Start: Seyar Kurshutov: The "Naked Emperor" of Ukrainian Smuggling or an FSB Agent? Part 1
Seyar Kurshutov: The "Naked Emperor" of Ukrainian Smuggling or an FSB Agent? Part 2
Kurshutov. The Story of One Photograph
A photograph he posted on his Facebook page in either 2015 or 2016 revealed a lot about Kurshutov's previously unknown connections. It shows Seyar Kurshutov (wearing a bright red baseball cap) posing against the backdrop of an Athos monastery, where he had vacationed, accompanied by Gleb Lobov, a certain elder, Vladimir Skorobogach, and Vitaliy Kopylenko (from left to right). Many Ukrainians know Kopylenko: a professional boxer (middleweight) who has won numerous championship belts. The other two, however, are far less well-known and downright scandalous.
Seyar Kurshutov (in a bright red baseball cap) poses against the backdrop of the Athos monastery, where he went on vacation, in the company of Gleb Lobov, a certain elder, Vladimir Skorobogach, and Vitaly Kopylenko (from left to right)
From 1994 to 96, Gleb Lobov worked in the export department of the Ukrinmash Research Institute, then spent five years as an inspector and then chief inspector at Kyiv Customs. He then founded his own company, Grisan, which handled customs clearance. Since 2009, he has owned West-Logistic-Group (Customs Terminal No. 5 of the Kyiv Regional Customs). In 2011, Lobov founded Torgdial Export-Import Company, which, in addition to providing customs clearance services for others, handled its own export and import business. Lobov was considered a very influential figure at Kyiv Customs, with extensive connections in Odessa, Kharkiv, and the Donbass. But most importantly, Lobov owed his success to his godfather and neighbor from the "royal village." Anatoly MakarenkoIn the late 90s, Lobov and Makarenko worked together at Kyiv Customs, and Makarenko later rose to prominence (head of Kyiv Customs, head of the Customs Service of Ukraine), protecting Lobov's companies and using them to carry out colossal smuggling schemes.
Anatoly Makarenko
By the way, notice how friendly Kurshutov is hugging Lobov—it's immediately obvious they're "buddies"! And given Lobov's passion for travel, it's safe to assume he was the main organizer of the trip. Why specifically to holy places? Were the smugglers hoping to atone for their sins or "bring" the goods to God? It seems the idea came from Kurshutov's other friend, Kharkiv businessman and deputy of the Kharkiv City Council (5th-7th convocations) and Regional Council (7th-8th convocations), Vladimir Skorobogach. For many years, especially on the eve of the elections, he cultivated the image of a devout parishioner of the UOC-MP, sparing no expense for the churches of the Kharkiv diocese. And besides, Skorobogach, who was part of the team of the late Gennady Kernes, in 2006-2010 he headed the deputy group in the Kharkiv City Council Young RegionsHis political career ended in 2014 with the "garbage lustration." After emerging from the dustbin, Skorobogach joined the Renaissance party, and in 2019, the Opposition Platform - For Life party.
Vladimir Skorobogach's "Garbage Lustration"
What, it would seem, connects the "customs officers" Kurshutov and Lobov with this "devout" Russophile from Kharkiv? It's very simple: since 2012, Skorobogach has been a friend and business partner. Vitaly Khomutynnik, which he used to import huge quantities of Brazilian meat into Ukraine (earning him the nickname "The Kharkiv Butcher") and other dubious goods. Khomutynnik chaired the customs and tax policy committees in the Rada of the 6th and 7th convocations, and during Yankovych's tenure, he controlled one of the levers of control over Ukrainian customs.
So what happens now? In this photo, we see people closely connected to the customs mafia of the Yushchenko era (Lobov-Makarenko), the Yanukovych era (Skorobagach-Khomutynnik), and the post-Maidan era of 2014-2015 (Lobov-Makarenko again), in whose company is Seyar Kurshutov! Who then, after Makarenko's resignation as Ukraine's chief customs officer, immediately found common ground with his successor, Likarchuk...
