Buying a car in Ukraine

Yes you can. But do you know that there is a possibility to bring your own car to Ukraine and to safe a lot on taxes?

thanks for the info, i did think about buying a LHD in UK and driving down here but after reading all the horror stories about ukraianian borders officials and then they value the car here for whatever they want value it at, I thought it would be better to buy here, I want to buy a Jaguar Stype about 9 years old ,in england i can buy one for about £2000

Des

You will be suprized by how much it will cost in Ukraine.

Not any car broght by a foreigner is exempted from taxes. Read this article registering a car in Ukraine by foreigners:
http://penwriter85.blogspot.com/2014/05 … s-and.html

I'm just curious where you gents are crossing the border and have so many issues. I cross into Poland, Sloivakia, and Lithuania regularly and I have so diffiucuties. I just hope that Ukraine will soon update its equipment so crossing will be quicker.

spdmon wrote:

I'm just curious where you gents are crossing the border and have so many issues. I cross into Poland, Sloivakia, and Lithuania regularly and I have so diffiucuties. I just hope that Ukraine will soon update its equipment so crossing will be quicker.

I did not cross the border as you know:) I explain Ukrainian legislation and court precedents. Could you please share your experience briefly?

Nothing to explain. The officials are courteous and stamp my passport. I have traveled to 76 countries and not much variation. Except of course ... LOL! Considering that I am a US citizen, they get uppity and arrogant. However, if documents are in order, not much they can do.

Perhaps the better question would be to explain your experiences and why you think you are having such difficulties. What do you think you may be doing that agitatates the border officials? Like my Gramps always said, "A smile and a pleasant attitude goes a long way ... a very long way."

Hi Greg, Firstly I was told here by a Ukrainian that I can buy the car here in Krivoy Rog but it has to be registered in a Ukrainian nationals name, thats why I was asking the original question can I buy a car here and it will be registered in

my name. I dont have a car at the moment but the thought went through my head to buy a LHD in England , a Jaguar in particular , not a new one but around 9 years old cos in England nobody wants LHD cars and especially gas guzzlers,, and drive it here through Poland , but when I read some of the stories here , about Ukrainian border guards and bribes, and then when I register it in Krivoy Rog they will assess a stupid valuation of the car , which if true defeats the object of the exercise of bringing one from England, I hope you understand what Im trying to say ?, and are  the horror stories Ive been told true ?
Des

dixie45 wrote:

Hi Greg, Firstly I was told here by a Ukrainian that I can buy the car here in Krivoy Rog but it has to be registered in a Ukrainian nationals name, thats why I was asking the original question can I buy a car here and it will be registered in

my name. I dont have a car at the moment but the thought went through my head to buy a LHD in England , a Jaguar in particular , not a new one but around 9 years old cos in England nobody wants LHD cars and especially gas guzzlers,, and drive it here through Poland , but when I read some of the stories here , about Ukrainian border guards and bribes, and then when I register it in Krivoy Rog they will assess a stupid valuation of the car , which if true defeats the object of the exercise of bringing one from England, I hope you understand what Im trying to say ?, and are  the horror stories Ive been told true ?
Des

A foreigner can buy a car in Ukraine. When you buy a car you have some time (2 weeks if Im not mistaking) to register it. Registration in Ukraine is sticked to the owner's place of living. So if you do not have such one, in other words you are not registered in Ukraine, then you cannot register your car in Ukraine and you should go out of the country.
Here is an online customs duty calculator so you can roughly see the cost of your car in Ukraine: http://avtobazar.infocar.ua/rastamozhka.html
About the horror stories I do not have something to tell you. The Ukrainian customs takes bribes, it is not secret. But it is not like they ask bribes from anyone and all the time. But if you buy a car that is cleared already with the customs then you will not need to pay the customs duty. However there will be a tax levied to the Pension Fund and utility duty. Maybe this taxes were abolished (I did not checked it but I paid them a year ago when I bought my own car).

I have been coming her for 10 years and never one paid a bribe. Are you in Ukraine now? If you you are then you know the old regime is out and the new administration is doing all it can to prevent  these things like bribes from happening. My experience is simply this, the age of your friends. Older people have the mindset of Soviet times and see corruption as part of there lives. Fortunately, they are wrong. Pity they do not realize it.

Thanks for the info and the link, which I used , I put in model of car, Jaguar S type, value $3000,engine size 3 litre (its 10years old) and the import duty came up at $16500, this cannot be correct surely ????

thanks for the info, yes, Im living in Ukraine, however the new goverment will not change things overnight , but lets hope so, they have bigger problems to deal with at the moment !!!

