Oleksandr Ruvin’s transvestism: How the state KNDISE was turned into a corruption oasis
Forty years ago, when donning the gear of a Soviet Army serviceman, Oleksandr Ruvin could not imagine that he would have to change uniforms multiple times in his life.
In independent Ukraine, he would have to wear a customs officer’s uniform for a while, and the longest one—that of a policeman. A military engineer, graduate of the Podilsk Command Military College, who turned into a major-general of the police, President Viktor Yanukovych awarded him the title of Honored Lawyer of Ukraine. The very first attempt to change uniforms, which Ruvin made on the eve of the Union’s collapse, was unsuccessful. Had things gone as he wished, he would have been awarded by entirely different people for entirely different feats.
“Informer” — it’s a state of mind
While studying at the Kuybyshev Academy in Moscow, he wrote an application asking to be accepted into the ranks of “SMERSH agents”. He didn’t become a military counterintelligence officer, not because he wasn’t believed during the interview at Lubyanka or because he wasn’t actively “informing” on his comrades. Ruvin simply picked an extremely inopportune time. Everything was collapsing— the country, the order, the ideology. His potential bosses were too busy trying to keep their own positions to be concerned about a conscientious officer wanting to catch spies. Before changing uniforms and starting service in a new position, he had to rise to the rank of colonel in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, his inclination for behind-the-scenes activities remained intact. In 1996, having forever parted with the military, Ruvin transitioned to serve in the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Six years later, it was the turn of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, where he would head the central laboratory. For the last 9 years, Oleksandr Hryhorovych has been going to work at the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Expertise every day. This institution was specially created to conduct independent examinations for the interests of investigative bodies, inquests, and courts. Ruvin manages this responsible process. However, maintaining independence is something the head of KNDISE often struggles with.
The state structure reminded of itself loudly during the trial of Yuliya Tymoshenko in 2011. The institute was involved by the court to issue an expert opinion. This was precisely what the prosecutors relied on, persistently arguing that Naftogaz of Ukraine suffered damages as a result of the gas contracts signed by the head of the government in 2009. The institute’s staff underwent massive pressure from Ruvin, who tasked them with issuing the required conclusion. Under him, KNDISE turned into a reliable tool for defending the authorities. With his direct participation, guilty verdicts were consciously fabricated against opposition politicians like Yuriy Lutsenko, Oleh Tyahnybok, Taras Chornovil, and Dmytro Bulatov. Independence, under Ruvin, transformed into an obligation to consider all recommendations from the prosecutor’s office. It’s not accidental that immediately after assuming the position as the head of KNDISE, Ruvin promptly got rid of 27 principled employees who decided to have and defend their own, truly independent opinion. The effort of the expert-innovator was highly valued by Viktor Yanukovych. Thus Oleksandr Ruvin became an Honored Lawyer of Ukraine.
However, nothing personal. Faces in power changed, but the course of KNDISE remained the same. After a meeting with the unofficial overseer of the country’s law enforcement system under President Petro Poroshenko, MP Oleksandr Hranovskyi, experts’ opinions about the actions of the arrested head of the fiscal service, Roman Nasirov, instantly changed to the opposite. It turns out that he never caused any harm and didn’t even contemplate doing so. Ruvin honed the skill of dodging direct answers to posed questions during his time heading the explosive engineering service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 2001, he had a hand in crafting a very ambiguous expert opinion regarding the circumstances of the death of the TU-154M airliner over the Black Sea. Similarly vague were the conclusions issued on the tragedies at Debaltseve and Ilovaisk, and examples of “correct” expertise can be found in criminal cases against participants of Euromaidan and Automaidan.
“Thirty pieces of silver” for the honored lawyer
Besides moral encouragements, it seems the position held by Oleksandr Ruvin provides vast opportunities for enhancing his personal welfare level. In Kyiv, he owns two luxury apartments with a total area of 336 m² and a value of $776,000, and outside the city, a three-story house that is even more costly— $1.2 million. When on vacation, the Ruvin family faces a tough choice about where to spend their leisure time. They can go to Israeli Netanya, where apartments await them with an area of 150 m², estimated at $640,000, or they can take a trip even further—to Dubai. There, the apartments are slightly larger—186 m², but a bit more modest—$380,000. All that’s left is to provide an expert conclusion from KNDISE stating that all of this can be purchased with a civil servant’s salary of 6,500 hryvnias a month. Even more so, a fleet of three SUVs from Mercedes, Lexus, and Infiniti brands cost Ruvin a tidy $430,000.
It’s quite simple. One needs to know how to take advantage of the favorable position provided by the post. Oleksandr Ruvin assisted millionaire Volodymyr Kostylman in acquiring funds from VAB Bank. The retailer, rock musician, and owner of Fozzy Group from Dnipro could, with Ruvin’s knowledge, enlist KNDISE officials, who used their office to delay the appraisal of ZAT Silpo Retail’s real estate—part of the businessman’s extensive trading network registered as collateral for a loan issued by the bank to Kostylman. As a result, the bank and the state shortfell by 2.6 million hryvnias.
Smuggling on a roll
It is unknown how Ruvin’s skills acquired in the army came in handy, but the six years spent at the customs agency certainly benefited him. He found a mentor and a role model in the form of the former head of the State Customs Service Ihor Kaletnyk. As soon as he left the SCS, Halyna Ruvina and Valeriy Syrovatskyi founded International Courier Service LLC. The starting capital was provided by Oleksandr Ruvin. The logistics company entered the express delivery market for international shipments. Surprisingly quickly, the SCS granted a yet-to-be-proven company the status of an international carrier and, most importantly, gave them permission to open a personal customs control zone. The de facto owner of the express carrier created a smugglers’ “window” to the outside world, forming a transnational smuggling syndicate. Super-profits were gained by avoiding the customs duties, import tax, and value-added tax. Through International Courier Service, a flow of car parts for foreign vehicles poured into Ukraine. The scheme operated as follows: original parts for Japanese and Korean cars were ordered via the UAE. The company undertook to deliver them. The cost of these international express shipments was assessed at less than 150 euros, which according to the current rules in Ukraine allowed them to evade fee payments. Packages from Boryspil and Zhulyany airports entered the company’s customs zone, where they underwent simplified processing. From there, the car parts went to intermediate warehouses before being distributed throughout Ukraine to their client-customer addresses. The scale of the supplies led to 95% of all parts needed for cars manufactured in Southeast Asia entering the country via the UAE. Annually, the state budget misses out on up to $8 million thanks to the former customs officer Ruvin. He also developed a reliable cover operation for the profitable business. To not raise unnecessary suspicion, some parcels are still documented at the true value of their contents. Clients of International Courier Service are also well-informed of the necessary responses if questioned during spot-checks by SCS officials.
In 2015, all of Ukraine was stirred by news of an assassination attempt on the life of KNDISE director Oleksandr Ruvin. The perpetrator lay in wait near one of the chief expert’s apartments and fired three bullets into his legs. Authorities and Ruvin himself found it convenient to link the incident to the preparation of the MH-17 Malaysian airliner case results. The staunch expert was supposedly targeted by enemies of the truth. In reality, it is unknown in what other “murky” commercial projects Oleksandr Ruvin participated or whose path he might have crossed.
31 May 2018 г., 19:16
