Vitaliy Zakolodyazhnyi
Official biography
Born on August 14, 1971.
Head of Odesa Customs.
Dirt on him.
How a Russian missile and Odesa Customs destroyed the company’s property
Customs officials demanded a bribe from businesses for not delaying the customs clearance procedure. One company refused to pay, the customs clearance of its cargo was delayed for a week, and then a Russian missile hit the containers.
On the night of May 9-10, Russians launched a missile attack on Odesa. One of the missiles hit the building of the Euroterminal customs terminal located in the Odesa port.
Not only the terminal burned down as a result of the strike. Seven containers were damaged, six of which belonged to clients of the same company, Avia Cargo. The goods inside turned into a pile of burning rubbish. The losses amounted to millions of hryvnias.
But these losses were not caused by the Russians alone. Avia Cargo blames Odesa Customs for the loss of the cargo.
The containers should not have been there, they were deliberately detained by customs officers on the orders of the head of Odesa Customs, Vitaliy Zakolodyazhny. The infamous scheme of customs work, which did not change even during the war, was put into effect. You pay $500-1000 for a container and you’re good to go.
If you don’t pay, you’ll be stuck because of artificially created problems.
In particular, this is what Odesa customs officers do. They demand money from importers to facilitate the expedited clearance of goods. There is nothing more to demand because the government has canceled all customs payments. However, customs officers have found a recipe for success. They deliberately prolong the clearance, hinting that they will come to an agreement.
If you agree, you will leave within an hour or two. But if you don’t want to negotiate, you will suffer the fate of Avia Cargo and their customers. It will take several days to clear the cargo.
The situation in Odesa is particularly dangerous. Russians are constantly shelling the city. Therefore, due to the risk of shelling, enhanced security measures and speedy customs clearance should be in place. However, instead of organizing work to speed up the process, Zakolodyazhnyi is blocking the customs clearance of cargoes from Avia Cargo.
It was this process of artificial delay that was going on when the racist rocket arrived at the Euroterminal.
Bribe-takers cover each other
Here is a direct quote from one of the executives of Avia Cargo:
“We have been subjected to the ‘The longer the better’ technology. Now, all containers serviced by Avia Cargo are subject to a particularly long customs clearance procedure, despite the fact that our customers have switched to a simplified system and file zero-tax declarations. According to my sources, Zakolodyazhnyi instructed Dmytro Dzenvalyuk, the head of the Euroterminal post, to keep our containers as long as possible and to do 100% of the exits with sorting of goods by item (some declarations had 100 to 200 items), in fact, the inspection lasted for several days. (which takes 2 to 6 days) — customs officers sent a request to the tariff department, after passing all the stages, we had to withdraw the previously submitted declaration and submit it again, according to the exit act.
As an alternative to simplifying the customs clearance process, Dzenvalyuk offered to pay a bribe of $1,000 for a container of university goods and $500 for a container of other goods. We refused. Then everything continued.
Instead of paying the bribes, the company’s representative turned to the head of Odesa Customs and reported the bribe demand. The head of the customs office agreed to a meeting, where the representative described in detail the forced unloading of goods during customs clearance and the extortion of bribes. Unfortunately, there was no result after the meeting. The deliberate unloading of the containers continued.
«I realized that my sources were telling the truth. This pressure is coming from Zakolodyazhny’s initiative,» says the source.
The described corrupt system is centralized. It works even at Western customs, through which cargoes of weapons and humanitarian aid enter Ukraine. Of course, no one demands anything for customs clearance of weapons. But private importers are charged hundreds of dollars per vehicle, container, etc.
The widespread use of the same scheme and the complete impunity of customs officials indicate that shadow flows lead all the way to the leadership in Kyiv. Avia Cargo and its customers filed numerous complaints, but they remained unanswered and without results.
Only later did one of them receive a response signed by Zakolodyazhnyi himself.
He wrote the following: ‘Did you talk about bribes? I asked the customs officers. They said there were none. So, it didn’t happen. Your complaint was left without consideration.
