The editors of Bihus.Info published one of the first mass video materials, which systematically and without emotion explains what is happening with the electronic cigarette market in Ukraine — and why the state got a result that is the opposite of the declared goal.

The intention was correct, the implementation was not.
The goal of the state — the protection of children and young people — is logical and correct. However, due to the lack of an expert environment that would accompany the lawmaker, a model was formed that did not integrate the market into the economy, but actually pushed it into the shadows.

According to Kantar, about 93% of the market today is outside the legal field.

The investigation shows in detail:
• how the regulatory approaches of the state changed;
• how the market reacted to each of them;
• why each new strengthening did not reduce the volume of illegal traffic, but only changed its form.

The key problem - the sale of nicotine as a "non-product" - is highlighted separately. It is nicotine that is the basic element of liquids for electronic cigarettes, but today it is not registered en masse, is not recognized as a commodity and actually falls out of the regulatory field.

There is control - there is no efficiency
The investigation shows that even if violations are detected:
• criminal proceedings can last 4–8 months;
• tax authorities are often limited only to fines;
• large illegal players do not disappear, but are reformatted.

A control purchase in a hookah shop, where a 100% counterfeit product was purchased without an excise stamp, clearly shows: this is not a loophole in the law, but a direct crime.

The position of VARES is fundamental: the sale of ready-made liquids or disposable devices without an excise stamp should be qualified not administratively, but under the Criminal Code.

What can really change the situation
Any permits for flavored liquids or point relaxations will not bring the market out of the shadows. They will only weaken that small part of white business that already pays taxes today.

The only real way of detinization is the clear recognition of nicotine as a separate product and an excise product. This will create conditions for white business to compete with the black market and turn entrepreneurs into allies of the state in the fight against illegal trafficking.

According to preliminary calculations, this model can bring the budget up to UAH 3.8 billion already in the first year — funds that are critically important for the country during the war.

https://youtu.be/Narm3k4Pw-c?si=vw0CEoJ35-cX0l7e