking into reports that certain border guards and customs officials may have received money in connection with the performance of their official duties.
Searches were conducted both in private homes and on the premises of two government agencies. The operation involved personnel from the Anti-Corruption Directorate, the police, and the gendarmerie. Investigative activities took place, in particular, directly on the territory of the Halmeu border crossing and at a border police unit.
Romanian media, citing sources familiar with the investigation, reported that the alleged corruption scheme may have involved receiving money in exchange for failing to properly inspect vehicles and cargo crossing the border. This could have involved both freight transport and the movement of people.
However, at the time the DNA’s official statement was released, these details had not been fully confirmed. The Anti-Corruption Directorate also did not specify the exact number of suspects or the possible amounts of illicit gains.
The investigation is of particular significance for the Zakarpattia Oblast, as investigative actions were also conducted in Maramureș County, which directly borders Ukraine.
The leadership of the Sighetu Marmației Territorial Border Police Inspectorate stated its readiness to cooperate with the investigation and emphasized that, should the violations be confirmed, measures provided for by law will be applied to the employees.
The Halmeu checkpoint is one of the road crossings on the Romanian-Ukrainian border and is used for passenger and freight traffic between the two countries.
In September 2026, the State Customs Service of Ukraine transferred 75.2 billion hryvnia in customs duties to the state budget, which is 18.1 billion hryvnia more than in the same month last year.
According to Open4Business, citing data from the State Customs Service, revenues increased by 31.7% compared to September 2025, when 57.1 billion hryvnias were transferred to the budget.
The agency noted that actual revenue in September exceeded the indicative target set by the Ministry of Finance by 4.6 billion hryvnia.
One of the main factors driving the growth in revenue was the increase in the volume of taxable imports. In September 2026, this volume amounted to $7.3 billion, which is 23.7% more than a year earlier.
In particular, revenue from customs clearance of natural gas rose significantly—by 2.8 billion hryvnias—as did revenue from passenger cars (2.2 billion hryvnias), petroleum products (1.8 billion hryvnias), and coal (1.3 billion hryvnias).
Additional revenue was also generated by imports of telephones—by 0.9 billion UAH, power generators—by 0.7 billion UAH, and trucks—by 0.6 billion UAH.
At the same time, customs duty exemptions granted during customs clearance of goods in September totaled 25.3 billion UAH, which is 5.9 billion UAH, or 30.4%, more than in September of last year.
The largest amounts of exemptions were for defense-related goods—13.1 billion UAH, goods imported under free trade agreements—5.7 billion UAH, and energy equipment—2.4 billion UAH.
Thus, despite the increase in the volume of exemptions granted, the growth in imports and payments for certain major commodity groups allowed the State Customs Service to significantly increase revenues to the state budget.
The State Customs Service administers customs payments when goods cross Ukraine’s customs border. Customs revenues—primarily import VAT, excise taxes, and duties—are one of the largest sources of revenue for the state budget.
Imports of goods into Ukraine from January through August 2026 increased by 26% in monetary terms compared to the same period in 2025—from $52.6 billion to $66.3 billion, according to data from the Telegram channel of the State Customs Service (SCS) of Ukraine.
Exports, however, despite a 4% increase in January–July, slowed in January–August and remained nearly at last year’s level—$26.6 billion compared to $26.6 billion last year.
Meanwhile, taxable imports totaled $46.8 billion, accounting for 71% of the total volume of imported goods.
“The tax burden per kilogram of taxable imports in January–August 2025 was $0.6/kg,” the agency added.
The largest volumes of goods were imported into Ukraine from China ($19.6 billion), Poland ($6.3 billion), and Germany ($4.4 billion).
The largest exports from Ukraine went to Poland ($3.2 billion), Turkey ($2.1 billion), and Germany ($1.7 billion).
Of the total volume of goods imported in January–August 2026, 73% consisted of machinery, equipment, and transportation vehicles—$29.9 billion (customs clearance of these goods generated 168.1 billion UAH in budget revenue, accounting for 29% of customs revenue), chemical industry products—$9 billion (74.9 billion
UAH was paid to the budget, or 13% of customs revenue), and fuel and energy products—$9.5 billion (197 billion UAH was paid, accounting for 34% of customs revenue).
The top three most exported goods from Ukraine were: food products—$15.4 billion; metals and metal products—$2.7 billion; and machinery, equipment, and transportation vehicles—$2.4 billion.
In the first 8 months of 2026, customs clearance of exports subject to export duties generated 1.1 billion UAH in revenue for the budget, compared to 174.2 million UAH during the same period last year.
As previously reported, since July of this year, operations at the ports of “Greater Odesa” and their terminals have become significantly more difficult due to intensified attacks on ships and port infrastructure.
In January–July 2026, Ukraine imported machinery, equipment, and vehicles worth $25.7 billion, accounting for more than 44% of the country’s total merchandise imports, according to the State Customs Service.
The second-largest category was fuel and energy products, with imports totaling $8.5 billion, followed by chemical industry products at $8 billion.
Collectively, these three commodity categories accounted for $42.2 billion, or about 73% of Ukraine’s imports over the seven-month period.
