Alcohol and tobacco market on the brink of crisis: businesses urge Parliament to urgently support postponement of the eExcise launch

25/ 09/ 2025

The European Business Association stresses the critical need to urgently adopt legislative amendments postponing the launch of the eExcise system until 1 November 2026. Businesses fully support the state’s strategic objective, digitalising processes, tackling the shadow market, and strengthening control over excise tax payments. However, the current level of technical readiness of the Electronic System makes its launch on 1 January 2026 impossible without significant risks for legitimate market operators. This could result in major business disruptions, a lack of legal products on shop shelves, a rapid growth of the shadow segment, and multi-billion losses for the state budget. On 9 September 2025, a meeting took place between the business community and the First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov. During the meeting, it was confirmed that the Electronic System with all its components would be technically ready by 1 January 2026. Consequently, a fundamental agreement was reached on the need to extend the eExcise testing period until 1 November 2026, while maintaining and rescheduling all other deadlines provided for in the legislation. The relevant proposals have already been submitted by the Ministry of Digital Transformation to the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation, and Customs Policy. This decision is supported by the market, since the ability to comprehensively test the Electronic System for at least 10 months is critically important for business preparedness for the new traceability model of excisable goods. This will allow market operators to adapt internal processes, integrate necessary IT solutions, and test the system’s functionality at all stages of excisable goods’ circulation – from producer or importer to the final consumer. European Business Association member companies call on Parliament to support the postponement of the eExcise launch and emphasise the importance of adopting the necessary legislative amendments by the end of October 2025. Any delay in approving these amendments poses a real risk of disrupting the schedule for ordering paper stamps and paralysing the legal market, which in turn would lead to a significant drop in budget revenues as early as January 2026. The EBA urges the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to promptly review and adopt the necessary legislative changes to prevent a crisis in the excisable goods market. This concerns not only the stability of the legal market, but also the safeguarding of billions in state budget revenues and the protection of consumers from uncontrolled products of dubious quality.

The European Business Association stresses the critical need to urgently adopt legislative amendments postponing the launch of the eExcise system until 1 November 2026.

Businesses fully support the state’s strategic objective, digitalising processes, tackling the shadow market, and strengthening control over excise tax payments. However, the current level of technical readiness of the Electronic System makes its launch on 1 January 2026 impossible without significant risks for legitimate market operators. This could result in major business disruptions, a lack of legal products on shop shelves, a rapid growth of the shadow segment, and multi-billion losses for the state budget.

On 9 September 2025, a meeting took place between the business community and the First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov. During the meeting, it was confirmed that the Electronic System with all its components would be technically ready by 1 January 2026. Consequently, a fundamental agreement was reached on the need to extend the eExcise testing period until 1 November 2026, while maintaining and rescheduling all other deadlines provided for in the legislation. The relevant proposals have already been submitted by the Ministry of Digital Transformation to the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation, and Customs Policy.

This decision is supported by the market, since the ability to comprehensively test the Electronic System for at least 10 months is critically important for business preparedness for the new traceability model of excisable goods. This will allow market operators to adapt internal processes, integrate necessary IT solutions, and test the system’s functionality at all stages of excisable goods’ circulation – from producer or importer to the final consumer.

European Business Association member companies call on Parliament to support the postponement of the eExcise launch and emphasise the importance of adopting the necessary legislative amendments by the end of October 2025. Any delay in approving these amendments poses a real risk of disrupting the schedule for ordering paper stamps and paralysing the legal market, which in turn would lead to a significant drop in budget revenues as early as January 2026.

The EBA urges the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to promptly review and adopt the necessary legislative changes to prevent a crisis in the excisable goods market. This concerns not only the stability of the legal market, but also the safeguarding of billions in state budget revenues and the protection of consumers from uncontrolled products of dubious quality.