LEGAL ASPECTS OF COMBATING THE ILLEGAL TOBACCO MARKET IN UKRAINE UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF MARITAL STATE

In recent years, there has been a steady trend towards the growth of the shadow tobacco market in Ukraine. At the same time, since 2017, the total volume of legal cigarette consumption has been decreasing annually. After the beginning of the large-scale invasion of the Russian aggressor on the territory of Ukraine in February 2022, the situation objectively worsened. Along with other factors, the presence of significant deficiencies in the state's legal regulation of the specified sphere of the economy, the untimely adoption of new or the introduction of appropriate changes to the current regulatory acts regulating its activities led to this. A separate problem is the need to harmonize the Ukrainian legislation regulating the specified sphere with the normative acts of the European Union. The ineffective activity of the law enforcement unit in preventing, exposing, and terminating illegal schemes operating in the shadow tobacco market of Ukraine, and bringing their organizers and participants to real responsibility, has a negative impact on the specified sphere, especially in the conditions of the current martial law. The article highlights the current state of functioning of the tobacco market of Ukraine in the conditions of martial law. An analysis of Ukrainian legislation regulating its activities, including its compliance with European legislation, was carried out in the context of Ukraine's acquisition of the official status of a candidate for accession to the European Union. The necessary areas of adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to European standards have been identified. The state and results of the work of the law enforcement system of Ukraine in the direction of combating the illegal tobacco market in the conditions of martial law are separately analyzed. Directions for improving its effectiveness have been determined, including by increasing the effectiveness of legal regulation of its activities.