Contraband from China for UAH 7 million (USD 260.8 thousand) was smuggled through the Odesa port

An employee of the Odesa customs let through the goods from China in the port for UAH 7 million (USD 260.8 thousand) without paying a duty.

According to the State Bureau of Investigation, in January 2021, the former Acting Head of the sector of one of the posts of the Odesa customs office checked a container with goods that a private company was importing from China to Ukraine.

The employee entered understated data on the number of goods in the container in the inspection report. Instead of UAH 11 million (USD 409.9 thousand), she indicated goods for only UAH 4 million (USD 149 thousand). This allowed the importing company to save 1.7 million hryvnia (USD 63.3 thousand) on customs duties.

However, these violations were discovered by the investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation during an inspection at the customs territory.

For violation of customs rules, the company that owned the goods was UAH fined 2.6 million (USD 96.8 thousand), and the undeclared goods were confiscated in favor of the state.

The customs officer is suspected of making deliberately false data in official documents (Part 1 of Section 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The sanction of the section is punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions for up to 3 years. Pre-trial investigation continues.