Kyiv court clears BAJAJ importer of customs undervaluation charges

The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv ruled in favour of the head of EM-J Trade LLC, closing the administrative case due to the absence of an event and the elements of an offence. The court found that the evidentiary base provided by the customs authority did not substantiate the charges of undervaluing the customs value of a batch of Indian motorcycles.

Circumstances of the import operation

According to the materials of case No. 761/36689/26, in August 2024, the importing company brought 42 new BAJAJ DOMINAR 400 model motorcycles through the Rava-Ruska border crossing point. The total value of this batch was declared at USD 60,480, which amounted to approximately 2.5 million hryvnias at the time of the operation.

Customs charges and verification methodology

The Coordination and Monitoring Customs Service questioned the price declared by the importer. Inspectors, relying on data from the Indian customs portal ICEGATE, claimed that in the country of manufacture, this batch of motorcycles was cleared for 8.15 million Indian rupees. This is equivalent to over 4 million hryvnias.

Customs officers interpreted the difference of 1.51 million hryvnias as a potential concealment of the true value of the goods and the submission of false documents for customs clearance.

Defence arguments and evidentiary base

During the court hearing, representatives of EM-J Trade LLC provided documents confirming the amount declared by the importer. The evidence included bank payment instructions, accounting certificates, and an official letter from the manufacturer, BAJAJ AUTO LIMITED.

These materials confirmed that the parties to the agreement agreed on a batch value of USD 60,480, and it was this amount that was paid by the Ukrainian importer through SENS BANK.

Procedural violations by the customs authority

The court had specific concerns regarding the evidence provided by customs. In particular, the customs authority did not make an official international request to the competent authorities of India. Instead, the charges were based on paper printouts from a foreign website that lacked a qualified electronic signature.

Furthermore, the court established that customs had not complied with the procedure for post-customs control and documentary checks established by legislation.

Court decision

On 5 October 2026, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv closed the proceedings in this case. The court concluded that there was no event or elements of an administrative offence, thereby acquitting the head of EM-J Trade LLC of the charges brought.