509On May 14, 2025, at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center, the Advocacy Center «Life», in partnership with the NGO «Anti Corruption Headquarters», announced the winning Members of Parliament of the «Golden Scythe – 2024» anti-award and the government officials awarded the «Golden Brake – 2024», for promoting the commercial interests of the tobacco industry contrary to the interests of protecting citizens’ health.
Why «Scythe»? On the one hand, by promoting the commercial interests of the tobacco industry, politicians «mow down» money, and on the other hand, they «mow down» the lives of Ukrainian citizens. Every year in Ukraine, 100,000 people die prematurely from diseases caused by tobacco use.
«The interference of the tobacco industry and the cooperation of Members of Parliament and government officials with it lead to irreparable losses for public health and, as a consequence, Ukraine’s demographic potential. The tobacco industry has only one goal – to draw as many people as possible into nicotine addiction, primarily children and youth. Unfortunately, certain Members of Parliament facilitate this by promoting industry-favorable decisions or blocking progressive legislative initiatives. This is not only political irresponsibility but also a direct threat to sustainable development and national security», emphasized Olha Masna, communications manager at the Advocacy Center «Life».
The main actions of deputies and government officials in defending the commercial interests of the tobacco industry, contrary to health interests, which were recorded by the public, included:
- the introduction of a 25% tax preference on excise duty for heated tobacco products (HTPs), which, according to expert calculations, will lead to the loss of 22,000 Ukrainians due to premature mortality and a shortfall of nearly €500 million in the Ukrainian budget in favor of the tobacco industry’s profits for the years 2025-2028;
- the introduction of remote (online) sales of tobacco and nicotine products (Law №3817-IX), which is exploited by minors;
- opposition to the consideration and adoption of draft law №12091, which aims to protect children and youth from being drawn into tobacco and nicotine use in accordance with the WHO FCTC and implements the updates of the European integration Directive 2014/40/EU;
- attempts to reinstate smoking in the premises of restaurant establishments and tobacco advertising.
The winners of the «Golden Scythe – 2024» award were the following Members of Parliament:
- Marian Zablotskyi — awarded the Golden Scythe
- Oleksii Ustenko — awarded the Silver Scythe
- Danylo Hetmantsev — awarded the Bronze Scythe
The top 5 prize winners also included Members of Parliament Ihor Kryvosheiev (4th place) and Serhii Shvets (5th place).
The «Golden Brake», a special prize for representatives of the executive branch, was awarded this year to Serhii Marchenko, the Minister of Finance of Ukraine.
«Draft Law №11090 was initially developed by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine with the participation of the tobacco industry – this was openly stated by representatives of the Ministry. This approach contradicts the Law of Ukraine №2899-IV and also violates Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. During the consideration and voting on the draft law, certain Members of Parliament, including this year’s laureates of the «Golden Scythe» anti-award, defended the creation of a tax preference for HTPs despite numerous public statements about the inadmissibility of such a decision, especially in the context of a full-scale war, demographic crisis, and financial instability. This case is a clear example for analyzing tobacco lobbying, where even a non-existent IMF requirement was used to justify the HTP preference», — emphasized Serhii Mytkalyk, head of the board of NGO «Anti Corruption Headquarters».
Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which Ukraine ratified in 2006, stipulates the protection during the development and implementation of public health policies on tobacco control from the influence of the commercial interests of the tobacco industry. Law of Ukraine №2899-IV defines that the state policy on preventing and reducing tobacco use is based on the principle of the priority of public health over the interests of the tobacco industry and related individuals.
«In times of a major war, when every life has particular value, the actions of Members of Parliament who promote the tobacco industry are especially cynical and unacceptable. Lobbying in favor of an industry that profits from the addiction and diseases of Ukrainians undermines the foundations of state policy in the field of healthcare. That is why public scrutiny and transparency of decisions are key – society must know who prioritizes corporate interests over the nation’s health», – noted Natalka Sokolenko, journalist, presenter, and journalist at the Ukrainian Radio.
Beyond the threat to public health, the interference of the tobacco industry leads to a slowdown in the approximation of Ukrainian legislation to EU standards.
«The tobacco industry continues to hinder Ukraine’s European integration. In particular, Ukraine has postponed until 2028 reaching the minimum excise tax level on cigarettes of €90 per 1000 pieces, while the average excise tax in the EU is €177/1000 pieces. At the same time, the ban on flavored heated tobacco products is being blocked – a step that is an obligation under the updates to Directive 2014/40/EU and has already been implemented in member states since 2023. Ukraine has a unique chance to become a full member of the EU by 2030 – but this is only possible with decisive and timely actions to align national legislation with European standards», — noted Olha Lymar, executive director of the Reanimation Package of Reforms Coalition.
