"New faces" with a criminal past

Recently, a customs officer in Ukraine ceased to be a "sacred cow." After the proclamation of the famous operation "Smuggling — Stop!" public attention to this "elite" occupation became significantly greater. Although in border regions it has always been that way. Even if someone wanted not to think about them, the luxurious villas and cottages along prestigious highways reminded one of it. "Whose are they?" you ask. "The customs officers'!" every local will say...

In Volyn, within the framework of the operation, six months ago there was even a demonstrative detention of local customs "bosses." On September 23 in Kovel, employees of the Volyn prosecutor's office and police, as well as the Kyiv SBU, detained one of the deputy heads of the Volyn customs and the head of one of the departments of the Volyn customs for bribery right at the scene of the crime.

As the pre-trial investigation established, the detainees received a bribe (80 thousand hryvnias and 3,900 US dollars) from a representative of a commercial association (Kyiv) for "non-interference in the conduct of financial and economic activity." On the same day, the regional prosecutor's office opened a criminal case under Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ("receiving a bribe"). The regional prosecutor stated that the investigation would be difficult, but the prosecutor's office would fulfill the President's instruction to restore order at customs.

As local media noted, in seven years in Volyn this was the first serious case of detaining customs officers "red-handed" — receiving a bribe. And so far the only one...

Literally a week later, regional prosecutor Mykola Frantovskyi announced the interim results of the operation "Smuggling — Stop!" Having analyzed the quantitative and qualitative composition of customs employees, the prosecutor's office found that in the period from 2001 to 2005, 24 criminal cases were opened against Volyn customs officers, involving 33 persons. The prosecutor's office inquired what these people are doing today. And it turned out that 22 employees who had previously been held criminally liable, against whom there are verdicts but the criminal cases were closed due to amnesty, are again working at customs...

A logical question arises: who selects such personnel for customs? Is it by chance that such people end up in "lucrative" positions? One gets the impression that it is not by chance, but according to a certain, clearly established system of "personnel screening"...

You can trade even "stars" on shoulder straps...

Journalists have already drawn public attention to the fact that at every customs there is a cozy spot, sitting in which practically does not entail any responsibility for the actions of the person occupying it. These include employees responsible for personnel policy. At Volyn customs it is indeed conducted on a large scale. During rotations they move "moss and swamp," change "horns for hooves," swap "an awl for soap"... Only the personnel officers themselves remain "untouched." Moreover, with each year this "untouchedness" becomes ever more convincing.

The head of the personnel department of one of the customs, over several years in this position, "acquired" not only her own pharmacies, apartments, hectares of land and combines, but also an influential "roof" in the central apparatus of the customs service. Legends are already circulating in Volyn about her "brilliant" organizational abilities. It is rumored that she possesses a phenomenal hypnotic gift (or maybe not a gift?) of influencing employees. And if that doesn't help, one can resort to more material actions — substituting documents, creating drafts of them for the purpose of blackmail and demanding payment for "resolving" problematic issues during rotations, staging performances about her pregnancy, asking to "be allowed to finish up before maternity leave."

People say that in order to get a job at Volyn customs today, one needs to have 5,000 appropriate units on hand. Moreover, for the most "promising" operational work, say, at the "Yahodyn" checkpoint — 15,000 "dead raccoons." A "rate" has also been set for other services of the personnel service. For example, to pass certification — 500 conventional units, a test — 200...

Considering the number of customs employees (at Yahodyn there are over 400 of them), monthly, semi-annual and annual tests, constant certifications, length of service and methods of work — the sum will come out quite substantial. At least sufficient to keep everyone and anyone on edge.

Those who initiated the operation "Smuggling — Stop!" sought to ensure that customs officers stopped taking bribes. They achieved something else — customs officers began taking even more. For the risks...

Under a "family contract"

And where are the controlling bodies looking? — you ask. Right there, because their relatives also work at customs...