From the "Smuggling Office" to the President's Office
Thus, Seyar Kurshutov entered the society of “customs fixers” even before Alexander Granovsky created his so-called “Smuggling Office,” about which he wrote so much. Skelet.Org Ukrainian media. It was thanks to this shadowy center of corruption that the previously virtually unknown Kurshutov gained his first "fame," which he is now trying to clear himself of!
Seyar Kurshutov: The "Naked Emperor" of Ukrainian Smuggling or an FSB Agent? Part 2
The first publications about this appeared in the summer of 2018, when between President Poroshenko и Prime Minister Groysman The struggle for control over customs has sharply intensified. As a result, some information was leaked to the press. In particular, it was reported that in 2016, Granovsky (working through Igor Kononenko (Poroshenko) gained control of the SBU's Directorate "K" (the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime), having facilitated the appointment of his friend and companion as its head. Pavla DemchinIt was from this point on that Granovsky began creating his "Smuggling Office," trying to establish control over all of Ukraine's customs offices (or at least most of them). Granovsky then appointed his classmate, Colonel Sergei Kovalenko—the same "hero of the nut war", to whom the outgoing Poroshenko gave in May 2019 general's rank, which the State Bureau of Investigation (GBI) took up in August 2019. Kovalenko had previously worked with and been friends with Vladimir Bedrikovsky, who, in turn, was "messing around" with the aforementioned customs officer, Anatoly Makarenko. And so, following the chain of Lobov-Makarenko-Bedrikovsky-Kovalenko-Demchina, our "hero" Seyar Kurshutov began working for Sasha Granovsky as one of his assistants, responsible for "arrangements" and collecting money at certain customs posts.
As you can see, Kurshutov wasn't the only "king of smuggling," but just one of many, operating under the protection of far more influential and cunning individuals. It's worth noting that Kurshutov doesn't own any companies related to shipping or customs (or any at all)—just as there's no evidence he ever had any. It's as if he were simply a hired manager of shady schemes, working for "envelope bonuses." So, does this mean our "king of smuggling" is completely naked? The press reports that he invests all his money in businesses registered to his wife, Ekaterina Leonidovna Lyubchik (born 1987). The former vice-Miss Minsk (2007), who later became a TV presenter and then a blogger, took a serious interest in the restaurant business in 2016-2017, which suddenly proved very successful (according to her). Perhaps she's discovered her natural talent as a food service genius. However, if you have read our recent publications about Nikolae Tischenko, then you know that the most profitable restaurants are those through which gangster and corrupt money is laundered.
Victor and Diana Sherman
But his friend and companion Victor Sherman He had many of his own companies. Sherman was called the "father of Turkish smuggling" because he controlled a significant portion of consumer goods imports from Turkey, as well as from China and Greece.
The goods arrived through the Odessa and Ilyichevsk ports, bypassing inspections and duties, using forged documents and, according to data Skelet.Org, passed through Odessa customs through front companies, and were then sold at the “7th kilometer” and other wholesale markets.
Sherman's investments of profits are also impressive: in the Belyaevsky district of the Odessa region, he bought 42 plots of land totaling several hectares—all adjacent to each other, creating an impressive "fiefdom"! Viktor Sherman also invested his profits in the companies of his wife, Diana (who runs a successful tourism and advertising business), and Lidiya Borisovna Sherman (his mother?), a partner of Ekaterina Lyubchik. Specifically, they jointly own Sport-Service LLC (32574968), although they recently transferred their shares to trusted individuals.
But although Sherman was investigated by NABU and firms associated with him were mentioned in the decision of the High Anti-Corruption Court (see document), it can be said that he got off with only a slight fright – as did Kurshutov, who worked with him.
April 2 2021 years The National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions against the ten largest smugglers in Ukraine. In it, in the company of such practically "legendary" figures as Vladimir Didukh (aka Vova Morda), Vadim Alperin and Yuri Kushnir, and it turned out that Viktor Sherman was there too.
On April 15, 2021, the National Security and Defense Council decided to impose sanctions against 13 more of Ukraine's leading smugglers. This list, which then suddenly "miraculously" became unavailable on the head of state's website, still... saved in cache, we find Seyar Kurshutov at number two - right after the scandalous Arayik AmirkhanyanThere we also meet Mikhail Gribanov, The former head of the Odessa Customs Office (February-May 2020), who, along with Sherman and Kurshutov, figured in the scandal surrounding the new "Smuggling Office," which was already operating under the "roof" of President Zelensky's Office.