It was more the import duty on bringing an old car from England and registering it here , that Im concerned with , for example the car Im thinking of buying in UK is a Jaguar S type , 2002 year, purchase price is $3000, and I used a tax calculator and the duty came out at $16500 !!! what planet are they on here ?????, this cannot be correct can it ?

Des

I'm wondering if you know roughly how much it might be to export an old car from  here and ship it to USA. Any ideas? I have no idea how to go about it actually.

It's not only cars that we get ripped off with customs, I wanted my computer system from England, delivery is almost 7000 UAH plus if the value including delivery is over 150 the customs is an extra 32% plus they advise getting a broker who will charge a further 450 UAH, so I would have to pay 7450 UAH before it even gets through customs then another 5402 UAH for customs giving a grand total of 12852 UAH / £650 for a computer system with a total value of £500. Plus they want all receipts which I no longer have as I changed the case and other bits and pieces since I bought is two years ago.
I thought of bringing my car here too it is a fourteen year old Renault Scenic 1.6 16V, in superb condition with only 23000 miles on the clock, value about £1500 / $2500 but they want $6875 in customs. Something is very very wrong here, how can the customs people justify these prices.

I have always found that if all of your paperwork is in order, I have never had a problem.  The only comment I have received is if I had worked in Customs before, because my documents are always correct.

I think the answer is to buy a car here in Ukraine , and then there are no problems and after checking the differences in prices ,there is not much difference, and considering that you dont have to drive it down here (petrol expense) and duty to pay etc,etc, for the extra £1000 purchase price here its not worth the aggravation !!

keith841 wrote:

I'm wondering if you know roughly how much it might be to export an old car from  here and ship it to USA. Any ideas? I have no idea how to go about it actually.

As a rule, you do not pay customs duties when you export from Ukraine.

dixie45 wrote:

thanks for the info, yes, Im living in Ukraine, however the new goverment will not change things overnight , but lets hope so, they have bigger problems to deal with at the moment !!!

It was more the import duty on bringing an old car from England and registering it here , that Im concerned with , for example the car Im thinking of buying in UK is a Jaguar S type , 2002 year, purchase price is $3000, and I used a tax calculator and the duty came out at $16500 !!! what planet are they on here ?????, this cannot be correct can it ?

Des

Yes, it sounds crazy, bu it is correct.
That is becouse old cars (more than 8 years) have much more custom tax rate to import it in Ukraine.
My advice - buy a car in Ukraine.
Also, you can drive here by car registered in EU, and dont pay import tax, but it has other problems.

The answer is to buy a car in the UK and drive it here.
I have driven many cars to Ukraine from the UK your allowed to keep it here 12 months without registration if you want to keep it here longer then you would need to drive it out then return then you will have another 12 months without any problems..
I would not advise you to drive through a polish border they can be a pain in the arse.
I drive through Germany, Austra and Hungary then enter Ukraine at the Chop border it's a longer route but far better.
don't listen to lots of people here they talk rubbish sometimes!
by the way whereabouts are you from in the UK? I;m from Newcastle
hope this helps

George

George, your advice is very questionable. I do not doubt your practical experience however it contradicts with Ukrainian legislation and common practice of avoiding taxation and customs clearance during brining foreign cars into Ukraine.

A foreign vehicle was allowed to be used in Ukraine up to 1 year without customs clearance only when it was owned by a foreign company. Such vehicle is called a commercial vehicle and this rule was applied according to the Istanbul convention on temporary importation of vehicles. Let me note that I did not check whether this rule is valid now, however, I guess it is. The common scheme is that a person buys abroad a car he likes. An agent, a company registered abroad (usually it is a company from Poland) registers the car in its own name and brings the car to Ukraine in business matters. The buyer and the Polish company have internal documents between them (types of documents vary, e.g. PoA, contacts, etc.) that are aught to protect the buyers title. My personal attitude is that I would not use this option for myself.   

So if you do get your cars for a year, then you described your scheme not quite correct and the readers of this forum can get in trouble following your advice. If I am wrong (I do not claim I am 100% correct), please clarify.

The general rule (according to Ukrainian law) is that you can bring a car without paying taxes and levies only for 2 months. Then you either pay taxes or get the car back abroad. After that you can again bring the same car for 2 months. This can be repeated as many times as you like.

