Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine
Despite the reform and change in the BEB leadership, businesses continue to complain about the Bureau’s actions. The situation involving airlines, against which criminal proceedings were opened due to the interpretation of leasing payments as royalties, is illustrative.
The forthcoming consultation from the Ministry of Finance will not automatically cancel liability, but it will confirm the ambiguity in interpreting the taxation of aircraft leasing and become an argument in disputes.
Lawyer Roman Tulin explained that the analytical conclusions of the Economic Security Bureau are used as a “working version” to initiate investigative actions.
Ratcliffe failed to convince Putin to make concessions regarding Ukraine. After the visit, Russia intensified its strikes on civilian infrastructure.
The Economic Security Bureau interprets aircraft leasing as royalties and has opened cases against airlines. The lawyer emphasized: the final decision on taxation is made by the court.
Due to the acute shortage of "air-to-air" missiles, Ukrainian F-16s sometimes rely solely on guns. Weapons supplies are being rationed.
The Finance Ministry plans to unify the taxation of airlines’ lease payments to non-residents. The UTP will not change the law, but may affect unresolved BEB disputes.
The EU approved €6. 1 billion in defense funding for Ukraine, including air defense. Member states also promised additional resources, but provided no details.
The Finance Ministry plans to establish a working group to provide tax clarification regarding airlines’ leasing payments to nonresidents. The industry expects a swift decision.
The Economic Security Bureau says it is abandoning punitive methods and deepening its dialogue with the Business Ombudsman Council. At the same time, the share of complaints against the Bureau in 2025–2026 has not decreased.
The Economic Security Bureau confirmed four proceedings concerning aircraft leasing and refused to explain why it equates it with royalties. The Bureau cited the secrecy of the investigation.
The Tax Committee of the Public Council initiated a working group under the Ministry of Finance to analyze leasing payments to non-residents. The group will prepare a draft general tax consultation.
The Business Ombudsman Council has recorded the opening of cases by the Economic Security Bureau before tax liabilities are agreed. Analytical reports are often deemed inadmissible evidence.
In 2025, the ESB received 29% of businesses’ complaints about law enforcement agencies, and the same share in 2026. Entrepreneurs complain about property seizures and investigative actions.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s defense industry needs to scale up the production of drones and long-range systems. The President called for creating protection against Russian ballistic missiles.
MP Kreidenko called on the Cabinet of Ministers to establish a working group following the BEB's new interpretation of the taxation of aircraft leasing as royalties. The Ministry of Finance should provide a single clarification.
74% of the BEB leadership failed the re-certification, but experts consider the reform too slow and incomplete. They call for all employees to be vetted, an audit of criminal cases to be conducted, and the Public Oversight Council to be relaunched.
The first stage of the certification of the BEB's management has been completed: 74% did not pass. Experts are demanding an audit of criminal cases, including those against airlines.
ESBU analytical reports are grounds for an investigation, but not evidence of a crime. Lawyer Oleh Shram warned of the risks of pressure on businesses due to abuse of this mechanism.
The BEB initiates criminal proceedings based on internal analytical reports that are not evidence. This creates risks for businesses and deters the international investors needed for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Following the revocation of GlobalSign certificates, Russian government and bank websites are experiencing access problems. Businesses are forced to spend millions of rubles switching to their own certificates.
MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak said that groundless investigative actions are the main barrier to investment. Ukraine's reconstruction requires $588 billion, including private capital.
Russia is already testing NATO’s response to military aggression and may move on to more dangerous provocations. At the same time, Europe’s weak point remains the low pace of defense production and shortages of certain types of weapons.
The Public Council under the Ministry of Finance plans to consider the taxation of lease payments for aircraft and initiate a general tax clarification. The reason was differing approaches to classifying such transactions as royalties, which led to criminal cases being brought against airlines.
The President of the Association of Taxpayers of Ukraine, Grigol Katamadze, called on the state to develop unified rules for the taxation of aircraft leasing. He warned that further pressure on air carriers through criminal cases initiated by the Economic Security Bureau could destroy Ukrainian civil aviation.
The Ukrainian Air Transport Association appealed to the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada and the Public Council under the Ministry of Finance regarding a unified approach to the taxation of aviation leasing. Different interpretations of the rules have led to additional tax assessments and criminal proceedings by the Bureau of Economic Security against air carriers.
The Ukrainian Air Transport Association urges the government to form a unified position on the taxation of operating leases of aircraft. The Bureau of Economic Security has opened criminal cases against five airlines due to the interpretation of lease payments as royalties.
Ukrainian airlines operate 131 leased aircraft out of 152, which is 86% of the fleet. The Bureau of Economic Security is investigating cases against 5 airlines over the interpretation of lease payments as royalties.
The lawyer stated that the BEB is obliged to take into account the results of the State Tax Service audits, which found no violations in the taxation of leasing. She emphasized that criminal prosecution requires new evidence, not a change in interpretation.
Law enforcement officers exposed two underground tobacco factories in Kharkiv and Lviv regions. More than 115,000 packs of cigarettes, 3.5 tons of tobacco, and equipment worth UAH 60 million were seized.