New trail of "schematosis" by Kurshutov at Customs

New trail of "schematosis" by Kurshutov at Customs

The dismissal of the Head of the Customs Service, Maksym Nefedov, seemed to mark the beginning of the end for all corruption schemes at Customs.

It is already evident that Nefedov and his team, even before the crisis, were unable to fulfill their tasks. And during the crisis, they posed a risk to the financial security of the country.

After the removal of Nefedov and his "gang," all the main "schemers" not only did not lie low, but on the contrary, increased their criminal activities. Entrepreneurs complain: no fight against the schemes has taken place. Experts assure that one of the main problems at Customs is fictitious export, under which VAT refunds are then claimed. Plus — smuggling and tax evasion. According to estimates, the difference between the volume of goods and their monetary valuation amounts to $30-40 billion a year. That is, up to $5 billion a year is lost on VAT, which is 12-13 billion hryvnias monthly. Considering various schemes, it amounts to 15 billion hryvnias per month that could have gone to the budget but instead end up in the pockets of the "overseers."

It is known that at the Southern Customs, people of former customs officer Oleksandr Morhun, who was once considered one of the organizers of the "ticketing" scheme for businessmen, appeared. And just a month after the leadership change at the Odesa Customs, entrepreneurs stated that the so-called sorting scheme had resumed.

The pool of large-scale "curators" and "schemers" continues to work with impunity. In the Southern region alone, the schemes of Seyar Kurshutov, previously highlighted in the media, are flourishing. During Poroshenko’s presidency, Kurshutov was responsible for collecting multibillion revenues from importers. A "rate" was set for them, which they had to pay for trouble-free customs clearance and import of goods. A corruption fee was organized from each container from China and each vehicle from Turkey. Multimillion sums were "removed" monthly. As it became known, in his schemes from 2017-2020, Kurshutov used a number of front firms, such as: "Klaus Market" (EDRPOU code - 42202868), "Aktie Trading" (EDRPOU - 42224546), "Dillatorg" (EDRPOU - 42632381), "Lighter Group" (EDRPOU - 42342169), "Mini Soft" (EDRPOU - 42604967), "Galleon Ltd Service" (now "LASK AMT" EDRPOU 42277184), "Adelaide Plus" (now "Regard Industry" EDRPOU 42796289). Most of their work was managed by Kurshutov, meaning the firms were within his sphere of influence. According to information from open sources, the majority of these enterprises are engaged in wholesale trade, but despite this, they actively participated in illegal schemes, from smuggling to "grey schemes" of customs clearance of goods.

As we can see, the scheming at customs, "overseers," and "curators" continue to knock out the Customs. Billions of hryvnias continue to bypass the budget, and the pressure on business thrives, even though it seemed that all of this should have long disappeared.

from-ua