Once again we have to state that the current government is not going to change anything at all. Containers will float to the ports -> money will float into the pockets of officials -> systems, schemes, programs and elementary pinching will start working.
Traditionally about E-downtime at borders. The authorities have achieved that drivers, in response to the real terror of the authorities themselves against them, react with an “Italian strike”. Either they don’t go on flights (see summary for May 31 below) or they leave trucks with trailers abroad and: “Director, I’ve agreed with my family, I’m staying abroad.”
According to some evidence, there are already hundreds of Ukrainian trucks abandoned in this way at parking lots in Romania. Downtime at the borders, forced mobilization (for example, drivers of individual entrepreneurs cannot get armor), bullying from customs, transport and tax inspectorates have led to the fact that there is no one willing to transport goods at all. Drivers are looking for less risky ways to earn a living for their families.
And, unfortunately, most often abroad. The summary below is eloquent proof that there are no vehicles with cargo at the borders at all. After all, the trucks had to contain imported items: hygiene, children's products, medicines, components, raw materials, etc. Let the Getmantsevs and Ermaks carry the goods now. The truckers said “enough is enough.”
In his material “First to go!” I showed what exactly awaits the transport community with the restoration of sea container traffic to Ukrainian ports.
Indicated cash prices for fictitious customs procedures that may arise for importers and transport workers. In particular:
The first vessel has already been fully processed taking into account paragraphs. 6-7 above. Almost immediately after unloading the ship, complaints from forwarders began to pour in regarding the requirement of customs inspections without any reason or legal justification. There are no exact figures for business losses yet. This is exactly how this corruption scheme was created. In addition to sea freight (sometimes up to 10 thousand dollars), port services (500-600 dollars), in a standard situation, unloading and loading cargo for customs inspection of the cargo costs the client 12 thousand UAH (in the port where the first ship arrived ).
Or an additional almost $300 per container. That is. the business, at the whim of customs, had to forcibly part with another 700 * 12,000 UAH. = 8.5 million UAH. unplanned expenses. And taking into account the fact that the port can fully inspect (dump and dump back) 5-6 containers with cargo during a working day shift, “honest” clearance of cargo from the entire ship would take several months.
Of course, customs government officials “could not” allow such downtime.” “Trade” began in order not to keep the container cargo in the port and for money to falsify 100% inspection of all the ship’s cargo. For each arriving container, the following “trade” began:
— Open the doors only — $100.
— Unload only the passage to the back wall — $100.
— Unload and load only 50% of the cargo — $150.
And so on and so forth. In strict accordance with the type of cargo, the owner’s desire to quickly receive the long-awaited cargo and his potential willingness to “thank the efforts of the inspector” in achieving customs cache efforts. 700 containers at 100 dollars each = another 70 thousand dollars of “honest earnings”, so as not to keep goods for Ukrainian recipients for a long time. Thanks for that too!
The scheme has been worked out since the times of Yanukovych-Azarov. But then there were still prices just for entering the port to pick up your cargo. It was up to $500 per truck. Today this is not the case. Not yet?!
In total, we “earned an additional 8.5 million UAH for our daily bread.” for fake inspections, 70 thousand dollars in cash for “coordinating these inspections.” Of course, they found nothing and found no violations.
But. The cargo was unloaded, “looked at,” the cache was put into pockets, everything happened as usual. If not for the sequel.
A few weeks after the described “easy cache hunt,” a conference of the largest Association of Forwarders of Ukraine took place. The majority of this Association are container carriers. And the conference, in a burst of happiness from the appointment, was attended by the new acting Odessa customs official.
Unusually, it turned out that the current acting Yu. Cherdintsev had never worked at customs before. Especially in such a complex one as Odessa. But he immediately began telling freight forwarders that his innovations at Odessa customs would be strictly in accordance with the law. (100% inspection of cargo in one of the ports of Odessa - under what legislation, I wonder?)
