IMF urges acceleration of customs reform by Ukraine, pushes appointment of new customs head to Dec 2025
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on Ukraine to intensify efforts to reform the State Customs Service (SCS) and has agreed to a revised timeline proposed by Ukrainian authorities, postponing the appointment of a new head of the agency from June to December 2025.
" Greater efforts are needed to jump-start the stalled customs reforms, which straddle revenue and governance areas. The selection of a new head of SCS is unfortunately delayed, as the CMU [Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine] has yet to formally appoint the selection commission, which is a first step in the process," the IMF stated in its updated EFF program review published on its website early Tuesday.
According to the document, Ukrainian authorities reiterated their commitment to SCS reforms and proposed a new sequencing to the reform process to enable greater domestic buy-in: present a detailed SCS reform plan (prior action); once the plan is approved, engage with external partners to identify financing for SCS reforms, which they estimate could cost between $0.4–1.2 billion for new equipment, training, salaries, etc. (by end-August).
Once financing is identified, appoint the selection commission (by end-August) and appoint the new head of SCS by end-2025.
"While [IMF] staff considers that the appointment process could have proceeded concurrently with the development of the reform and financing plan, it will go along with the authorities’ proposal on the expectation that the process will be completed by end-December. Nevertheless, given persistent delays in this reform, staff sees considerable risks to its timely completion," the report said.
The IMF mission also also emphasized the importance of developing KPIs for the head of SCS. In line with good international practice, these KPIs should balance the need for revenue mobilization with other objectives, such as trade facilitation, governance, and risk reduction.
For the eighth review, Ukraine submitted a detailed SCS reform plan to the Cabinet of Ministers in lieu of naming a new agency head.
As reported, the Ministry of Finance was expected to submit a structural reform plan for customs by June 17, 2025.