The media are increasingly paying attention to VARES, its activities, and its role in the development of the market.

And this is not surprising, as the Association is currently one of the key drivers of regulatory change in the industry in Ukraine.

UNIAN and Ukrainian News have published articles examining who currently forms the legal segment of the electronic cigarette market and what share of the official market indicators is generated by VARES member companies.

Interestingly, these articles raise questions not only about our Association, but also about the structure of the legal electronic cigarette market in Ukraine.

Not long ago, journalist Yevhen Plinsky published data showing that in 2025, VARES members imported 2.02 tonnes of nicotine worth USD 375,772, accounting for 53% of all official nicotine imports.

We would like to explain this interesting correlation in more detail.

At first glance, this may seem to be simply foreign trade statistics.

However, when these figures are compared with data from the State Tax Service of Ukraine and the results of Kantar research, one important pattern becomes apparent.

According to the State Tax Service of Ukraine, in 2025 and the first half of 2026, excise tax revenues from liquids used in electronic cigarettes amounted to UAH 176.96 million.

During the same period, VARES member companies paid a total of UAH 176.62 million in taxes and other mandatory payments.

This figure includes all taxes paid by the companies, including excise tax, VAT, corporate income tax, and other mandatory payments.

This amount is almost equal to the total excise tax revenues from electronic cigarette liquids during the same period.

Returning to this correlation, we can see that a relatively small number of companies that are members of VARES form the core of the legal segment of the industry and account for a significant share of its official tax contributions.

And this reflects only the current state of the market.

According to our estimates, with comprehensive market regulation and effective state oversight, monthly revenues from the electronic cigarette market could exceed UAH 250 million, while the revenue potential during the first year alone could reach UAH 3.82 billion.

However, achieving this requires legislative changes aimed at closing regulatory gaps and ensuring proper accounting and traceability of nicotine-containing products.

Working on such changes is one of the key areas of activity of our Association.

We established VARES to help bring the large electronic cigarette market back into the legal framework and to restore effective communication between the government and businesses, which had previously been lost.

The companies that later became VARES members made a conscious transition at different times to a fully legal operating model:

official imports and production, payment of excise duties and other taxes, fiscal reporting of sales, and compliance with regulatory requirements.

In practice, this was a challenging transition to fully transparent and compliant operations in a market where a significant share of competitors continued to operate outside state accounting and oversight, creating unequal competitive conditions.

We understand that the electronic cigarette market will continue to grow over the coming years.

That is why it is important not to miss the opportunity to create conditions in which both the state and the market can benefit.

If you would like to join our Association, please complete the short application form on our website.

We will contact you and provide all the necessary information.

VARES continues to work to increase the share of the legal market and ensure that its full potential is realized.