Ukraine is considering legalising its porn industry to raise tax revenues that could help fund the country’s defence sector.
The production, distribution and possession of pornography in Ukraine is currently illegal and punishable by upto seven years in prison. The country, however, has failed to curtail its large and profitable porn industry. Officials say the industry operated with the protection of corrupt police.
Police officials reportedly received $20,000 a month in bribes, according to the office of Ukraine’s general prosecutor.
Ukrainian authorities have been demanding taxes from the people who work in the porn industry; however, anyone who complies would be confirming their involvement in criminal activities, The Wall Street Journal reported. Fenix International, the parent company of OnlyFans, reported that nearly 7,900 Ukrainians earned over $131 million on the platform in 2023 alone.
The push to legalise the industry is being led by Yaroslav Zhelezniak, an opposition lawmaker who chairs the finance committee in Ukraine’s Parliament. “These women either don’t pay taxes and face criminal charges for that, or they pay taxes and get charged with violating pornography laws,” Zhelezniak said.
He argues that legalising porn would not only help against corruption but also raise up to $25 million in tax revenues. The sum is small for a country that needs upto $120 billion a year for its defence needs; however, it is enough to pay for 30,000 drones.
In May, the Ukrainian parliament rejected a bill to decriminalise consensual adult pornography.
However, public pressure increased after an OnlyFans creator, Svitlana Dvornikova, gained 25,000 signatures on a petition prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to refer the matter to the parliament. Dvornikova is an adult creator who travels to France and Spain to create her content.
Thousands of women skirt the law by travelling abroad or moving out of the country altogether to make porn. This in turn boosts the tax revenue of European countries that do not criminalise pornography.
She told WSJ that the Ukrainian government should be thankful for the $900,000 that she paid in taxes— a sum she said was worth 100 new pickup trucks for the army, 2,000 drones or “hundreds of Russians killed on the front line”.
A bill co-authored by Zhelezniak has now won a first vote in July and is awaiting its second reading in the parliament.
Lesia Mykhalenko, a tax lawyer who has represented more than 100 OnlyFans models, said that the “victimless crime” unnecessarily burdens the legal system at a time when “we should be focused on defending the country.”
