Ukraine is cracking down on illegal gambling and logging and fraudulent gas stations in a bid to reduce the size of the country’s shadow economy.
Speaking at a meeting with the heads of the country’s 24 regions over the weekend, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said the year 2020 “will be the year of the uncloaking of the Ukrainian economy.”
He noted that in the last two weeks, police had shuttered 900 illicit gambling dens.
He said about half of the gas stations police inspected -- 707 -- were not paying fuel taxes.
A digital record of all cut timber is set to be placed in a centralized digital registry by February 1, Honcharuk said.
The Economic Development and Trade Ministry estimates that 33 percent of Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) is in the shadows.
Some economists say the figure is higher and makes up about 40 percent of the economy. In monetary terms, Ukraine’s economic output last year equaled $155 billion, Kyiv-based investment bank Dragon Capital estimates.
Ukraine Seeks To Shrink Underground Economy, Takes On Illegal Gambling, Other Sectors
Editors' Picks
Top Trending
1
Russian Troops Remaining In Syria Reportedly Lack Food, Water
2Kyiv Says It Broke Up Russian Spy Network Targeting F-16 Fighter Data
3Assad's Fall Is A Blow To Russia. Here's What It Means For The War In Ukraine.
4Ukraine, U.S. Say North Korean Soldiers Killed, Wounded In Russia's Kursk
5The Moment A Russian General Was Killed By A Scooter Bomb In Moscow
6What A Ukraine Peace Plan Could Look Like
7'They Look Tense': Photographer Describes Scenes At Russian Base In Syria
8Russian General Charged With Chemical Weapons Use In Ukraine Killed In Blast Claimed By Kyiv
9Russia Appears To Prepare Some Military Equipment For Withdrawal From Syria
10Bolstered By North Korean Troops, Russia Presses Attacks in Kursk Region
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.
