Danylo Hetmantsev, the head of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy, reported that he had received letters from Ukrainian businesses about the failure of testing the eExcise system. He accused the Ministry of Digital Affairs of delaying the development.
Danylo Hetmantsev, the head of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy, reported that he had received letters from Ukrainian businesses about the failure of testing the eExcise system. He accused the Ministry of Digital Affairs of delaying the development.
«I share the indignation. In two years, the Ministry of Digital has not developed the necessary software, the test period, which was supposed to start on March 1, did not begin this year! Probably, priorities have been given to another PR reform like „Date in Action“,» Hetmantsev wrote in his Telegram.
According to him, «untimely development» of software for «eExcise» carries the risk of billions in losses to the state budget and «colossal losses» for business.
«We will definitely not let business be offended. In the near future, we will submit the issue to the Committee, we will advise on what to do. But obviously, the failure of the reform should lead to personnel conclusions. Government officials must eventually learn to be responsible for their own failure,» said Danylo Hetmantsev.
To his post, he attached letters from the European Business Association, the Ukrainian Association of Tobacco Manufacturers «Ukrtyutyun» and the Federation of Employers of Ukraine.
«eExcise» is an electronic system for tracking the circulation of alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, and liquids used in electronic cigarettes.
Last fall, the Ministry of Digital Transformation announced that the Eastern Europe Fund had completed a tender for the development of the eExcise system. Dozens of Ukrainian and international IT companies participated in the selection, and the winner was Ukrainian ELEKS. Testing of the system started in March 2025, and the official launch is scheduled for 2026.
However, in the summer of 2025, Ukrainian business representatives announced possible daily losses to the state budget of over 400 million hryvnias due to the launch of the electronic system «eExcise». They believe that it is not ready for full-fledged testing .
Now companies from the European Business Association (EBA) and other representatives of the tobacco, alcohol and retail industries are calling on the Government and the Verkhovna Rada to postpone the introduction of the eExcise system for at least 10 months.
Business representatives believe that testing still remains «fragmentary» because not all necessary bylaws have been adopted yet, and software development is lagging behind.
«In fact, the test mode is being reduced to 2 months instead of the 10 months specified by law. According to the schedule available to businesses from the Ministry of Digital, the Electronic System will be ready for full testing only from November 2025, and the offline application, which is its integral component, only from January 1, 2026, when the system should already be put into operation,» the EBA said.
