Instead of fish and a pump — 30 MacBooks: Bus driver in Vinnytsia fined a million for smuggling

Instead of fish and a pump — 30 MacBooks: Bus driver in Vinnytsia fined a million for smuggling

The Vinnytsia City Court found the driver of a scheduled bus guilty of attempting to illegally smuggle a large batch of undeclared equipment across the border. Moldovan citizen Yuriy Kovalchuk tried to hide 30 Apple laptops from customs officers, for which he now has to pay a fine of over 1 million hryvnias, and the equipment itself was confiscated for the benefit of the state.

 The incident occurred late in the evening of September 6, 2025, at the international checkpoint «Mohyliv-Podilskyi – Otaci» of the Vinnytsia Customs. The driver of the scheduled bus «MAN VISEON», which was traveling on the route «Kyiv – Chisinau», was proceeding to exit Ukraine.

During the control procedure, Yuriy Kovalchuk submitted a declaration in which he stated that he was transporting only a bag of dry fish worth $30 and one water pump for 3000 hryvnias. However, the customs officers decided to inspect the vehicle more thoroughly.

In the luggage compartment, in the technical niche for tools (above the rear left wheel), inspectors discovered a hiding place. Behind a twisted advertising banner and a cardboard box were hidden 6 polyethylene bags. They contained 30 brand new «Apple Macbook Air A2681» laptops (17 silver and 13 dark blue).

The driver admitted that he was indeed transporting the equipment and had deliberately hidden it in the technical cavity because "he didn’t know how to declare it."

According to the commodity expertise conclusion, the market value of the seized laptops is 1,050,657 hryvnias 63 kopecks.

In court, the defense tried to collapse the case by citing alleged procedural violations during the seizure (absence of serial numbers in the protocol, involvement of a customs officer as a translator, etc.), but Judge L. V. Kovalchuk of the Vinnytsia City Court rejected these arguments as unfounded and found the evidence sufficient.

 Court decision:

On March 3, 2026, in case № 127/30462/25 Yuriy Kovalchuk was found guilty of violating customs rules (Part 1 of Article 483 of the Customs Code of Ukraine – movement of goods by concealing from customs control).

 The court ruled:

- Impose a fine in the amount of 100% of the value of the goods – 1,050,657 UAH 63 kop.
- Confiscate all 30 Apple laptops for the benefit of the state.