I am a U.S. citizen and I have heard many stories about problems with the mafia in Ukraine, but I do not see anything on the web site. Is this still a problem? I have been told they wait at the airport to collect money from you before you leave.

The protection of American citizens in Ukraine is among the foremost priorities of the United States Embassy in Kyiv. To that end, the Consular Section’s American Citizen Services Office works in close cooperation with the Embassy’s Regional Security Office to gather crime statistics from private citizens’ reports and local police forces. We use these reports to identify common safety/security threats and new trends in Ukrainian crime statistics, particularly crime involving foreign nationals. As required by U.S. law, we publicize identifiable threats and crime trends on our website.

To date, the Embassy has received no reports of American travelers being subjected to extortion by organized crime groups at Ukrainian airports. However, the Embassy has received reports from American citizens whose money was confiscated in full or in part due to failure to properly declare it to local customs authorities, as required by Ukrainian law.

We encourage all travelers to Ukraine to review our website at http://kyiv.usembassy.gov, as well as the Department of State"s travel website at http://travel.state.gov for relevant information regarding safety and security of Americans abroad as well as additional specific information about Ukraine.