The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine has decided not to renew the sanctions against the so-called smuggling kings, which were imposed with pathos in 2021, since they, surprisingly, no longer pose a threat to national security.
This is stated in the response of the Security Service of Ukraine
It turns out that the sanctions decree No. 169/2021, which was in force until April 2024, was not extended in relation to eleven of the thirteen individuals and almost seventy legal entities.
The President's Office and the National Security Council, in response to requests from journalists, avoided explaining what changes occurred in the lives of those eleven people against whom they decided not to extend the sanctions.
The OP forwarded the request to the NSDC, and the NSDC, in turn, emphasized that the Council is considering what the competent authorities submit to it.
But the Security Service officially responded that for three years from the moment the sanctions were imposed, “the authorized state bodies, in accordance with their competence, monitored the effectiveness of the sanctions. In April 2024, the sanctions were extended in relation to individuals who continue to create real and/or potential threats to national interests...”
It turns out that persons who were not included in the updated rehabilitation lists in the spring of 2024 no longer pose such threats.
Among those who got rid of sanctions, there were many interesting characters who, despite everything, continue their usual activities at the border, which is why they were included in the previous sanctions list.
In particular, the list included the so-called Galician smuggling elder Vladimir Polusytok, Odessa shoe and textile expert Denis Aminev, Mukachevo cigarette expert Eduard Kukoba, electronics connoisseur from the Odessa region Mikhail Gribanov, former head of the capital’s customs, and now a modest lover of fertilizers and flowers, Yuri Dvorak.
But the main surprise is that the number one on that same sanctions list, Seyar Kurshutov, managed to escape from sanctions.
According to journalists, he lives in Vienna, vacations in Monaco, hangs out with the “bad guys” on Mount Athos and sometimes speaks complete nonsense, for example, that Ukraine will be saved by the security forces.
“It is unknown where his Ukrainian passport is, but it seems there is no shortage of passports from other countries. According to legend, Kurshutov is an influential truth-telling businessman and restaurateur. According to the documents, a dead individual entrepreneur with a fifth-year Lanos. But in fact, he is someone who in some circles would be called “the friend of all friends,” a person who knows with whom and how to come to an agreement in order to establish and maintain processes,” the material says.
It seems that it was precisely these skills and abilities, beyond the usual red tape across the border, that interested Bankova.
“His services are not needed at the level of “Vasya will pass a car of cigarettes from the second shift,” but in case “Vasya” is hundreds, and there are thousands of cars,” the author notes.
Rumors say that he cut his teeth on the shadow customs of Granovsky under the sensitive mentorship of Alexander Cherepinsky, a Kharkov expert in customs affairs and number two on the list from decree No. 169.
The fact that Kurshutov and Cherepinsky’s sanctions were not extended this year is hardly an unfortunate omission; it is rather an offer from Bankova, which has long been looking for sources of stable financing for its “needs.”
In addition, according to the authors of the publication, it seems that Kurshutov got a share of the anonymous “Telegram channel” “The Dark Knight” (Ermak’s advisor D. Zarivnaya is probably aware of the details).
“And yet the anonymous “TGshechka” is just a bonus to the main customs offer. Evil tongues say that his conditions seem to be as follows: Kurshutov works for the state for 25 days, and for five for himself. Even more evil tongues object that the volume of smuggling is now such that “for oneself” even five hours will be enough even if the monthly maintenance of “The Dark Knight” is about 50 thousand dollars. But in fact, the mentioned "working for the state." This is the key to understanding what kind of swamp Bankovaya is trying to plunge us into to the very top,” the journalists note.