In translation, this is called impunity. When the same people demand bribes and accept complaints from those who do not want to give them. The system is deliberately designed so that corrupt officials cannot be punished.
This shows that the management of the Kyiv customs office is also «in on the action» and participates in collecting cash for the speed of clearance. That is why any signals of violations, particularly at Odesa customs, are ignored.
SYSTEMIC CORRUPTION AT ODESA CUSTOMS
The story of Avia Cargo is not an isolated one. Grand-Pro Prestige, a company based in Chornomorsk, also faced systemic corruption on the part of customs officers and regulatory authorities. Even before the war, the aforementioned Vitaliy Zakolodyazhny also gave special orders regarding Grand-Pro Prestige.
At that time, the company stored cargo at the Grand-Pro Prestige terminal in Chornomorsk and did not reciprocate the «courtship» of the head of Odesa Customs or his subordinates. The latter had been looking for a way to close the terminal for the owner’s waywardness for a long time, but only finally did such a case arise.
With the outbreak of war, when Russia began shelling the territory of Ukraine, the cargo at the terminal was at risk of destruction. Under martial law, the warehouse could no longer be responsible for the safety of its customers’ property — many guards had joined the army, and looters were moving around the region. Then the owners of the cargo turned to Grand-Pro Prestige with a request to remove their goods.
On Friday, March 4, the head of the company, in turn, turned to Konstantin Samolevsky, head of the Black Sea Department of the Office for Combating Smuggling and Customs Violations, who worked at the terminal. He agreed, with the only condition being that Grand-Pro Prestige guaranteed that it would pay all duties and fees related to the cargo on Monday, March 7. Samolevsky agreed, but not in writing, but verbally. On Friday, the client took the cargo out.
This was a mistake. On Saturday, Samolevsky said that his management wanted a bribe to keep the noise about the absence of the cargo at the terminal. He named the amount of $5000 per container. The client refused to pay the bribe, and Grand-Pro Prestige was preparing to file declarations and pay everything officially on Monday.
«I went to the head of Odesa customs and informed him about the bribe demand. I asked him to understand the client and allow me to pay official payments on Monday, March 7, because of the martial law. However, I was refused,» says Victoria Picchrene, the head of Grand-O Prestige.
On Monday, March 7, the terminal’s management submitted declarations to pay the due fees. However, they were denied.
Complaint to the State Bureau of Investigation
The head of Odesa Customs sent an inspection to the terminal. Of course, she documented that there was no cargo on the territory of the Grand-O Prestige terminal. Zakolodyazhny closed the terminal. He also refused to accept money for customs clearance, even though Grand-Pro Prestige had tried to do so before the inspection.
Odesa Customs “dressed” local TRO forces in Brioni and Versace suits
The Security Service of Ukraine is checking the actions of Vitaliy Zakolodyazhnyi, head of Odesa Customs, who transferred a large batch of branded clothing and footwear of well-known world brands to the 122nd Odesa Territorial Defense Brigade without customs clearance. This was reported by journalist Yuriy Butusov.
According to the documents, the total cost of the clothing handed over to the terrorist defense is UAH 1 million 124 thousand 253.
At the same time, the clothes themselves are inexpensive: T-shirts cost 54 UAH, belts 14 UAH.
Butusov questions the need to dress the defenders of Odesa in branded clothing. At the same time, he admits that counterfeit goods have been imported to Ukraine under the guise of branded clothing. Or genuine products of prestigious brands were imported at a reduced price.
Head of Odesa Customs Vitalii Zakolodyazhnyi and his deputy Denys Raikov organized a channel for illegal supplies of Chinese goods
Head of Odesa Customs Vitalii Zakolodyazhnyi and his deputy Denys Raikov organized a channel for illegal supply of Chinese goods with a substitution of nomenclature and a reduction in the value of goods.
