12 regions.
More than 100 objects.
Joint work of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, the National Police of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General.

It's massive.
It's professional.
It is effective.

And this is not the first BEB operation in this segment recently.

Underground shops, counterfeit products, illegal points of sale - all this is systematically detected and stopped by the Bureau.

That is why this work should be celebrated. Because the illegal circulation of vapes is not a "gray market" or "minor violations". These are criminals who deliberately work outside the law, do not pay taxes and take money from the state budget.

And today this money is critically needed by the country.

This is money stolen from the army, social benefits, pensions, medicine, education and basic needs of the state during the war.

Separately, it is worth noting the position of the Chairman of the BEB Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi.

He very precisely formulated the main point: the Bureau is doing its work and will continue to do it, but the problem cannot be solved by operations alone.

Because as early as tomorrow, new ones may appear in the place of some illegal points.

And the reason is simple: as long as the shadow model remains economically viable, it will recover.

Today, the BEB mainly struggles with the consequences. Underground shops. Counterfeit. Illegal sale. Circulation of products outside the law.

But the next step is to eliminate the causes.

The vape market has long been in need of strict and clear legal regulation, transparent rules and real conditions for business operation "in the white".
Or a significant strengthening of criminal liability for illegal production and sale.

Otherwise, the state will be forced to endlessly put out fires while the system continues to create conditions for the shadow market.

The challenge now is to move from discussing the problem to creating regulations that will break the shadow market economy in this segment.

VARES supports the systematic work of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, the National Police of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office, aimed at stopping illegal production, the sale of counterfeit products and the operation of the illegal market.

For a legitimate business, this is the right signal. For the illegal market - too.