Theories about fighting corruption in the country are completely at odds with what's happening at Ukrainian customs; they seem completely out of place in the situation that exists at virtually all Ukrainian customs offices.
Corrupt officials in Kyiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhia are particularly cynical—the scale of this corruption not only knows no bounds but is also astonishingly unpunished. Customs officials and activists have addressed an open letter to the authorities calling for action to address the current situation in the country.
TO THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE P.A. POROSHENKO
TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF UKRAINE A.P. YATSENYUK
TO ANTI-CORRUPTION PROSECUTOR N.I. KHOLODNITSKY
TO THE HEAD OF THE SECURITY SERVICE OF UKRAINE V.S. GRITSAK
TO THE HEAD OF THE NATIONAL POLICE DEKANOIDZE H.
OPEN LETTER
Since the summer of 2015, a criminal group has been operating within Ukrainian Customs. It is engaged in smuggling and financial fraud related to the customs clearance of Chinese and Turkish consumer goods on an especially large scale. This criminal group is led by Roman Nasirov, head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine. The operation is managed by Romanenko (former head of the Kyiv Regional Customs Office and Igor Kaletnik's godfather), in conjunction with Vasyl Pisny, deputy head of the SBU Main Directorate for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime (Department "K"). The perpetrators of the criminal schemes are current DGB police officer Serhiy Serdyuk, in conjunction with former Odesa Customs officer Denis Aminev, and notorious smuggler Orest Firmanyuk.
In this criminal group, everyone has their own tasks. Roman Nasirov is responsible for lobbying and protecting this smuggling scheme within the State Fiscal Service (SFS) and the presidential administration. Romanenko is Roman Nasirov's chief customs cashier and lobbies for this criminal scheme at customs posts in the Kyiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. Yuriy Sheremet (Roman Nasirov's classmate and head of the Main Directorate of Internal Security at the SFS) ensures the scheme's security and is supposed to combat such schemes, not lead them. Vasyl Pisnoy provides protection for this scheme within the SBU and the highest echelons of the Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Serhiy Serdyuk, a former subordinate of Vasyl Pisnoy with whom he is linked in long-standing corruption schemes, is directly involved in coordinating and overseeing these machinations at the lower levels of law enforcement. Denis Aminev facilitates the operation of these schemes directly at customs posts, as well as the collection of containers and cash. Orest Firmanyuk also facilitates the operation of these schemes directly at customs posts, as well as the collection of containers and cash. He has strong connections to senior officials in the Prosecutor General's Office and is a very close friend of Romanenko. This criminal group has been operating since June 2015. Their area of activity extended to the Odessa Customs Office, and after the arrival of the new head of the Odessa Customs Office, Yulia Marushevska, a protégé of Mikheil Saakashvili, they moved to the Kyiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia Customs Offices, where Romanenko's associates hold leadership positions. This fact undoubtedly demonstrates the impossibility of carrying out corrupt schemes under the current leadership of Mikheil Saakashvili and the head of the Odessa Customs Office, Yulia Marushevska.
Since June, this group has been carrying out customs clearance of containers and vehicles at various company “sites” (pits) that are changed once a month.