The jury of the «Golden Scythe – 2024» anti-award included: Hanna Hopko — head of the board of NGO «ANTS Network for the Protection of National Interests»; Maria Zemlyanska — investigative journalist at Bihus.info; Dmytro Kupyra — executive director of the Advocacy Center «Life»; Olha Lymar — executive director of the RPR Coalition; Serhii Mytkalyk — head of the board of NGO «Anti Corruption Headquarters»; Oleh Slabospitskyi — representative of the All-Ukrainian campaign «Youth Free from Smoking»; Natalia Sokolenko — presenter, journalist at the Ukrainian Radio, civic activist; Olesya Kholopik — director of NGO «Center for Democracy and Rule of Law».
Main photo: Ukrainian Crisis Media Center
For contact information: Olha Masna, media coordinator at the Advocacy Center «Life», +380 73 089 65 70, olha.masna@center-life.org
For reference: The «Golden Scythe» was established in 2011 to monitor and facilitate public response to instances of lobbying by Members of Parliament and government officials of Ukraine on behalf of the commercial and financial interests of tobacco and nicotine products. The winners of the anti-award are determined by the sum of evaluations from expert jury members and points awarded for the nominees’ actual actions in the interests of the tobacco industry (registration of draft laws, speeches, letters, appeals, voting, presence of tobacco industry assets in the ownership structure, presence of individuals associated with the tobacco industry).
Key Facts About the Winners of the «Golden Scythe – 2024» Anti-Award
Marian Zablotskyi — winner of the «Golden Scythe – 2024» — has been a prizewinner of the anti-award for the fourth consecutive year. He is the Head of the Subcommittee on Local Taxes and Fees of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation, and Customs Policy. He authored alternative draft law № 12091-2 to draft № 12091 with the aim of blocking and opposing the adoption of the main draft law, which strengthens the protection of children and youth from being drawn into tobacco and nicotine use. He is also a co-author of draft law № 12288, which, through a non core committee, attempts to reinstate hookah smoking in catering establishments and the advertising of tobacco products (by selling tobacco products in sets with other goods and services). During the consideration of draft law № 11090 in the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation, and Customs Policy, he supported the government version of draft law № 11090, developed in cooperation with the tobacco industry, which provides for: the creation of a 25% excise tax preference for HTPs (cigarettes for IQOS, glo, ploom, etc.); an unreasonably slow increase in excise taxes in 2026-2028 (5% and less annually). He voted against amendment № 75 on the prohibition of trade in tobacco products and liquids for e-cigarettes in premises with an area of less than 20 square meters (which implies restricting such trade in kiosks) during the consideration of draft law № 10346. Until August 2019, he was the Head of the NGO «Ukrainian Society for Economic Freedoms», which received $427,000 from the tobacco company Philip Morris International between 2017 and 2019.
Oleksii Ustenko — recipient of the «Silver Scythe». Head of the Subcommittee on Rent Payments, Environmental Tax, and Agricultural Taxation of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation, and Customs Policy. Initiated alternative draft law № 12091-3 to draft № 12091 with the aim of blocking and opposing the adoption of the main draft law, which strengthens the protection of children and youth from being drawn into tobacco and nicotine use. He defended the government version of draft law № 11090, developed in cooperation with the tobacco industry, which provides for the creation of a 25% excise tax preference for HTPs (cigarettes for IQOS, glo, ploom, etc.); an unreasonably slow increase in excise taxes in 2026-2028 (5% and less annually). He published a column for Ekonomichna Pravda, in which he presented arguments from the tobacco industry, ignoring data from independent research.
Danylo Hetmantsev — recipient of the «Bronze Scythe». Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation, and Customs Policy, initiator of draft law №10346, which introduced remote (online) sales of tobacco and nicotine products, contradicting the MPOWER strategies and the WHO FCTC, as it increases the accessibility of tobacco products for the population, especially for children (persons under 18). During the consideration of draft law № 11090 before the second reading, he stated that the committee supports the 25% excise tax preferences for HTPs, citing a ‘requirement’ from the International Monetary Fund. This IMF requirement was non-existent. At the same time, the position of the WHO and the Ministry of Health regarding maintaining the excise tax on HTPs and cigarettes at the same level, given the similarity of these products and the threat to public health from tobacco harm, was ignored. On December 4, 2024, during the second reading of draft law № 11090 at the parliamentary session, he spoke against amendment № 46 regarding the harmonized increase of excise taxes on HTPs and cigarettes/elimination of the 25% excise preference for HTPs compared to the excise rate on cigarettes.
Golden Brake – 2024
Serhii Marchenko, Minister of Finance of Ukraine — recipient of the «Golden Brake». The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, in cooperation with the tobacco industry, developed and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada draft law № 11090 regarding the increase of excise taxes on tobacco products with the creation of a 25% excise tax preference for HTPs. During the development of the draft law, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine ignored the position of the Ministry of Health, the WHO, and the expert community not affiliated with the tobacco industry regarding the inadmissibility of creating a 25% excise tax preference for HTPs and the need to implement a more intensive schedule for increasing excise taxes on tobacco products, which would allow for a reduction in the price accessibility of tobacco products in accordance with the recommendations of the World Bank.