In particular the law says that according to clause 7 of the procedure of vehicle registration in Ukraine (Regulation of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1388 dated September 07, 1998), vehicles temporary brought into Ukraine for personal use for more than 2 months should be registered with the State Traffic Police. The link to the Regulation of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1388: http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1388-98-%D0%BF

There is a possibility for a foreigner to bring a car for 2 years and more. But it has many nuances. In short here is a short extract from law: According to clauses 1.6 and 1.7 of the instruction of registration of vehicles in Ukraine (Order of Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 379 dated August 11, 2010), vehicles temporary brought to Ukraine by foreigners for private use can be declared for permanent use after all required taxes and levies are paid. Those foreigners who come to Ukraine for permanent residency can register their vehicles for temporary use for a period of 2 years. Such vehicles cannot be sold or alienated in another way within these 2 years. If such a vehicle was alienated, then the foreign person, who is the owner of the vehicle, should pay all taxed and levies. The link to the Order of Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 379: http://zakon1.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z0123-11

GreyKiev write right things.
In addition to mentioned above many other problems can bring to car with foreign registration.
One of them - communication with State Traffic Police (during registration and using of your car).
And also you will have special attitude to you (it will be negative for you)
yes, it is Ukraine

Well that's not how I understand things,
I have asked when I come with a car across border into Ukraine the officials at the border have  told me 12 months as for registering with the state traffic police I;m not 100% sure but if their is such a rule it definatly not enforced whatsoever this is fact from personal experience.
I have been stopped from the special police called Cobra I was driving a car that had been in Ukraine 9 months, he said it was to check if my car was contraband I gave him my registation document and driving licence he then got on the phone to somewhere and read my car registration to the person he was speaking to infact i think he made 2 calls after about 3 minutes he handed my documents back and said all was ok.
It was this officer told me that if I wanted to keep the car in longer then to drive to Moldova then return he said it will not be a problem.
I have been driving cars from the UK for around five years and never yet have had any problems apart from the odd speeding fine.

I have seen all these so called rules and regulations you quoted me before, but my experience is practical.

gdav177 wrote:

Well that's not how I understand things,
I have asked when I come with a car across border into Ukraine the officials at the border have  told me 12 months as for registering with the state traffic police I;m not 100% sure but if their is such a rule it definatly not enforced whatsoever this is fact from personal experience.
I have been stopped from the special police called Cobra I was driving a car that had been in Ukraine 9 months, he said it was to check if my car was contraband I gave him my registation document and driving licence he then got on the phone to somewhere and read my car registration to the person he was speaking to infact i think he made 2 calls after about 3 minutes he handed my documents back and said all was ok.
It was this officer told me that if I wanted to keep the car in longer then to drive to Moldova then return he said it will not be a problem.
I have been driving cars from the UK for around five years and never yet have had any problems apart from the odd speeding fine.

I have seen all these so called rules and regulations you quoted me before, but my experience is practical.

Well, I got interested and checked the law. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
You were right in saying that you can import a car and use it for a year without paying taxes and customs duties (article 380 of the Customs Code of Ukraine http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/4495-17).
But I was right saying you need to register the car after it is in Ukraine more than 2 months.

Thank you for your input it's good to know that their are people like you who do have some good advise to give.

by the way I got stopped today from the DAI on the way to the centre he asked to see my documents which I gave him, he asked how long my car has been in Ukraine the car I have now has only been here a month or so which I told him, he then asked to see my passport which I had left at home he scutinised my driving license then asked about green card it's a document about insurance I told him they don't issue green cards in the UK it is a very old system. I said Ihat I buy insurance in Ukraine he accepted this and said goodbye.

I believe that as long as you have all your documents with you ther should be no problems with DAI they are normally all ok, some fish for a bribe sometimes but thats Ukraine.
thanks again

I think your right on that but they really don't enforce it at least not in my experience.
so for the English man that asked the original question I would say buy in the UK and drive it here I would also say buy a right hand drive as left hand drive cars are quite hard to find in the UK if he does manage to find one then it is a little better.

thanks

I have a car here in Kiev with foreign license plates.

1. Police stops you less then Ukrainians. Speak only English, say them to write the protocol and they will let you go without paying.
2. Border gards do not ask anything, they fill in your car info and let you go. They do not ask money. The regime change does not make a difference in this.
3. You can keep your car at a maximum of 1 year (temporary import). Then leave the country, stay for the night in Poland and go back.
4. If you take valuables into Ukraine (like a computer), do not tell this to the border gards. It saves you a lot of time, it saves them also a lot of time. They are not interested in your computer crossing the border.

Road Polish border -> Kiev.
- Just slow down for the villages to 80 km/h and slow down at the police posts (40 - 60 km/h).
- Just follow somebody on a distance. He knows the allowed speeds and were police is standing. If you see him slow down, you do the same.
- Result is no problems with police.

Don't be scared to drive around in Ukraine. It is just like in any other country.

