Smuggled "apples": how 75% of Apple’s devices bypass customs and taxes

Smuggled "apples": how 75% of Apple’s devices bypass customs and taxes

We open a new topic of illegal markets with a shocking figure.

75% of Apple equipment in Ukraine is smuggled and sold without paying taxes.

Now for the details.

In 2023, according to my sources in the State Customs Service, 241,856 iPhones were officially imported into Ukraine.

At the same time, sources among mobile operators reported that Ukrainians activated almost 950,000 new iPhones in 2023.

Do you understand what these numbers mean?

About the scale of smuggling, since 75% of new iPhones that were purchased and activated by Ukrainians are devices that got into the country, it is not clear how.

All these gadgets go past customs, but are openly sold throughout the country in bright stores that openly sell contraband.

Budget losses from importing such a number of iPhones at customs alone amount to almost UAH 7 billion. in year.

Add here the entire Apple line, multiply by the sales scheme of hundreds of stores without paying taxes (cash, crypto, individual entrepreneur networks...), and you will get a shadow market for apples worth 1.5-2 billion dollars.

According to my calculations, the total budget losses (imports + sales) are 20-25 billion annually.
It’s similar to the cigarette market.

And this market is growing. In pre-war 2021, Ukrainians activated 850,000 new Athos, which is 100,000 less than in 2023.

Illegal sales networks are also growing, which are actually doubling their numbers, because the business is very profitable.

I ask the BES and the tax authorities to finally see this problem.
Well, we begin to illuminate and detail it.