Combating Counterfeiting in Ukraine in Wartime

Combating counterfeiting is not only a matter of enforcing private intellectual property rights of rights holders, but also an important public interest of the state. The dissemination of counterfeit goods is detrimental to the economy through tax evasion, support for the shadow economy, and unfair competition, which results in losses to the state budget. Furthermore, the production and distribution of counterfeit goods are often related to the activities of organized criminal groups, posing threats to the country’s economic and national security. Counterfeit goods pose a critical danger to our country under martial law, as the “quick money” obtained from their sale is highly likely to be diverted to the enemy to finance war crimes against our country. Сounterfeit goods may be particularly harmful for the customers since they do not undergo proper quality and safety controls and, therefore, may pose a serious risk to the lives and health of citizens. This is particularly relevant for pharmaceuticals, food products, children’s goods, and technology products.

It’s for this very reason that combating counterfeiting is an integral part of state policy aimed at protecting public economic and security interests. Given the scale of the negative consequences of counterfeiting, the state employs the full range of available legal mechanisms to prevent the production, importation, movement, and distribution of counterfeit goods. Such measures must be implemented both at the border—through customs control procedures, the enforcement of intellectual property rights, and administrative enforcement—and within the country through administrative, civil, commercial, and criminal law mechanisms. Only a comprehensive approach that covers all stages of the movement of goods—from their production and import to sale to the end consumer—can effectively reduce the scale of counterfeiting and protect the legitimate interests of the state, businesses, and citizens.

Unfortunately, the problem of counterfeiting in Ukraine has not only persisted during the full-scale war but has even intensified in certain sectors. Martial law, disruptions in logistics, the growth of online commerce, and the government’s focus on defense have created additional opportunities for illegal businesses. At the same time, law-enforcement agencies have significantly stepped up their efforts to combat such offenses.

Most Counterfeited Products in Wartime

Branded clothing, footwear, and accessories remain the most widespread types of counterfeit goods in Ukraine during this war, while the illegal tobacco market causes the greatest economic losses to the state.

According to the Economic Security Bureau (ESB), the most often counterfeited goods in 2024–2025 included clothing and footwear of well-known brands, perfumes and cosmetics, household chemicals, electronics and related accessories, automotive lubricants and auto parts, power supplies and electrical equipment, food products, as well as tobacco products and alcoholic beverages.

Based on Pakharenko and Partners’ practice, counterfeiting of global brands of clothing, sporting goods, coffee and oil, headphones, smartwatches, chargers, and other small electronics is particularly popular.

Let’s consider the categories of counterfeit products based on the main statistical criteria available.

In terms of the number of cases recorded, the most often counterfeited products are branded clothing, footwear, and accessories, as this category most frequently appears in intellectual property infringement cases and in Pakharenko and Partners’ practice. The reasons are obvious: relatively low production costs coupled with significant sales revenue, high demand for well-known brands, the ease of affixing brand logos, the ability to sell through social media and marketplaces, and relatively low risks compared to counterfeit alcohol or tobacco products.

If we assess not the number of cases but the scale of the damage, then in terms of economic losses incurred by the state, illegal cigarettes and tobacco products likely rank first. Experts often cite illegal tobacco products as one of the largest segments of Ukraine’s shadow economy. Among the reasons are the market’s significant size, high excise taxes that encourage clandestine production, constant demand during the war, and the ability of large-scale production in clandestine factories.

In terms of growth rates, the leading sectors are electronics and accessories, as demand for power banks, batteries, chargers, headphones, generator equipment, and uninterruptible power supplies surged sharply after the start of the full-scale war. Counterfeiters took advantage of this situation and began importing or assembling products with counterfeit labels of well-known brands.

In terms of health risks, the top categories are alcohol, medications, food products, cosmetics, and lubricants, as they pose the greatest threat to consumers—they can cause poisoning, contain unknown ingredients, and damage equipment and vehicles.

Counterfeit Products Are Either Imported or Manufactured in Ukraine

Both methods of infringing intellectual property rights are being used in Ukraine.

