Lviv Customs recently reported another case of undeclared currency: at the Rava-Ruska – Hrebene checkpoint, a bus passenger tried to export 20,600 US dollars without appropriate declaration. This violation was recorded in the protocol under Part 2 of Article 471 of the Customs Code of Ukraine, as the amount exceeds the permitted limit of 10,000 euros.
However, such stories are just the tip of the iceberg. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the number of cases of illegal cash removal from Ukraine is measured in the hundreds, but only a few reach the courts.
After changes in the legislation on June 16, 2022, the fine for failure to declare ceased to be symbolic. If earlier it was only UAH 1,700 regardless of the amount, now citizens are obliged to pay 20% of the excess of the permitted limit. At the same time, the confiscation of currency has been abolished.
According to official data from the State Customs Service, 424 protocols were drawn up for failure to declare currency in the first six months of 2022 alone. The largest number of violations was recorded in January and February (169 and 147, respectively), while after the start of the full-scale invasion, their number dropped sharply.
Only 16 cases of undeclared foreign currency funds reached the courts from 2022 to 2025. The total amount of undeclared currency recorded in these decisions is over 5.4 million US dollars and 1.1 million euros.
The record holder is considered to be Vasyl Musteca, the father of former Deputy Prosecutor General Ihor Musteca. In March 2022, he tried to take out more than $1.1 million and 100,000 euros. The court eventually closed the case due to missing deadlines.
In second place is lawyer and public figure Kostyantyn Byedovy, who was caught in March 2022 while trying to take out over $590,000 and €47,000. The court limited itself to a minimal fine.
But in the case of Maria Trifonova, known as the common-law wife of former Deputy Head of the State Customs Service Ruslan Cherkasky, the courts sided with the customs. For attempting to export $500,000 and $150,000 in two episodes, she received fines of hundreds of thousands of hryvnias.
However, most violations remain out of the public domain, as if the offender pleads guilty and pays a fine, the case does not go to court. Thus, the true scale of the “gray” currency leakage remains unknown.
The next step in researching the topic will be to analyze statistics from neighboring countries — Poland, Romania, and Hungary — regarding the amounts that Ukrainians declare upon entry. It is there that, presumably, the real volumes of capital leaving Ukraine are reflected.