The registrations were made to the following companies:
TOV "VEYSES" 01103, M. KIIV, VUL. KIKVIDZE, 26, KV.143 OKPO code 39419613
TOV "VIRAST" 01004, M. KYIV, VUL. BASEINA, BUD. 5B OKPO code 39246549
TOV "ALFA-SOYUZ LTD" 04213, M.KIIV, AVENUE OF GEROIV STALINGRADA, BUDINOK 47A, OFFICE 3 OKPO code 39781404
TOV "DOMUS ALLIANCE" 01042, M. KIIV, PROV. NOVOPECHERSKY, BUD. 19/3, Bldg. 1, KV. 14 OKPO code 39815354
TOV "PROF BUSINESS GROUP" 04074, M. KYIV, PROV. LABORATORY, BUD. 1, KIMN. 147 OKPO code 39843182
TOV "LANDMARKET" 04210, M.KIIV, VUL. LEBEDINSKA, BUD. 4 147 OKPO code 39837870
LLC "MID STAR GROUP" 02002, M.KIIV, VUL. MARINI RASKOVOV, BUD. 23 OKPO code 39835449
TOV "SALES PROFI" 02002, M.KIIV, VUL. MARINI RASKOVOV, BUD. 23 OKPO code 39890248
TOV "STROY BUSINESS GROUP" 04073, M.KIIV, VUL. KURENIVSKA, BUD. 14-B OKPO code 39911215
TOV "GREEN-BELTS" 01133, M. KYIV, PROV. LABORATORY, BUD. 1, KV. (OFFICE) 146 OKPO 39915780
TOV "LIGHT-HOPE" 01133, M.KIIV, PROV. LABORATORY, BUD. 1, KV. (OFFICE) 178 OKPO39918231
TOV "SPETSBUSINESS INVEST" 04210, M. KIIV, VUL. LEBEDINSKA, BUD. 4 OKPO39844537
LLC "OMICRON PLUS" 01042 M. KIIV, VUL.IVANA KUDRI, BUD.5, KIMNATA 205-A OKPO39670909
TOV "IMPORT LAND" 04074, M. KIIV, VUL. BEREZHANSKA, BUD. 4 OKPO 39790356
TOV "EURO EFEKT" 01042 M. KIIV, VUL.IVANA KUDRI, BUDINOK 39, OFFICE 1 OKPO 39915876
TOV "EDVANCE TRADE" 01030, M.KYIV, VUL.M.KOTSYUBINSKOGO, BUD.4-B, APARTMENT (OFFICE) 17/1 OKPO 39975525
100% of clearances for this grouping are carried out with substitution of names, understatement of customs value and weight.
As an example, declaration No. 125130013/2015/410560 dated October 30, 2015
Submitted for registration
fabric 5% duty rate at $2,42/kg -45% of goods
Threads 0% duty rate at $1,08/kg - 55% of goods
In reality, the container only contains fabric, with a 5% duty rate of $3,36/kg.
The underpayment for this registration is 291000 UAH,
And this isn't an isolated incident; over 450 declarations were filed under this scheme during the specified period. The total damage is approximately 100 million hryvnias.
Such a quantity of thread has never been imported into Ukraine in its entire existence, except perhaps during the Yanukovych regime, when only toothpicks and elastic bands for underwear were imported.
The same situation applies to clothing and footwear, only here we only process fabric or household gloves, which are three times cheaper than clothing and footwear.
For example, declaration No. 125130013/2015/437743 dated November 10, 2015
Submitted for registration
Footwear 10% duty rate at $6,6/kg – 15% of goods
Shoe insoles 10% duty rate at $2,7/kg – 17% of goods
Household gloves 5% duty rate at $1,5/kg – 52% of goods
shoe soles 10% duty rate at $2,6/kg – 16% of goods
In reality, the container only contains shoes, with a 10% duty rate of $6,6/kg.
The shortfall in customs payments to the budget from the container amounted to UAH 371000.
This trend is evident in absolutely all of the criminal group's declarations. After analyzing these declarations, it suddenly turns out that 80-90% of the containers contain cheap goods, which is inconsistent with the analysis of declarations from other companies. There are approximately 520 such declarations. The total damage is approximately 200 million hryvnias. During the specified period, approximately 1500 declarations were filed in this manner. According to the most conservative estimates, over 500 million hryvnias were stolen from the budget during the criminal group's operations, and this does not include counterfeit clothing and footwear, perfumes, counterfeit excise stamps, and who knows what other goods that may have been brought into Ukraine without proper customs control. All of the above seems rather strange given the ongoing processes in the country. Any talk of fighting corruption and de-oligarchization seems completely inappropriate in this situation. The cynicism of corrupt officials and their lackeys not only knows no bounds but is also astounding in its impunity. Glory to Ukraine. Tables listing declaration numbers and violations are attached.
07.12.2015
NGO "Legislative Initiative of Ukraine" of A.D. Volobuev
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