And in response to a direct question from the conference participants: “Why did you authorize a complete 100% inspection of all containers arriving on the first container ship in recent years?”, the boss completely unexpectedly publicly answered: “I had information that in some two there are cigarettes in the containers on this ship!”
The freight forwarding community remained silent, without provoking a scandal right at the conference. Therefore, I have the opportunity to separately and specifically explain to this statesman what he did and then said.
1. If the executor of the head of customs took note of some document and, on the basis of which, he ordered a complete and 100% inspection of each container, then he violated the legislation of Ukraine, or rather Resolution of May 23, 2012 N 467 “REGULAR LIST of grounds , in the presence of which an inspection (re-examination) of goods and commercial vehicles may be carried out by customs authorities.” In this decree, which is mandatory for every government official, there is no clause about “the use of any information or document” so that customs has the legal right to interfere in the transport process with its actions.
2. If this government official ordered personnel (written or verbal) to conduct 100% searches of all containers, such actions constitute malfeasance, regardless of whether his subordinates complied with his order or not. And for some reason they carried out this order. It’s clear why. Thereby also violating the legislation of Ukraine. Why ordinary customs inspectors did this “to approve bribes” is clear from the prices for “their work is higher.”
3. The fact that the acting head of the Odessa customs, Yu. Cherdintsev, publicly admitted that he was guided in his work by some document to carry out his further actions and issued orders to his subordinates, is his personal lie and manipulation.
Not a single foreign service for tracking the illicit trafficking of tobacco products will write a letter to colleagues, that is, to our customs, in the “grandfather’s village” way, that is, without indicating specific data: port of departure, container numbers, name of the recipient, sender, etc. , that is, without any specific identification. Moreover, customs were prohibited from accepting such letters “for use” from our law enforcement services back in September 2023.
Thus, the authorities have once again shown that there were, are and will be corruption schemes in the ports. Even after 2 years of war and the absence of container traffic to our ports, the schemes were updated. They haven't forgotten anything.
There are constantly news about customs officers being detained at work places. I even wrote an article on this topic: “Not everyone has been transplanted yet.” Apparently not everyone is there yet. But they are found all the time. Up to the highest level. When Ukrainian government officials no longer know what to do with corruption money, they buy apartments, even in the Emirates. See example: Symbols of corruption. How Ukrainian customs officers bought millions of dollars worth of real estate in Dubai
I have to repeat myself: “Once again we have to state that the current government is not going to change anything at all. Containers will float to the ports -> money will float into the pockets of officials -> systems, schemes, programs and elementary pinching will start working.
On the one hand, it is time for Ukraine to prepare to begin transporting goods to restore the destroyed country.
On the other hand, the world is filled with technologies of artificial intelligence, control, analysis of what is happening, electronic documents for the flow of goods and cargo passing across borders. And Ukraine is obliged to provide transport flows, its citizens, and international investors with fast and clear customs procedures at the borders so that transport does not wait for corrupt decisions from customs, border guards or another flock that the government allows to pluck transport.
On the third hand, if Ukraine is going to meet new transport cargo flows with old customs, schemes, bribes “a la Azarov”, when every inspector will slow down transport only in order to bring at least something into the house and transfer something upstairs, we will completely lose and this war of logistics. It’s time to think: “What’s next?”
It is no coincidence that I constantly criticized E-Chergu, Shlyakh. It turns out that our parliament has recently become “concerned” with the problem. And what? Are the bribes over?
P.P.S.
All customs offices do what I described above. An example from the customs channel telegrams is very eloquent.
Both the State Bureau of Investigation and the customs hold cargo, slow down transport, and use every opportunity to “knock out the cash” from passing vehicles. “To whom is war, and to whom is mother.”
How do such inspections end? “Well, give me 50-100 dollars so that I don’t have to keep your car for an extra day (week, month, year.).”
And the continuation of the topic turned out to be empty customs, no cars. and it will not be with them.
