How Ukrainian customs officials get rich: investigation by journalists (video)

Journalists, using the Dubai Unlocked project, carefully analyzed transactions from the official register of Dubai and revealed surprising facts. It turned out that two Ukrainian customs officers not only keep their financial transactions in the shadows, but also actively invest in real estate abroad.

Ruslan Cherkasky, the former deputy head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, together with Vitaly Kiro, involved in the production of cigarettes with fake excise stamps, invested in two apartments in Dubai in 2010, according to data from the Dubai leak. According to the information received from journalists “Scheme” (Radio Liberty) with reference to transactions from the official register of Dubai, the total value of these assets is approximately 25 million dollars.

Part of this property was rented out by the owners, and part has already been successfully sold. However, Ruslan Cherkaskyi’s available property declarations do not include information about these investments or income from sales or rent.

According to the data from the Dubai source, in 2010 Cherkasky together with Vitaly Kiro invested in two apartments in Pentominium tower A (now the complex has another name Six Senses Residences) with an area of ​​649 square meters each. The total amount of transactions exceeds 10 million dollars.

In addition, in 2009, together with Kiro, Cherkasky purchased office space in Dubai Pearl for $14 million.  Journalists established that Cherkasky bought an apartment in the Bahar 6 complex in 2008 after he was dismissed from the post of First Deputy Head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine.

The “Scheme” material also indicates that Vitaliy Kiro’s wife, Olga, indirectly owned a stake in United Tobacco, a tobacco factory that produced cigarettes with fake excise stamps. After the publication of the journalists’ investigation, the factory was ordered to pay more than three million hryvnias in taxes and fines.

Another discovery of the investigation is information about the state inspector of the customs post “Smilnytsia” of the Lviv region, Andriy Konants. It turned out that he owns apartments in a residential complex in Dubai, which were not listed in his declarations. He denied owning an apartment in Dubai, calling it a misunderstanding.

It is noted that according to data from the Dubai leak, Andriy Konanets invested in real estate in 2010 – this is a 34-square-meter studio in the Lakeside complex. According to the leaked transaction data of Dubai Unlocked, the journalists found out that the purchase price of the apartment was 175 thousand dollars, which today is equivalent to approximately seven million hryvnias. Later, this property was rented out, which brought the owner an income of 36 thousand dollars, or about one and a half million hryvnias.