How cars are "smuggled in" across the border
Residents of our region have long been, to put it mildly, annoyed by the question of what money is used to build luxurious cottages in suburban and resort areas, buy new imported cars, how our officials and professors manage to travel to the world's best resorts, luxuriate in their own swimming pools, receive treatment abroad, and tour the world on their rather modest official salaries.
It is clear that all this is possible only through "additional" or shadow earnings, say, through bribes. But even currency handouts must have some concrete origin — money doesn't fall from the sky by itself. And here the most profitable underground market in Volyn is the automobile market.
To date, the current legislation of Ukraine does not allow its citizens to legally purchase a used car at the real market price that has formed in Western European countries. For example, customs payments on a 1999 car with a 2.8-liter engine reach about 70 thousand hryvnias. The cost of such a car abroad is about 10 thousand dollars. That is, according to the law, in Ukraine such a car would cost twice as much.
Customs payments and government corruption have led to the creation of criminal schemes for legalizing vehicles and causing enormous losses to the state. A scheme has begun operating here that people have nicknamed "vkydka" (the "drop"). In order to register a car, one must have a certain list of necessary documents proving its legal origin and payment of all required fees. But, as explained above, this is very unprofitable, especially since the importation into Ukraine of a car that has been in use for more than 5 years is currently prohibited. However, at car markets we mainly see expensive "Mercedes," "Audi," "Volkswagens" and other cars manufactured in 1991–1998.
So how do they end up at the car market, say, in Lutsk? Very simple. The relevant individuals search for a car abroad both via the Internet and through Ukrainian citizens who permanently or temporarily reside in Europe. After the vehicle is found, its data (make, body number, color, body type, engine) is transmitted to Ukraine to so-called "fixers." They, in turn, through corrupt connections in the MREV (Motor Vehicle Registration and Examination Department), arrange for such a car to be registered without the necessary documents and without its mandatory presence in Ukraine. MREV employees enter its data into the general computer database, after which they issue a technical passport.
The technical passport, together with the license plates, is taken abroad. The plates are attached to the car, which is then transported to Ukraine by a "driver." Border guards might raise the question of how a car registered in Ukraine never left the country and suddenly is coming from Europe. However, a bribe of several hundred dollars solves this problem. That's it — the car is at the market, registered, as evidenced by the technical passport and license plates issued by MREV employees.
Now the most interesting part: what are the officials' earnings and what are the losses to the state? Let's calculate: the "drop" of a car can cost from 4 thousand to 8 thousand dollars, depending on the make of the car. This amount is roughly divided as follows: a quarter is kept by the "fixer," 3/4 is passed on to the leadership of the DAI (State Automobile Inspectorate). This money, in turn, is divided equally and the second part is sent to Kyiv. Not a single kopeck goes to the state.
If we calculate that in 2004 in Volyn about 3 thousand cars were unlawfully registered in this way (by modest estimates) and that on average the customs clearance of one car should have cost 70 thousand hryvnias, the result is an insane amount of losses — 210 million hryvnias.
And if someone wants to inquire about the legality of registering such cars, it will turn out that the registration documents were seized by the prosecutor's office or another body. Try to familiarize yourself with the seized documents and you will hear a large number of legal excuses that have no basis whatsoever. After all, the prosecutor's office was essentially seizing thin air — there were no documents.
There is also another scheme, which can be called "conversion." For example, a BMW-323 manufactured in 1983 (which is in fact just a fraud with the technical passport) registered in Ukraine is converted into a BMW-750 manufactured in 2000, whose body is not registered in Ukraine. Sometimes it reaches the point of absurdity — a motorized carriage is converted into a luxurious "Lexus." The relevant institution in Kyiv grants permission for such conversion, which costs about 400 dollars. Registering such a converted car costs the same as a "drop," but there are more problems with documents and it takes considerable time. In fact, it is a bureaucratic circulation of documents, and the car, as in the first case, awaits registration and "transportation" to Ukraine.
Comments, as they say, are superfluous. The conclusion suggests itself: the desire to drive expensive foreign cars and build luxurious cottages among our law enforcement officials is still higher than the need to serve the law. Will the new government, on which such great hopes are placed, cope with this "dropping" and "conversion"?
Serhiy NOVAKHATKO