During customs clearance of machinery, equipment, and vehicles, 145.5 billion UAH in customs duties were paid to the state budget, accounting for 28% of the corresponding revenue.
Fuel and energy products accounted for 172.7 billion UAH, or 34% of customs duties, while chemical products accounted for 66.5 billion UAH, or 13%.
Thus, the three largest import categories accounted for about 75% of customs duties.
Total imports of goods into Ukraine in January–July rose by 26.6% compared to the same period last year—to $58.1 billion.
The largest supplier countries were China with $16.8 billion, Poland with $5.5 billion, and Germany with $3.8 billion.
The State Customs Service of Ukraine transferred UAH 420.1 billion in customs payments to the state budget in the first half of 2026, which is 31.9% more than in the same period last year, the Experts Club information and analytical center reports.
In January–June 2025, revenues amounted to UAH 318.5 billion. Thus, over the year, the budget received an additional approximately UAH 101.6 billion. The official data were published by the State Customs Service on July 13, 2026.
The Experts Club Analytical Center compared the State Customs Service’s data with the Ministry of Finance’s operational report on the execution of the state budget for January–June 2026.
Ranking of Customs Revenues by Main Categories
Value-added tax on goods imported into the customs territory of Ukraine remains the main source of customs revenues.
It accounted for approximately 75.7% of all payments transferred by the State Customs Service in the first half of the year. In other words, approximately three out of every four hryvnias of customs revenues were generated by import VAT.
The high share of VAT is explained by the fact that the tax is charged on virtually all taxable imports, including equipment, raw materials, fuel, cars, consumer goods and products intended for industrial use.
After deducting import VAT and customs duties from the total amount, approximately UAH 70.9 billion, or 16.9% of revenues, remains.
The main part of this amount should consist of excise duty on imported excisable goods, primarily petroleum products, cars, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.
However, in its operational report, the Ministry of Finance indicated only the total excise tax revenues from domestically produced and imported goods — UAH 152.4 billion. The separate amount of import excise duty was not disclosed in the report. Therefore, the figure of UAH 70.9 billion is an estimate and may also include small amounts of other payments administered by customs authorities.
Revenues from import and export duties in the first half of the year amounted to UAH 31 billion, or approximately 7.4% of the total volume of customs payments.
The share of customs duties is significantly lower than that of import VAT because zero or reduced rates apply to many goods under Ukraine’s free trade agreements. In addition, certain categories of equipment, energy products and defense-related goods benefit from tax and customs exemptions.
Structure of Ukraine’s Customs Revenues
Thus, the approximate structure of the UAH 420.1 billion is as follows:
VAT on imported goods — UAH 318.2 billion, or 75.7%.
Import excise duty and other payments — approximately UAH 70.9 billion, or 16.9%.
Import and export duties — UAH 31 billion, or 7.4%.
The Experts Club calculation shows that Ukrainian customs primarily performs the function of administering import VAT. Customs duties themselves account for less than one-tenth of the total volume of revenues.
Cars Accounted for More Than 7% of All Payments
Imports of passenger cars brought UAH 32.1 billion to the state budget in the first half of the year. This corresponds to approximately 7.6% of all revenues transferred by the State Customs Service.
At the same time, petrol-powered cars alone generated UAH 14.6 billion, or approximately 3.5% of all Ukraine’s customs revenues for the six-month period.
Thus, payments from passenger car imports exceeded the total revenues from import and export duties across all product categories.
Large Importers Accounted for 85% of Revenues
In the first half of the year, customs payments were made by 28,300 foreign economic activity participants. Their number increased by 2.5% compared with January–June 2025.
At the same time, only 2,350 companies, or approximately 8% of all payers, accounted for 85% of revenues. Their combined contribution can be estimated at approximately UAH 357 billion.
Another 10,600 enterprises, each of which transferred between UAH 1 million and UAH 20 million, generated UAH 53.5 billion.
Approximately 15,300 representatives of small and medium-sized businesses paid up to UAH 1 million each. Their combined contribution amounted to almost UAH 4.8 billion.
This indicates a high concentration of customs revenues: the majority of revenues depend on a relatively small group of large importers of fuel, cars, machinery, raw materials, pharmaceuticals and consumer products.
Customs Accounted for More Than One-Fifth of General Fund Revenues
In January–June 2026, UAH 1.898 trillion was received by the general fund of Ukraine’s state budget. Customs payments amounting to UAH 420.1 billion were equivalent to approximately 22.1% of this amount.
Including the general and special funds, state budget revenues for the first half of the year amounted to UAH 2.52 trillion.
The 31.9% growth in customs revenues significantly outpaced the increase in the number of payers, which amounted to only 2.5%. This indicates that the main growth factors were an increase in the value of taxable imports, changes in the exchange rate, an increased tax burden on certain categories and higher payments from the largest companies.
The most comprehensive official source of detailed information by budget classification codes is the state Open Budget portal. The State Customs Service publishes the total volume of payments and the structure of payers, while the Ministry of Finance publishes the main tax categories. At the time this material was prepared, a separate comprehensive table from the State Customs Service showing the distribution of the UAH 420.1 billion across all types of payments in a single document had not been published.
