King of Smuggling Seyar Kurshutov

King of Smuggling Seyar Kurshutov

In 2018-2020, the media exposed a secret criminal scheme of large-scale smuggling business in Ukraine.

The scheme operated "under the roof" and in the interests of the top state officials. The activities of the smuggling mafia covered all areas—from cigarette and fabric smuggling, and fuel siphoning, to cocaine transit. Systematic smuggling was controlled and coordinated from a center—the so-called Office. The criminal syndicate operated under the protection of trusted individuals of the country’s leadership. According to media reports, the losses to the state budget from the work of this Office amounted to tens of billions of hryvnias. The "supervisor" over its operations was former MP from PPB (Petro Poroshenko Bloc), Oleksandr Hranovskyi. He managed to take control and expand the schemes of Yanukovych’s son, convince and motivate current top officials, appoint his people where needed, and distribute roles and shares among all the gang members.

The "right hand" of Hranovskyi, as the media write, was Seyar Kurshutov. He issued instructions and controlled the flow of funds from the schemes. The "Smuggling Office" operated from 2015 to April 2019 and was created following the model of a classic organized crime group: a "tax" was set for importers which they had to pay for hassle-free customs clearance and import of goods.

Smuggling Office

Key figures of the Office, according to media publications:

Seyar Kurshutov — the head of the "Smuggling Office" and "right hand" of the "supervisor" Oleksandr Hranovskyi. Seyar is a Crimean Tatar, originally from the city of Saky (AR Crimea), who lived on the peninsula until 2014 and owned the company "Clean City Plus", which came to light in a tax evasion case for the amount of 3.1 million hryvnias. Before the annexation of Crimea, Kurshutov was known as a Russophile and frequently visited Russia—there is still a page of Kurshutov on the Russian network "VKontakte", where his place of residence is listed as — Moscow (Russia), which he openly visited even in 2016. This did not prevent him from quickly requalifying as a Ukrainian patriot, leaving Crimea, and becoming the main "schemer" under Hranovskyi. The modest official biography of Kurshutov states that he engaged in consulting on logistics and transportation issues, was an adviser to the president of the Taxpayers Association of Ukraine, and had his own business related to transportation. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as customs officers and smugglers knew Seyar well in the guise of a strict controller from the "Smuggling Office". Kurshutov set plans for members of the criminal syndicate, ensured "green corridors" for goods, created problems for unsystematic smugglers, and solved problems with determining fees. Kurshutov was responsible for the corrupt collection of multi-billion revenues from importers at the "Office". Without him, not a single container or truckload of goods could be imported.

A long-time assistant of Seyar Kurshutov, Viktor Sherman, coordinated the work of the "lion’s share" of the market operators of smuggling. According to media reports, in operational mode, he provided information about companies and persons who should be given "green light" and included in the scheme, and those who should be blocked at customs. Also, according to a number of media outlets, Sherman was responsible in the Office for cash collection of "black cash".

As the media write, using state instruments, Kurshutov and Sherman "convinced" major importers and exporters to consider their interests. This concerned both those who tried to circumvent the law on their own and those who wanted to work "in the white". Thus, over the past 4 years, the Office has established and taken control of almost all major smuggling flows.

In 2018-2020, the media also published key smuggling schemes and routes.

Petroleum products: Annual budget losses amounted to (approximately): 9 billion hryvnias.

Cigarettes: Annual budget losses were about 8 billion hryvnias. 

Luxury cars: Annual budget losses were (approximately): more than 6.5 billion hryvnias.

Consumer goods: Annual budget losses amounted to (approximately): 2 billion hryvnias.

Alcohol: Annual budget losses amounted to (approximately): 1.3 billion hryvnias.

Ammonium nitrate: Annual budget losses amounted to (approximately): 1.2 billion hryvnias.

As the media write, only monthly, the "Smuggling Office" distributed up to 20 million dollars in "cash".

Strangely enough, but to this day Seyar Kurshutov has not refuted this information and has not filed claims to these and other media outlets to refute the publications. Apparently, he has something to hide.

We conducted an investigation and found out what exactly Seyar Kurshutov and his family were hiding. Upon finding this out, everyone will be able to understand for themselves why the "king of smuggling" chose a private life.

Business, real estate, and a solid car fleet

From publicly available sources, including the youcontrol database, it can be seen that Kurshutov’s wife, Kateryna Lyubchyk, owns three apartments in the capital of Ukraine and a house near Kyiv in the village of Tatsenky, Obukhivskyi district. Moreover, she owns 4 parking spaces and a fleet of 7 cars.

