Assessing the Effectiveness of Ukrainian Customs Service Personnel: A Perspective on KPI Implementation

• Pages: 30-39

LEX PORTUS VOL 11 ISS 1 2025

ISSN 2524-101X

eISSN 2617-541X

DOI 10.62821/lp11103

Assessing the Eectiveness

of Ukrainian Customs Service Personnel:

A Perspective on KPI Implementation

Oleksandr Cherkunov*

*PhD in Law, Department of Administrative, Financial and Informative Law, Uzhhorod National University (3, Narodna Sq., Uzhhorod, Ukraine)

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8880-6955

ABSTRACT

The article discusses how the State Customs Service of Ukraine (SCSU) implements procedures

for assessing its eectiveness using key performance indicators (KPIs). It outlines the regulatory

framework governing this process and describes the anticipated outcomes for both internal and

external functions of the customs authorities. The paper reviews the links between the proposed

KPI-based assessment system, national strategic planning documents, global and regional

standards, and the WCO Performance Measurement Mechanism. The eectiveness indicators

used by various non-state actors and the expert community for assessing the SCSU are compared

with the relevant indicators proposed in the 2024 draft laws. Additional KPIs are suggested for

evaluating the quality and eectiveness of customs personnel and the implementation of

program documents.

CITATION

Cherkunov, O. (2025). Assessing the

Eectiveness of Ukrainian Customs

Service Personnel: A Perspective

on KPI Implementation. Lex Portus,

11(1), 36–.45

https://doi.org/10.62821/lp11103

KEYWORDS

public service, customs, eciency,

ocials, personnel, risk manage-

ment, KPI, customs reform, Ukraine

The journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-

NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Introduction

The large-scale Russian invasion of 2022 has created signicant challenges and threats

to the operation of the State Customs Service of Uk raine (SCSU). Due to increased military

and economic risks, customs ocials face heightened psychological pressure. The dynamic

changes in legislation and the restructuring of established workows are driven by both

the realities of wartime and the ongoing negotiations for Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

Given the crucial role of customs in ensuring economic security and contributing to the

revenue of Ukraine’s State Budget, maintaining the eciency of customs operations is a top

priority, especially during emergency legal regimes such as martial law. One way to enhance

the SCSU eciency is to improve personnel qualit y, since factors such as self-ecacy and

resilience of customs ocers are crucial for overcoming challenges posed by extreme working

conditions (Bao, Liu & Zhang, 2023). In September 2024, several amendments were made to

the Customs Code of Ukraine (CCU) as par t of the “Law on Customs Reboot.” These changes are

designed to alter the public service conditions within the customs administration and establish

a new system for personnel certication. Notably, for the rst time, the law clearly denes

“tasks and key performance indicators, along with the timeframes for their implementation,”

as essential components of employee contracts (State Customs Service of Ukraine, 2025). This

represents yet another attempt to utilize solutions inspired by the private sector to enhance

the eciency of state authorities (Karampotsis et al., 2024). The approach is also endorsed

by the World Customs Organization ( WCO). The WCO has acknowledged that a specic set

of knowledge, skills, and behaviors is necessary for Customs to eectively fulll its unique

role in regulating international trade to meet national objectives; and emphasized that this