The past week was filled with a fair number of high-profile arrests and exposures. The first to make national headlines were those of the Sumy Customs officials. Probably everyone has heard or read about the high-profile arrests and searches at Sumy Customs. As a reminder, operatives from the National Police's Department for Economic Protection in the Odesa Region uncovered a large-scale criminal import scheme. Customs officers assisted entrepreneurs in importing goods without paying mandatory fees. More than 300 containers of fabric were imported into Ukraine under this scheme. Estimated damages exceed 15 million hryvnias.
The next day, Mr. Gutsal, head of the Sumy Customs Office, hastened to declare that the actions of law enforcement were illegal, that no one's guilt had been proven, and that the speed with which law enforcement posted the information on the official website was suspiciously swift. Without downplaying the importance of the presumption of innocence as a fundamental element of the rule of law, I must nevertheless counter the official that no "entrepreneur" would go to customs until they were given guarantees of clearance under this scheme. And it's important to remember that we're not talking about a dozen containers that escaped the attention of customs officers, but nearly 300.
On October 20, 2016, Yuriy Sheremet, head of the State Fiscal Service's Main Directorate for Foreign Trade, reported that in September 2016, a criminal group "led" by one of the heads of the Kyiv Customs Department was detained. The group systematically demanded and received monthly illegal benefits from foreign trade entities for understating the customs value of goods during customs clearance. However, it's immediately striking that Sheremet's video was posted on October 20, a day after the events in Sumy, and Sheremet himself reports that the exposure took place back in September. This circumstance suggests that this video was merely a feeble attempt by the State Fiscal Service to demonstrate that they, too, are vigilant and are cleaning up their act. Personally, I believe this information leak was intended to distract from the events in Sumy and to make themselves look at least somewhat inaccurate. Sheremet hasn't said a word about the events in Sumy themselves. No explanation from the State Fiscal Service (SFS) regarding what the SFS's internal security was doing at all levels, or what the "Black Hundreds" were doing? Well, that's understandable, since Sheremet himself controls them.
And the weekend was truly remarkable. At Zhulyany Airport (Kyiv), border guards detained a woman attempting to smuggle $1 million out of Ukraine. According to DS, former deputy head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine Kostiantyn Likarchuk reported this on his Facebook page. "This is the picture of Sunday evening. According to my information, a woman was detained during customs inspection in Zhulyany. She is allegedly an employee of a well-known, large, and fashionable clothing store in the Muzeynyi Lane area, where [SFS head Roman] Nasirov likes to shop," he wrote. The woman was detained while attempting to smuggle approximately $1 million out of Ukraine. The bills were in various currencies. "Naturally, carrying that kind of money across the border without cover is madness and suicide. According to my information, Nasirov or someone close to him provided cover for this woman. But something went wrong, and one of the customs officers inspected her. This was seen by border guards who weren't in the know (Nasirov is known to be very greedy) and raised a fuss," the former official shared details. According to him, such incidents at the border are not isolated—they are "all the time." "Something just didn't work out this time. Usually it works out. And now Nasirov will probably lose his discount at that store," the author added. Only the most naive would believe that it's impossible to control absolutely everything at customs. The corrupt vertical created by Nasirov and his associates operates without a hitch; everything is accounted for, calculated, and paid for. I've repeatedly stated that everyone knows everything, but they do nothing. There were several good articles on Facebook regarding the "productive" activities of the SFS leadership regarding the establishment of a strict vertical chain of command, the restoration of customs oversight institutions, the involvement of top SFS management in joint illegal transit schemes with Russians, and the direct control of mobile groups by Yuriy Sheremet, head of the SFS Main Directorate for Internal Security. Several months before the events described above, some of these articles also mentioned the Sumy Customs Office. But who cares?! (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=137760696651166&set=pcb.1377630799842 61&type=3&theater, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=142755782818324&set=pcb.142755892818313& type=3&theater , https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=118196465274256&set=pcb.118196745274228& type=3&theater)
The respected Pavel Vereshchagin also writes about this constantly, but unfortunately, no one cares at all. I would even say that this state of affairs is beneficial to the heads of the State Fiscal Service (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1733036713635075&set=pcb.17330375736349 89&type=3&theater , https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1735425116729568&id=1000078628 88945 ). It has already reached the point of absurdity. Prime Minister Groysman directly stated at a Cabinet meeting that not a single scanner at customs is working and that they became unusable due to the actions of the customs officers themselves, while the SFS leadership has never raised this issue. International donors are willing to invest considerable sums in specific projects, but we need to work on this, negotiate, and demonstrate what we can achieve as a result. Europeans and Americans must be confident that this money won't be embezzled, that it will be used for its intended purpose, and that the effectiveness of customs control will improve, thereby enhancing the security of not only Ukraine. But who at the State Fiscal Service will do this?! The SFS leadership has other goals! They're turning customs into a toothless creature and wrapping it in a pretty package called "customer service," while we've already forgotten the days when large shipments of heroin were detained at our ports (or don't they even pass through Ukraine?), and when Odessa police uncovered smuggling schemes in Sumy, while locals remained oblivious... All of the above, unfortunately, demonstrates one thing: the interests of the SFS leadership don't align with the interests and public demand for change in the customs system. In two years, nothing has been accomplished, although the system could have been not only cleaned out, but polished to a shine. It's perfectly clear that Nasirov, Sheremet, and other officials are interested in their account balances, not the country's security or budget revenues. I hope these were the considerations that guided the courageous customs officer who didn't turn a blind eye to Nasirov's girlfriend's bag of dollars. Given all this, one simple question remains: why, after so many failures across the board, blatant unprofessionalism, and outright corruption, do the SFS leadership still occupy their offices on Lvivska Square?!
Read more: Roman Nasirov: The Business Past of Ukraine's Chief Tax Official
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