After the ban on flavored vapes in July 2024, new devices with fruit, coffee, menthol, and energy flavors appeared on the Ukrainian market, which are massively imported from China. The products are sold under the guise of electronic gadgets and end up in the hands of minors. The composition of the liquids is unknown and uncertified, which makes them potentially deadly.
According to investigations, contraband goods are supplied through the companies LLC PPAS GROUP (Chaser Lab), LLC TRON-TRADE (Liquid Lab), and LLC FLAVORLAB (Flavorlab). The products are imported without excise duties, registration, and quality control, packaged in local warehouses, and sold as “Ukrainian.”
The financial flows of the scheme operate through fictitious sole proprietorships and shell companies to launder funds, with some of the money going to officials who ensure the inaction of regulatory authorities. Thus, a vicious circle is formed: illegal production, shadow sales, tax evasion, and “kickbacks” to those who should control the market.
Retail sales are carried out through SMOK and My Device chains in Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Poltava, Kharkiv and other cities. The products are positioned as “vaping gadgets”, but contain prohibited flavored mixtures without excise stamps, and there is no information on the composition and nicotine content on the packaging.
Courts are already recording facts of illegal trade. For example, the decision of the Dnipropetrovsk District Administrative Court of August 26, 2025 confirmed the sale of prohibited products on the My Device network without excise taxes. However, the networks continue to operate, and law enforcement agencies do not react.
The sale of vapes to minors is especially dangerous. Advertisements for SMOK and Liquid Lab are openly placed in the center of Kyiv, indicating mass poisoning of young people with toxic substances that release carcinogens when heated.