Such employees know how to take care not only of themselves. A own sister, for example, with the light hand of the one senior in rank and age, diligently passes citizens through the border at the "Yahodyn" automobile crossing. A own brother — helps citizens declare whatever they want at a brokerage company located at the same crossing. It's good that at least this lady doesn't have many godparents. There wouldn't be enough places at customs for everyone anyway. After all, here it's already "a pair for every creature." The list of employees gives the impression of a large family; some surnames are duplicated three times. One of the current deputies of the regional council, Vyacheslav Bohdan, formerly deputy head of customs (now a responsible employee of the Verkhovna Rada), even divorced his wife to disguise the "family contract"...

Such a blood-related family "system" rarely fails, and its interests often extend into the political sphere as well. They say that during the last Presidential elections, the Yahodyn customs "gave" 900 absentee ballots for the pro-government candidate, with 450 employees. And the pre-election "headquarters" was managed, of course, by the lady personnel officer. After Yushchenko's victory she lost her bearings somewhat, but another pregnancy certificate costs less at the hospital than a test at Yahodyn customs...

Similar performances were staged at the Western Regional Customs as well, when the question of her transfer from the position arose once again. The then head of the personnel department of the WRC, Rostyslav Vyshatytskyi, also "believed" in the pregnancy...

The Lviv leadership knew how to work with personnel according to specific "understandings." Overnight, the current head of Yahodyn customs, Vitalii Kuchman, went from being the head of the "Ustyluh" automobile crossing to an ordinary watchman. But having sat down in the new chair, he soon forgot about such "trifles"...

It seems that the leadership is indifferent to these problems: to all complaints about extortion by "their own" people, it merely shrugs its shoulders. As if to say, what are you talking about — she's a poor lonely woman, lives in a village, gives her all at work... Where then does a simple village woman, or rather her pensioner parents (officially customs officers are poor, all the property belongs to relatives), get so much property?

Similar problems exist not only at Yahodyn customs, but in all structures where money is earned for the budget while state interests are simultaneously sold. Why is everyone still silent? Because when a customs officer loses their position for disclosing information about the "rate," they will have to give the head of the personnel department no longer 500 "dead raccoons" for successfully passing certification, but 15,000 — as for a new hire...

A state within a state?

The question arises: who then is in charge at customs — the state in the person of the customs head or the head of the personnel department? With such approaches, corruption in customs bodies will never be eradicated, because it is beneficial primarily to the customs employees themselves. Moreover, "collecting the cash" during rotations is the easiest way to earn money, with absolutely no risk, since subordinates voluntarily hand over those 5,000 merely to continue staying near the big Volyn border "trough." How can a customs officer not be a bribe-taker under such conditions?

The system of "mutual offsets" is so well established that ordinary human values long ago lost their worth here. The higher an employee's "roof" — the more they can "rake in." Everyone, for problems artificially created for another, brings "cash" to the PERSONNEL department, like a sheep to the slaughter. The next little star on the shoulder straps can also be bought without leaving the same cash desk. That is how careers in customs bodies are mostly "settled" today.

Since the leadership at customs changes with every political wind, it is occupied with global political problems — which force to join so as to remain in position. The "orange wave" brought the current head as well — Vitalii Kuchman. Subordinates adopt the experience of their superiors — several customs officers will participate in the elections to local councils. In particular, in the first five from the Party of Regions — the name of the senior shift supervisor of the "Ustyluh" checkpoint, Myroslav Pavlos. Why? So that in the event of Yanukovych's victory, they immediately gain immunity from ill-considered personnel policy in customs bodies. Everyone saves themselves as best they can...

Meanwhile, at Yahodyn customs lately, an alternative currency of payment is becoming increasingly "in demand" — the number of cars with smuggled meat passed through. And here, as you understand, it doesn't happen without the assistance of relatives and godparents from law enforcement agencies. But that is already — from a somewhat different "opera" — about how the program "Smuggling — Stop!" has actually turned into "Smuggling — Forward!"...

Valerii Buran, for the Western Information Corporation