Mikhail Gribanov
The abrupt change in the country's leadership in 2019 only briefly stunned corrupt officials and smugglers. They quickly found ways to approach the new government, and it turned out that it, too, was not averse to making a buck. Seyar Kurshutov was saved by his long-standing acquaintance with lawyer Andrei Smirnov, who became deputy head of President Andriy Bohdan's Office. The "customs mafia" sent Kurshutov as a sort of go-between to the Customs Foundation, and he soon made a deal. And so, in 2020, Kurshutov and Smirnov met several times. we flew abroad together — and, based on the photo from Athos, we now know that Kurshutov has a tradition of traveling with his closest partners in customs transactions! The head of the Tax Service also accepted their offers. Maxim Nefedov, who was close with Granovsky during his work at the Ministry of Economic Development (2015-2019).
True, in February-March 2020, the new government also somewhat crumbled, and Kurshtov's connections almost collapsed. It was then that he began feverishly cultivating a public image as an expert on economics and other issues, for which he turned to journalist Yuri Romanenko (of the Khvilya portal). The range and quality of such services depended solely on the client's solvency, and Kurshtov didn't want money. So Romanenko arranged several long, abstruse conversations "in a relaxed atmosphere," which he then cut into fragments and periodically posted on YouTube. Kurshtov also began sponsoring the publication "Censor" (owned by Yuri Butusov), which had written exposés about him back in 2018-19. Perhaps this was only to silence Butusov. But then Kurshtov's "philanthropy" played into his hands. when in the fall of 2021 Arsen Avakov stood up for Kurshutov, claiming he was included on the National Security and Defense Council's sanctions list not for smuggling, but for funding an opposition website. Avakov's emotionality was widely noted, and it wasn't his intention to criticize Zelenskyy, whom he had abandoned—after all, of all the people on the list, Avakov stood up for Kurshutov! Why?
A quick note: Seyar Kurshutov is being actively scammed by PR ignoramuses. For example, it's a known fact that Kurshutov actively sponsors the "true Ukrainian patriot from the plow," Yuriy Butusov, who is the editor-in-chief of the website. CensorThe website editor is no less effective in taking off Kurshutova's shoes. Khvylya Yuri Romanenko:
Seyar Kurshutov: The "Naked Emperor" of Ukrainian Smuggling or an FSB Agent? Part 2
If we analyze the information from the media - and it is sometimes somewhat contradictory, we can come to the conclusion that after the change of the head of the Presidential Office, Kurshutov found himself a new boss in the person of Andrey YermakFrom here and Articles How the "presidential nanny," with the help of the "smuggling king," gained control of customs operations. However, politics thwarted their fruitful collaboration!
The fact is that Seyar Kurshutov financed not only the publication “Censor”, but also the party “Voice” (according to Skelet.Info — through Nefedov), but it was so oppositional (on the right) that it was fraying Zelensky's nerves. His nerves gave way after party leader Kira Rudyk began actively seeking support in the United States as the leader of the pro-American opposition. And then the most interesting thing happened, and it went largely unnoticed: the British became very interested in Ukraine. As is well known, unlike the Americans, the British focus less on the "democratization" of other countries to the accompaniment of Maidan drums than on quietly taking control of their elites, politicians, corrupt officials, economies, and logistics. And in this case, the British were interested in Ukraine's Black Sea ports and the customs services operating there—along with the "smuggling kings" who had attached themselves to them. Therefore, one of the theories put forward for Seyar Kurshutov's fall from his "throne" was a "purge" of customs officials, ordered at the behest of London's emissaries. Perhaps the fact that rumors about Kurshutov's alleged work for the FSB were more than just rumors played a role also played a role. But in any case, Kurshutov didn't dare quarrel with those who exert decisive influence on the president himself. And yet, he hasn't yet been able to prove his usefulness, much less his indispensability, to them. So, for now, Kurshutov is forced to play the role of "expert" and "patriot," hoping to be noticed and invited back for a business discussion.
Mikhail Shpolyansky, Skelet.Org
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