According to a report by The Wall Street Journal on September 5th, Ukrainian politician Yaroslav Zhelezniak is leading efforts to legalize pornography in Ukraine. He believes that doing so would not only help combat corruption but also generate up to $25 million in taxes annually.
Reports say that for Ukraine, which claims to need $12 billion in defense spending each year, this may be a drop in the bucket. However, the amount predicted by Reznicak is enough to cover the costs of 30,000 drones.
According to current Ukrainian law, producing, spreading, and even possessing pornographic materials is illegal in Ukraine.
Reports indicate that the Ukrainian government is now requiring members of the porn industry to pay taxes. However, anyone who complies with this requirement is effectively acknowledging their involvement in criminal activities.
These women either do not pay taxes and thus face criminal charges; or they pay their taxes but are accused of violating laws related to pornography.
It is reported that a bill drafted with the participation of Radeznik has been awaiting second reading in parliament after being passed in first reading in July.
Reznicak, The Wall Street Journal
According to reports, for many years, the Ukrainian government turned a blind eye to this gray industry. Many large-scale pornographic production studios in Ukraine colluded with corrupt law enforcement officers to earn substantial profits. After the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, things changed. Two years after the conflict, the Ukrainian tax authorities obtained data from thousands of Ukrainians from the parent company of adult platform OnlyFans, Fenix International.
Data shows that in 2023, 7,900 Ukrainians earned over $131 million on OnlyFans. This means they owe millions of dollars in taxes.
Ukraine's OnlyFans models have started receiving letters from the government. Many of them have submitted tax declarations, but they don't know that this means they could be accused not only of tax evasion, but also of illegally producing pornographic content.
A woman in her early 20s told The Wall Street Journal that earlier this year, after the police searched her apartment and charged her, she fled to another region in Ukraine. She said the police summoned her to court, but she decided not to go, as she was worried that officials might try to solicit bribes through this meeting.
According to reports, hundreds of Ukrainian OnlyFans models have moved abroad. A model living in Georgia said that there are a large number of Ukrainian OnlyFans models living in this country, and they earn thousands of dollars per month.
Those who remain within Ukraine have adopted alternative methods.
Iryna Mosiychuk runs a company called Beezone, which claims to be a business consulting firm. Her office is located in a two-story building on the outskirts of Lviv, Ukraine. The building houses several online studios, and dozens of models perform for the audience here.
Mossychuk said that the models under her management earn between $2,000 and $7,000 per month. She helps them with tax matters. In exchange, they sign contracts promising not to take off their clothes in front of the camera. But Mossychuk said she cannot control everyone.
She said that when the police visited Beezone last year, they did not find any evidence to charge her.
Mosichuk has written to Ukrainian parliamentarians and government departments, stating that if she is allowed to expand her business and no longer attempts to control the private behavior of her female employees, her monthly tax payment of $5,000 could increase by twenty times.
"I don't want my country to seek support and weapons from other countries," Moksiuchuk said, "If our industry can develop, I believe we could help Ukraine handle all these things independently."
Beezone Company, The Wall Street Journal
A Ukrainian model on OnlyFans, after being searched by the Ukrainian police, submitted a petition, which was posted on the website of Ukrainian President Zelensky.
She calls herself "a tax-payer who is diligent and hardworking", and states that the government should not label her a criminal, but rather thank her for paying 40 million rubles in taxes (roughly $900,000), which she says can be used to buy 100 new trucks for the army, or equivalent to “the purchase of hundreds of Russian soldiers killed on the front lines."
Within a week, her petition received over 25,000 signatures, prompting Zelensky to respond. Zelensky stated that the parliament would consider legislation to legalize pornography.
