Cars with European license plates

The issue of customs clearance of cars with foreign license plates has been acute in Ukraine for a long time. Owners of "eurobliakhy" periodically took to protests demanding lower duties on foreign-registered cars.

On November 8, 2018, the Verkhovna Rada adopted bill No. 8487 as a whole. It provides for a reduction in the cost of customs clearance in Ukraine of cars with European registration. Under the adopted law, cars with European plates could be cleared through customs without penalties within half a year – until May 23. From May 24, strict penalties were to be applied to owners of foreign-registered cars.

However, the deadlines for introducing fines were postponed: from May to August, and from August Zelenskyy postponed them to November with his bill. The Cabinet of Ministers decided to extend this deadline even further – until January 1, 2020.

On October 2, owners of cars with European plates held a protest outside the Verkhovna Rada building. They demanded a final solution to the problems with the customs clearance of "eurobliakhy", the return of technical inspection, and that a bill on affordable customs clearance and the abolition of excise duty be considered in October (before the adoption of the 2020 budget).