As for imported counterfeit goods, a significant portion of counterfeit products enters the Ukrainian market via smuggling from Asian countries, primarily China and other manufacturing hubs in the region. This is common for gadgets, equipment accessories, perfumes, and branded clothing and footwear.

Local production is no less widespread, including the sewing of clothing with illegally applied brand logos, the production and packaging of household chemicals, the production of counterfeit lubricants, the production of counterfeit coffee and oils, and the illegal manufacture of cigarettes and alcohol.

Where Counterfeit Goods Are Sold

In recent years there has been a noticeable shift from traditional markets to digital marketing channels.

The main online sales channels are: online stores, social media, Telegram channels, marketplaces, and messaging apps.

The main offline sales channels are merchandise markets, small stores, distribution warehouses, and retail outlets in industrial areas of cities.

In a number of cases, the ESB simultaneously discovered production facilities, warehouses, and chains of brick-and-mortar stores.

Wartime Counterfeit Trends

Online sales of counterfeit goods have increased, as a significant portion of illegal trade moved online after 2022. This has made identification of infringers more difficult and has enabled them to operate without incurring significant costs for operation of physical retail outlets.

The proportion of discovered counterfeit excise goods—to which law-enforcement agencies pay particular attention—has increased.

New categories of counterfeit goods have emerged, as supply disruptions and shortages of certain products have increased demand for batteries, generator equipment, power supplies, and electronic components.

Unfortunately, the methods used to produce and distribute counterfeits have become more sophisticated, making it increasingly difficult for consumers and law-enforcement agencies to distinguish modern counterfeits from genuine goods. Organizers of these illegal operations use professional packaging, forged certificates, social media marketing campaigns, and nationwide courier delivery.

How Serious Is the Problem?

Despite the lack of consolidated government statistics, official data from the ESB indicates a significant intensification in anti-counterfeiting activities during the war. In 2024 alone, counterfeit goods worth over 400 million hryvnias were seized, and more than 14 large-scale production facilities were shut down; in 2025, another 21 illegal production facilities were dismantled, with products, raw materials, and equipment worth over 300 million hryvnias seized.

The Cyber Police, the National Police, and other agencies regularly report on individual raids on underground garment manufactures, perfume production facilities, revealing counterfeit electronics, counterfeit lubricants, and illegal alcohol and tobacco products. However, they do not maintain separate public annual statistics specifically with regard to counterfeit products in the intellectual property field.

As for the State Customs Service, unlike the ESB, it primarily publishes the number of suspensions of customs clearance, the number of IPR items entered into the Customs Register, and information on specific large-scale operations. Since the start of the full-scale war, there has been significantly less publicly available detailed annual data specifically on counterfeit goods seized by the State Customs Service than was the case prior to 2022. This is likely due to martial law, which has resulted in a shift in the priorities of customs control, and to the fact that measures to assist in IPR enforcement do not cover smuggled goods (i.e. cases where the State Customs Service detects goods being transported beyond customs control, concealed from customs control, through non-declaration, etc.), which constitute the main part of counterfeit goods imported into Ukraine.

Sellers and Organizers of Production of Counterfeit Goods

Ukrainian law-enforcement agencies do not usually disclose the names of most companies or individuals until a court verdict has been handed down. There are several typical categories of infringers: organized groups importing replicas of branded goods, owners of online shops, administrators of social media pages, owners of clandestine garment manufactures, and illegal manufacturers of cigarettes and alcohol.

That said, the majority of cases involve organized groups rather than large, official companies.

What Measures Are Taken by the State?

The State Economic Security Bureau (SESB) focuses on finding clandestine production facilities, seizing goods, searching warehouses and clandestine factories, and referring cases to court.

The Cyber Police monitor online shops, document sales via social media, and reveal online schemes for selling counterfeit goods.

The State Customs Service focuses on import controls, the seizure of suspicious consignments, and combating the illegal cross-border movement of tobacco and alcohol.

