KYIV, Aug 9 – After law enforcement agencies halted the operations of illegal or semi-legal cigarette factories, revenue from excise taxes to the state budget increased by 33.6%, reaching UAH 4.6 billion in June-July, reported Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a member of parliament from the Holos party.

"This is the best response to the arguments of certain smugglers," he wrote on Telegram, following the hearings held by the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy on the state of efforts by the Bureau of Economic Security and the State Tax Service to eliminate the illegal tobacco market.