A company from the power industry turned to the Business Ombudsman Council with a complaint about the unjustified delay of vehicles carrying solar panels at Lviv Customs. The equipment had been imported for the construction of the company’s own solar power plant, intended as a contribution to the development of “green” energy and strengthening the country’s energy security.
The cargo was blocked at the customs clearance stage, while customs officials could not clearly specify for a long time which additional documents were required to complete the procedure.
A Senior Investigator of the Council sent official requests to Lviv Customs and the State Customs Service of Ukraine asking for clarification of the reasons behind the delay. Later, representatives of the State Customs Service explained orally that, in their view, the value of the solar panels was overstated. Lviv Customs also forwarded this information to the Bureau of Economic Security, which recommended intensified control. At the same time, the customs authorities based their assessment solely on general import statistics from China, disregarding the fact that the company had purchased equipment from a more expensive segment with different specifications and capacity.
Additionally, the company repeatedly appealed to Customs and the State Customs Service regarding the inaction of officials during clearance.
As part of reviewing one of the complaints, the State Customs Service arranged an online meeting to discuss the case, which was also attended by the Council’s Senior Investigator. During this call, for the first time, the State Customs Service presented a clear list of documents and information required for finalizing the clearance.
The company promptly provided all the requested information, and as a result, customs clearance was successfully completed: the vehicles with solar panels were released from the customs control zone.