Court practice indicates a rise in the number of criminal proceedings regarding the unlawful use of trade marks, the confiscation not only of counterfeit goods but also of the equipment used to manufacture them, and the revocation of licenses held by certain manufacturers of excise goods.

Conclusion

During this ongoing war, the Ukrainian counterfeit market has shifted from traditional street markets to e-commerce and organized schemes involving imports and local production. The most commonly counterfeited products are branded clothing and footwear, electronics, perfumes, household chemicals, lubricants, cigarettes and alcohol. Some of the products are imported from Asia, though a significant volume is produced directly in Ukraine. Despite the stepped-up efforts of the Economic Security Bureau (ESB), Cyber Police and State Customs Service, the scale of seizures running into hundreds of millions of hryvnias indicates that the problem remains serious and poses both an economic and a security threat to the state.

What Options Do Manufacturers of Branded Goods Have to Protect Themselves Against Counterfeiting?

Given the current situation in Ukraine, we would recommend that manufacturers of branded goods move from passively protecting their rights to a proactive risk management strategy. Such an approach should involve not only responding to discovered counterfeiting but also systematic efforts to prevent their appearance on the market.

To this end, the following priority steps could be recommended.

1. Registering trademarks in Ukraine and ensuring their protection at the customs border. If the brand’s trademarks are not yet registered in Ukraine, this should be a top priority. As soon as the trademarks are registered, it is advisable to submit an application for assistance in protecting IP rights by including the trademarks in the Customs Register of Intellectual Property Rights. This will allow customs authorities to suspend customs clearance of suspicious goods at the border.
2. Establishing a system for the ongoing monitoring of the Ukrainian market. Today, the main trade in counterfeit goods has shifted to e-commerce. It is, therefore, necessary to regularly monitor marketplaces, social media, Telegram channels and specialist online shops. Monitoring must be continuous, not sporadic.
3. Appointing a local legal representative or rapid response team. In Ukraine, it is important to liaise promptly with customs, law-enforcement agencies, the courts and experts. Having a Ukrainian patent attorney or legal representative significantly reduces the response time in the event of infringements, as officials can communicate with authorised contact persons who can quickly confirm the authenticity of the goods.
4. Updating the information provided to the State Customs Service. It is not enough simply to include an IPR item in the customs register. It is important to have this information updated on a regular basis and provide photographs of the original products, characteristics of genuine goods, typical counterfeit features, and details of official manufacturers, importers and distributors. It is the quality of this information that significantly influences the effectiveness of customs controls.
5. Focusing resources on the highest-risk categories of goods. Applying the same level of scrutiny to the entire product range is not necessary. Greater attention should be paid to goods that are most often counterfeited or that pose the greatest risks to consumers: electronics, chargers, cosmetics, car parts, lubricants, pharmaceutical products and goods with high brand value.
6. Using modern product authentication tools. These may include QR codes, serialization, security labels, digital certificates or other technologies that help customs the authorities, distributors and consumers to quickly verify the authenticity of goods.
7. Collaborating more actively with government bodies. The effectiveness of anti-counterfeiting efforts increases significantly when the rights holder maintains constant contact with the State Customs Service, the Economic Security Bureau, the National Police and prosecutors, provides expert assistance and participates in the training of officials. Ukraine continues to bring its intellectual property rights protection system into line with European standards, which creates additional opportunities for such cooperation.
8. Taking regular enforcement measures provided by civil and criminal law. If counterfeit products have already been discovered, it is more effective to adopt a comprehensive approach: contacting marketplaces to request the removal of listings, taking customs action, bringing civil claims and, where there are grounds to do so, initiating criminal proceedings.

In our view, the biggest mistake made by many foreign rights holders at present is to expect that counterfeit goods will be detected exclusively by the state authorities. Under wartime conditions, a shared responsibility model is more effective, whereby the rights holder monitors the market, provides evidence promptly, conducts training sessions for the State Customs Service to identify counterfeits goods and maintains constant contact with law-enforcement agencies. This approach is in line with current European practices of public and private cooperation in the fight against counterfeiting.