In the first nine months of 2025, businesses in Ivano-Frankivsk region paid UAH 461.7 million in environmental tax to the budget. According to the State Tax Service, this allowed the region to rank third among taxpayers across the country.
Overall, the budget received UAH 300 million (7.1%) more in environmental tax than in the same period last year. The State Tax Service attributes this to the growing environmental awareness and responsibility of businesses and calls the funds received an important source for implementing environmental protection measures.
From poaching to war – what harms the region's environment
Prykarpattia is both a recreational and industrial region. The developed industry is diversified: fuel and energy complex, chemical and petrochemical industry, machine building, and woodworking. Businesses pay environmental taxes to "compensate" for their environmental impact. However, according to the State Environmental Inspectorate of the Carpathian region, illegal deforestation, illegal dumping, and poaching also cause environmental damage.
Despite its distance from the war zone, the region's environment is also suffering from the effects of the Russian invasion. Since the start of the full-scale war, the amount of estimated damage has already amounted to UAH 3.5 billion, including almost UAH 1 billion in the first half of this year. This includes the consequences of land contamination, soil pollution, and air emissions due to the burning of oil products as a result of enemy shelling.
Environmental measures: general picture and financing
55% of the environmental tax goes to the special fund of local budgets, but environmental protection measures are additionally financed from other sources. Thus, in 2024, environmental expenditures in the Ivano-Frankivsk region amounted to more than UAH 1 billion. In January, the remaining funds of the regional environmental fund were used to build dams and regulate rivers in communities. The list of activities for 2021-2025 includes the construction and reconstruction of wastewater treatment plants, equipment of air monitoring stations, and the construction and expansion of landfills.
Despite the significant environmental problems in the region, part of the funds from the special fund of the regional budget at the expense of the environmental tax is misused, in part due to the needs of wartime. For example, by the end of 2024, UAH 6 million of environmental taxes were allocated to implement programs to support defense and mobilization training, as well as to the regional hospital for war veterans.
Environmental tax is paid by business entities that have a negative impact on the environment. This includes emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, water or soil, and the disposal and discharge of waste, including radioactive waste. Due to the full-scale invasion, facilities located in the temporarily occupied territories or in the combat zones are exempt from paying environmental tax.
As a reminder, Ukrainian businesses paid a total of UAH 4.2 billion in environmental tax in the first nine months of 2025. Most of the money came from Dnipropetrovska oblast, Kyiv city, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast and Zaporizhzhia oblast.