Thus, Kurshutov’s wife owns cars such as a Toyota Sequoia, Mercedes S 500, Mercedes G 63 AMG, Mercedes V 250, Mitsubishi, and even a Bentley. It is hard to name the value of this elite car fleet, but it is several million hryvnias if not dollars. Where such a "garage" came from is a question. Obviously, not from kiosk sales.

Additionally, as we found, the wife of the "king of smuggling" is a co-owner of the enterprise "SPORT-SERVICE" (code – 30199721) together with a family friend and assistant in "smuggling" Viktor Sherman. This enterprise also owns real estate objects in Odesa.

It should be noted that it is Sherman that the media associate with receiving the "black" treasury from smuggling.

Returning to the business of Kurshutov’s wife. Until the end of last year, Kateryna Lyubchyk owned a stake in the authorized capital of LLC "Benjamins" (EDRPOU – 40366476). Besides, she owns a 100% stake in LLC "Brokerage" (EDRPOU – 40787577). In 2018, this company acquired assets worth over 28 million hryvnias and owns real estate in the center of Kyiv, on Reytarska Street.

But that is not all, as we managed to establish, the "beloved wife" owns the company "Kritikos Gallery Bar Restaurants" (EDRPOU – 42669102), which in turn owns real estate in Kyiv.

According to preliminary data, all the mentioned property owned by Kurshutov’s wife is estimated at at least 150 million hryvnias.

Accumulated through "beyond one’s means" labor

And now the most important — where did all this come from? Why do Kurshutov or his wife not disclose the sources of income that allowed the family to acquire elite real estate and a car fleet, as well as to invest a solid amount of money?

To answer this seemingly simple question, it’s necessary to understand the following... According to media reports, in 2016-2019, Kurshutov had "business" contacts with an MP from PPB, Oleksandr Hranovskyi, regarding the activities of customs authorities and was his "right hand" in smuggling schemes at Customs. According to media reports, five years ago, Petro Poroshenko, having come to power, placed his "observers" in all ministries and departments, where "big money revolves". Thus, Oleksandr Hranovskyi became responsible for shadow flows at customs, and Seyar Kurshutov his right-hand man and head of the "Smuggling Office" in the Southern region.

Furthermore, we also know that during the same period, Kurshutov was in constant contact with the leadership of the Prosecutor General’s Office and employees of the "K" department of the Security Service of Ukraine regarding issues of interest to him.

At the same time, as the media have already written, during 2016-2019, the "king of smuggling" communicated and had business ties with the leadership of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine and the Customs Service and their structural units in the regions, regarding the activities of the customs service and customs posts or cargo clearance. During this same period, Kurshutov had close contacts with the leadership and employees of the State Customs Service units in the territory of the Odesa region. This allowed Kurshutov to appoint Mykhailo Hribanov as head of the Odesa customs.

The media also wrote that Seyar and his trusted persons personally participated in the distribution of funds received as a result of using smuggling schemes or extorting funds from importers (exporters) for unhindered customs clearance of goods during the same 2016-2019 years. Without Kurshutov, not a single container or truckload of goods could be imported.

Thanks to his connections, Seyar Kurshutov met with Maksym Nefedov and the former head of the State Fiscal Service, whose appointments to high positions in the Customs and Tax Services he personally coordinated with Oleksandr Hranovskyi. Thanks to Kurshutov, Nefedov received a list of names and customs locations, where the needed people with a guaranteed shield from the new authorities should be. It was about customs like Odesa, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Kherson, Lviv, Volyn, and others. The appointment of Mykhailo Hribanov as head of the Odesa customs was achieved precisely through agreements with Maksym Nefedov.

Currently, it is unknown what incomes and taxes were paid on them by Seyar Kurshutov and his wife Kateryna during 2015-2019. At least, there is no open data about it. However, this cannot be said about flights to Russia. As the media write, neither under Poroshenko nor now does Kurshutov shy away from connections with the aggressor country, with over 20 border crossings via Belarus since 2017  

At the same time, it is unknown who paid for his trips, in which hotels he stayed and who paid for such travels. There is no open data. It is also interesting to know in which countries Kurshutov traveled together with his wife and other family members, and who paid for all this. All this information must be disclosed, considering the role Seyar Kurshutov plays in smuggling schemes at Customs and the work of customs authorities.

No less interesting is what specific real estate, both in Ukraine and abroad, Kurshutov and his wife Kateryna Lyubchyk own directly or through affiliated (trusted) persons? At the moment, this is a mystery that we will definitely uncover in the near future.