A personal watercraft is one of the few vehicles that is easier to bring into Ukraine than an ATV or a car: vessels carry no excise, the pension levy does not apply, and the duty rate is the same for a 90 hp Spark and a 325 hp RXP-X. There are, however, two points where buyers most often go wrong. The first is expecting zero duty under the free trade agreement with Canada. The second is registration: in Ukraine a PWC is not registered at an MVS service centre but as a vessel. Below is the calculation of charges under the acts in force in October 2026, the operator requirements and what to check before you buy.
A Canadian warehouse is not Canadian origin
The modernised Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) entered into force on 1 July 2024. Under it Ukraine eliminated duties on almost every product group, including vessels of heading 8903 — but only for goods of Canadian origin. Origin is claimed by an exporter's declaration on the invoice, and that is possible only for goods wholly obtained or sufficiently processed in Canada.
BRP is a Canadian company, and we ship watercraft from our warehouses in Toronto and Montreal. Yet according to BRP's annual information form, the entire Sea-Doo line-up is assembled at the Querétaro plant in Mexico, with part of the engines coming from Gunskirchen, Austria. The Canadian plant in Valcourt builds Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Can-Am three-wheelers, not watercraft. So the CUFTA preference does not apply to Sea-Doo, and the standard rate of the Customs Tariff of Ukraine is charged at the border. Where the machine was stored before shipping has no bearing on its origin.
What is charged at the border
A PWC falls under heading 8903 — yachts and other vessels for pleasure or sports. For craft up to 7.5 m the Ukrainian tariff has several subheadings (8903 31 00 00, 8903 93 10 00, 8903 93 90 00 and others). We found no official Ukrainian ruling on which of them covers a jet-driven watercraft, but for the budget it makes no difference: every candidate code carries the same duty.
| Charge | 2026 rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ukrainian tariff code (HS) | 8903; the subheading (8903 31 00 00 or 8903 93 …) is confirmed at declaration | Митний тариф України |
| Import duty | 10% — preferential and full rates are the same | Митний тариф України |
| 0% CUFTA duty | does not apply: Sea-Doo is built in Mexico | BRP AIF FY2025, CUFTA, ch. 3 |
| Excise | none — heading 8903 is not on the list in art. 215.3 | Податковий кодекс |
| VAT | 20% of (value + duty) | Tax Code, arts. 190.1, 193.1 |
| Pension levy | not charged — it applies to passenger cars only | Law No. 400/97-ВР |
| Recycling / eco fee | not found in the primary sources we checked; confirmed in the estimate | — |
| Registration | Ship Register of Ukraine, ship's ticket; the fee is confirmed case by case | Law No. 1054-IX |
The calculation is straightforward. First comes duty — 10% of customs value. Then VAT at 20% on a base that already includes the duty: the base is the contract value (but not less than customs value) plus duty. Altogether the state charges on a watercraft come to 32% of customs value: 10% duty and 22% VAT (20% of 110%). There is no component that depends on the engine or the age of the craft.
Relief for private individuals does not help here either. Article 374 of the Customs Code exempts, for example, vehicles of headings 8702, 8703, 8704 and 8711 brought in when relocating for permanent residence, provided they have been owned for at least a year. Vessels of heading 8903 are not on that list, so a private buyer and a company pay the same.
Horsepower changes the price, not the taxes
For cars and ATVs in Ukraine, engine displacement drives excise up directly. Watercraft have no such link: heading 8903 is not on the Tax Code's list of excisable goods. So you choose a model for the job, not for tax optimisation, and the difference in charges between models is proportional only to the difference in customs value.
- Sea-Doo Spark — the lightest machine in our stock, about 190 kg, with a 90 hp Rotax 900 ACE. The easiest to trailer and to keep in a garage.
- Sea-Doo GTI — 130 hp Rotax 1630 ACE, three seats, iBR braking and reverse: an all-round family option.
- Sea-Doo FishPro Scout — 130 hp, a 13.5-gallon cooler and rod holders: a craft built for fishing.
- RXP-X and RXT-X with 325 hp — one sporty, one built for open water; their taxes are calculated at the same rates as the Spark's.
The full line-up with warehouse availability is in the watercraft section, and a comparison of the ranges and use cases is in our guide how to choose a Sea-Doo.
Registration: the Ship Register and the ship's ticket
Ukraine's Law "On Inland Water Transport" (No. 1054-IX) defines a personal watercraft as a self-propelled pleasure craft up to 4 m long with water-jet propulsion, on which the operator sits on top of rather than inside the hull. Such craft must be registered in the Ship Register of Ukraine (Суднова книга), and registration is certified by a ship's ticket (судновий білет), issued without expiry. Registration is handled by the central executive body for inland water transport — the Maritime Administration.
Two practical caveats. First, the 4 m threshold: longer models are treated by the law as small vessels rather than personal watercraft, so we check the length of the specific model against the manufacturer's documents before purchase. Second, we did not find the fee, the document list or the deadline for registering after import in the primary sources — we confirm them with the Maritime Administration for each case. From us you receive the customs declaration, the invoice and the Canadian export documents on which the application is based.
Who may operate a watercraft
Under article 41 of the same law, a pleasure craft may be operated by a person aged 18 or over whose qualification is confirmed by an international certificate for operating a pleasure craft. Small-craft or watercraft operator certificates issued before the law was adopted remain valid. A medical check is also required. If you are buying a watercraft for the family, it makes sense to get the certificate in advance rather than after the container arrives.
Where to ride under martial law
Whether you can go out on the water depends on more than documents. Under martial law, navigation restrictions are set by region: in 2023, for example, Dnipropetrovsk oblast banned the navigation of small, motor and sports craft, explicitly including personal watercraft, and Kirovohrad oblast took a similar decision (Interfax-Ukraine). No single list of regions where riding is permitted in 2026 has been published — before buying, check the current decision of your regional military administration.
Shipping and what we calculate in advance
The watercraft travels by sea in a container to a European port and then by road to Ukraine; compact machines are easy to consolidate several to a container. Transit time and cost depend on the line and port, so we quote them for each specific shipment — more on routes in the shipping section. The general rules of Ukrainian customs — how VAT is charged, the declaration, the broker's role — are covered in our article on clearing a car from Canada into Ukraine.
We ship Canadian-market machines only — new or clean used with a transparent history, no auction units and nothing rebuilt after flooding. The price of the watercraft is on request; before purchase we prepare a full estimate: customs value, duty and VAT for the specific model. Leave a request with the model and your city.
Rates are current as of October 2026 under the Customs Tariff and Tax Code of Ukraine and may change; the final calculation is made on the date of clearance.