I agree with all you have said, it's nice to see that someone else has real experience of driving in Ukraine.

tantuss wrote:

I have a car here in Kiev with foreign license plates.

1. Police stops you less then Ukrainians. Speak only English, say them to write the protocol and they will let you go without paying.
2. Border gards do not ask anything, they fill in your car info and let you go. They do not ask money. The regime change does not make a difference in this.
3. You can keep your car at a maximum of 1 year (temporary import). Then leave the country, stay for the night in Poland and go back.
4. If you take valuables into Ukraine (like a computer), do not tell this to the border gards. It saves you a lot of time, it saves them also a lot of time. They are not interested in your computer crossing the border.

Road Polish border -> Kiev.
- Just slow down for the villages to 80 km/h and slow down at the police posts (40 - 60 km/h).
- Just follow somebody on a distance. He knows the allowed speeds and were police is standing. If you see him slow down, you do the same.
- Result is no problems with police.

Don't be scared to drive around in Ukraine. It is just like in any other country.

It is right, but sometimes policeman can write fake protocol (that not based on real break of law) and you will need to pay that fine, usually 500-1000 uah (40-80 usd).
So, you need to know common ukrainian road rights (like speed limit 60-90-110-130 kmh; road signs and order of moving across crossroads)  to avoid such situation.

thanks for all the imput  lads,

my problem is not driving to Ukraine from UK or driving in Ukraine ,Ive done that many times, but the problem is the amount of import duty to bring a car here from UK and register it here on Ukrainian plates ,

I used the so called calculator and for a car valued at $4000 the import duty is $16500 , is this the proper figure or not ?, can anyone tell me the proper amount or is the proper amount ?

dixie45 wrote:

thanks for all the imput  lads,

my problem is not driving to Ukraine from UK or driving in Ukraine ,Ive done that many times, but the problem is the amount of import duty to bring a car here from UK and register it here on Ukrainian plates ,

I used the so called calculator and for a car valued at $4000 the import duty is $16500 , is this the proper figure or not ?, can anyone tell me the proper amount or is the proper amount ?

Try to explain, corresponding to your potential car - Jaguar, 3 litres, 9 year old, 2000 pounds = 3200 usd "tax price"

You should pay:
1. import tax - 10 % from 3200 usd = 320 usd
(link: http://zakon3.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/584 … 8789482473 , group 8703)
2. excise tax - 9810 EUR (3.000 litres or less engine) or 11430 EUR (3.001 litres or more)
(link: http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/275 … 0510571833 , group 8703 23 90 33)
3. VAT - 20 % from "tax price" 3200 (320USD) + 20 % from p.1 (32USD)  + 20 % from p.2 (1962 EUR)
(link: http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/275 … 0510571833 , atricles 180-211)

as result -
320+320+32 USD = 672 USD
and
9810+1962EUR = 11772 EUR

Yes, it is only import taxes and duties for autos in UA.

hi for all im forme algeria and i want come to ukrain i have my girl frend in ukrain and i want bay fot it sued car if i can plz tell me thanx

rabeh hechem wrote:

hi for all im forme algeria and i want come to ukrain i have my girl frend in ukrain and i want bay fot it sued car if i can plz tell me thanx

This thread is old an inactive so you will be lucky to get a reply. If you are looking to buy a car then look in cars for sale in the classified section of this forum which is in the green banner at the top of this page.

thank you my dear

What do I need to know before shipping my personal car to the Ukraine- Law, Taxes  e.t.c. Please help!

All i know is that it's very expensive)

wandelolade wrote:

What do I need to know before shipping my personal car to the Ukraine- Law, Taxes  e.t.c. Please help!

please write what country does your car registrate in. Where do you plan to live in Ukraine?

Hi

I know this thread is old but perhaps someone helps me out.
The thing is, I got my 10 year-old Skoda Octavia registered in Poland.
I know there are lots of cars in border areas (e.g. around Lviv) that are still registered in Poland and Ukrainians are only co-owners of sorts. Yet, in light of car prices in Ukraine, I'm wondering about taking my car to Kyiv. Does anyone know, if the 3months-long period expires - do I have to leave Ukraine by car? And then, when can I go back?

yes you can

Hello Dixie, I wanted to buy a new car for cash about 3 years ago and discovered that I couldn't, I had to be registered at the Ukrainian local passport tables formally having an address in the country. Long story but I eventually bought the car under my girlfriend name, officially it was her car!!
May be the procedure has changed but it was an absolute farce, couldn't pay for the car in Euros but in local Hryvna, also banks wouldn't give me more then £200 worth of Hryvna per day. Did get the car but through another route!!