Eradication of smuggling and gray  schemes at the border is a matter of honor for all branches of power, because country losses billions of hryvnias due to the non-transparency at the border. This was stated by Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman during the all-Ukrainian teleconference on combating smuggling schemes at the Ukrainian border.

"Customs officers, border guards have to do their utmost to make the country richer, but not to facilitate smuggling. You earn thousands or millions, and the state loses billions. Our soldiers who are defending the country at the eastern border could have better military equipment, but due to ineffective and even criminal actions, they are deprived of this possibility", the Head of Government stressed.

The Prime Minister once again urged everyone to serve the state. " If you are not capable to fulfill your responsibilities, then it is better to resign office. And if you can - let's work in synergy  and not to seek explanations. If there is a need for amending legislation, then we will ask the Parliament to improve legislation and we can also make amendments to the governments resolutions . But this is a matter of honor for all of us ", Volodymyr Groysman claimed.

Background

The all-Ukrainian teleconference was held within the framework of the implementation of the targets  of the "Ukraine without smuggling" initiative offered by the Government. "This is not a one-off event. The pressure will not decrease, said the Head of Government. - We will thoroughly analyze the work of the customs, there will be taken rigid decisions. We won't keep quiet about this…We will improve the system in order to ensure the mechanisms for combatting smuggling are effective. Thus, we will also submit amendments to the legislation to the Parliament, which provide criminalization (actions contributing) to smuggling".