Vehicles with Foreign License Plates: How to Drive Legally?

On the program “Public Reception Office—Legal Corner” on the Kyiv channel, host and studio guest Taras Svyryd, an attorney, discussed a very hot topic that has been the number one topic in the country for the past few weeks — the issue of vehicles with foreign license plates and how to drive them legally.

Every day when we hit the road, we see a large number of cars with license plates from foreign countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and others. The regulatory framework is currently “non-existent,” so we’ll continue to discuss this topic over the next few years.

The main reasons for the mass import of cars with foreign license plates into Ukraine are undoubtedly the impoverishment of the Ukrainian people, the devaluation of the national currency, the failure to adjust wages, gaps in national legislation, its non-compliance with international law, and other factors. Cars are a luxury for most citizens of our country. And so they are forced to turn to the used-car market—some to the Ukrainian market, others to the European one.

According to current Ukrainian legislation, there are two options for importing foreign-registered vehicles into Ukraine: the transit regime and the temporary importation regime. These regimes apply to the importation into Ukraine of all vehicles registered in any country—both within the European Union and those outside it. Furthermore, there are certain procedures that Ukrainians can use to circumvent current legislation while remaining within the bounds of the law.

The period of stay in Ukraine under the transit regime can be 5 or 10 days: 5 days within the jurisdiction of a single customs office, and 10 days across two customs offices. After that, Part 3 of Article 470 of the Customs Code of Ukraine applies. The fine is 8,500 UAH. Within this period, the citizen is required to take the vehicle out of the country. Ukrainians living in border regions often take advantage of this provision. Every 5 days, they can leave Ukraine and re-enter the country.

If the temporary importation rules are violated, the citizen is held liable for an administrative offense—a fine of 8,500 UAH. A citizen may be held liable only once for the same offense. If, within one year of exceeding the permitted stay period for the vehicle in Ukraine, the citizen has already been held liable, they may continue driving. The authorities have no right to confiscate the vehicle. It is irrelevant to customs whether the vehicle was purchased or registered in the Ukrainian’s name in one way or another. In any case, there are only two ways to import a car with foreign license plates into Ukraine, as described above. Police officers have no right to stop a vehicle without cause, as traffic regulations specify clear grounds for stopping a car. The mere fact that a car has foreign registration does not give them grounds to stop it. To legally drive such a vehicle, all you need are a driver’s license and the vehicle’s registration documents. Customs officials will issue a report against a citizen who entered the country in a vehicle with foreign registration and who subsequently crosses the border again without that vehicle, thereby violating the permitted duration of stay in the country. They do not have the right to detain such a person. If a person has imported multiple vehicles and violated the time limits for crossing the border with them, several reports will be drawn up—one for each vehicle. People with disabilities are not entitled to duty-free importation of vehicles into Ukraine. There may be certain adjustments to the customs duty rate during customs clearance. However, customs clearance is mandatory. If a person decides to import a foreign-registered vehicle into Ukraine, they must clearly understand the risks involved in importing such vehicles into the country. The first risk is national legislation, which can be amended at any time. The amount of the fine may also be changed.

The second way to import a foreign-registered car into Ukraine is through the temporary importation regime. This can be for personal or commercial purposes.

Let’s consider the case of personal use. Many companies have emerged that specialize in importing foreign-registered cars into Ukraine. These companies have registered legal entities abroad; they record the cars on their balance sheets and then sell them. When “selling” a car to an individual, they register that person as an employee of the company. For this purpose, foreigners—commonly referred to as “camels”—are enlisted to transport these cars into Ukraine and hand them over to their new owners.

But it’s also important to be aware of the risks. These risks can stem from both Ukrainian law and the laws of the country where the vehicle is registered. For example, you might end up having to pay taxes on the car in the country where it’s registered. Why can’t Ukrainian citizens be allowed to temporarily import a vehicle for a longer period? Because our lawmakers have absolutely no grasp of what already exists, how to deal with it, or how to regulate it. No one cares about the daily lives of ordinary citizens today. They grab onto the nearest initiative, draft a bill, and rush headlong to extract some kind of indulgences, rewards, or profits from it. And indeed, currently, only foreigners or Ukrainian citizens who hold a permanent residence permit in another country are allowed to import and use foreign-registered vehicles in our country for more than a year. For Ukrainian citizens, the limit is only 10 days. This, in turn, results in millions of hryvnias in lost investments and revenue for the state budget. We need to establish organizations to lobby for such bills. The Istanbul Convention provides that a foreign company may transfer a vehicle to third parties for use within Ukraine. However, the Customs Code states the opposite. The Customs Code prohibits such transfers to third parties. There is a ruling by the Odesa Court of Appeals on this matter, which found that the Customs Code contradicts the Istanbul Convention on this issue. It should be noted that the Istanbul Convention regulates the import of vehicles with foreign license plates for those countries that have acceded to it. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has ratified the Istanbul Convention. The state should not interfere or dictate to individuals how they should purchase a vehicle or how it should be registered. In this matter, individuals must have the right to choose and decide for themselves. If it is not possible to purchase a car from a dealership, individuals should have the right to import one from abroad. For example, in Moldova, citizens pay 110 euros for one year of using a car with foreign registration within the country. And they can use it without restriction throughout the year. Ukraine has adopted Euro 5 environmental standards, which are “draconian” compared to the environmental standards in effect in Europe. When purchasing a car with foreign registration, you must verify that it has not been deregistered in its country of origin. For example, Estonia has a public registry where this information can be checked. You should also verify when the vehicle last passed its technical inspection, whether it has an insurance policy, and so on.