Post by Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting

💡 Even in the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian businesses continue to view the customs system more positively than negatively. Yet, the latest survey of exporters and importers suggests that the focus of reform is changing. Companies are no longer primarily concerned with corruption or administrative opacity; instead, they increasingly demand faster procedures, greater legal certainty, modern infrastructure, and predictable implementation of customs rules. These are the main findings described by the IER Executive Director Oksana Kuziakiv in her article for 4liberty.eu Network: https://lnkd.in/e9yCz-mR ☝️Over 62% of respondents describe customs as generally effective, but still in need of improvement ☝️Almost 12% believe that it is already functioning effectively, but about a quarter say that deeper reforms are still needed. ☝️Border queues remain the most significant problem, affecting almost half of the companies surveyed. ☝️However, unlike previous years, concerns about corruption and transparency have significantly decreased. ☝️And the share of enterprises that identify corruption and bribery as a major problem has decreased to 21.3% compared to 30.3% a year earlier and 38.4% in 2023. ☝️Similarly, the number of complaints about insufficient transparency has decreased sharply. The article is based on the results of the survey “Customs Procedures in Ukraine During the War: Business Assessments and Expectations in 2025”, which was conducted by IER among Ukrainian exporters and importers in the spring of this year as part of the “Fact-Based Dialogue” project with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.