Photo from the State Customs Service’s telegram channel:
These officials organized «smuggling» deliveries of goods in small batches, which arrived at airports in Romania and were subsequently imported to Ukraine by road (air cargo).
Thus, to the address of Ihor Valeriiovych Horod via Odesa-Vnutrychnyi, a vehicle with registration number AC2254SA imported goods under Customs Cargo Declaration UA500490/2022/5035, namely toys, phone cases, bags, clothing and accessories.
Documents from the State Customs telegram channel:
The inspection revealed the fact of failure to declare and reduce the quantity of some goods — diamond drills, bearings, the declaration did not indicate trademarks, incorrectly declared cosmetic equipment, coding of other goods that are significantly smaller.
The cargo also contained possible intellectual property items, such as branded tags, branded iPhone cases, etc. In the car, the customs officers found the Chinese sender’s bill of lading, in which the value of the goods was much higher than the one declared in the declaration. BUT, the customs officers “do not notice” any problems with the cargo.
“Heroes” of our time
The author of the article is businessman Seyar Kurshutov:
I can congratulate the management of the Customs Service on another natural result of its thoughtless personnel policy.
The Security Service conducted searches of the head of the Odesa customs office, Zakolodyazhnyi, under Art. 110, Art. 1.111 (high treason) and Art. 263 of the Criminal Code.
The head of the Odesa post is Dmytro Oleksandrovych Rudyk, the head of Customs Office 1 is Pavlo Mykolaiovych Lysytsia, and the deputy head of Customs Office 1 is Dmytro Oleksandrovych Dzinvaliuk.
There are definitely a dozen of them…), he is accused of expropriating goods from businesses without any reason, not for the needs of the Armed Forces (a normal practice in wartime), but at his own discretion, which is actually just an unjustified theft of goods from a business that is suffering losses under the cover of war.
Some of the stolen goods, such as children’s toys, sportswear, and women’s clothing, had nothing to do with military needs.
I also know for sure that the looters in customs uniforms, who quickly oriented themselves in the situation, came up with a new scheme when the war began. Under the pretext of letters from the rear units of territorial defense, they seized goods, ostensibly for their needs, but in fact, they gave them to dishonest entrepreneurs for a bribe (to save on customs duties).
According to my information, the issue of serving the suspect and his accomplices with a notice of suspicion will be decided in the near future.
A unique rabble — stupid and shameless, but no longer unpunished clowns.
A subscription to peace of mind: how the new head of Odesa Customs, Zakolodyazhnyi, decided to fight with the security forces
RK 36676586 Forwarder: Laman Shipping LLC Consignee: LLC “LONG Import” PP — UA500000/2021/943321 container BEAU6569776 (40) weight 22600 kg places 221 Household air conditioners from China.”
This type of message is the wording of the “visa” for containers in the closed telegram chat of the Odesa Customs.
The chat is very interesting because there are only five people in it: — A customs representative (who visits the cargo) — An employee of the Anti-Smuggling Department — A representative of the SBU — A representative of the DBR — A representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
What is “visa”?
When you want to pick up a container from the port, you have to authorize its departure from the port. In simple words, you have to get permission to export it. This is done in a special port program.
This is not yet customs clearance, but at this stage, if the customs office has information that something is wrong with the container, it can manually put a “full” inspection form on it.
Moreover, this form of control is applied without triggering the “risk” system.
And everything would have been fine if at some point the security forces had not interfered in the “inspection” process.
Under their pressure, customs included representatives of these agencies, the SBU, DBR and MIA, in the process of approving the release of cargo from the port, giving them the right to put a “+” or “inspection” on each container.
They say, according to our information, there may be something wrong!
And again, this is done without explaining the reasons, and without their reaction, customs has no right to “visa” the cargo leaving the port.
And whether there is “something wrong” with the cargo or everything is fine, no one else cares.
No one cares, except for business, because getting under such a procedure as “inspection” costs at least $500-600 for unloading/loading and truck downtime, and most importantly, the client does not receive his goods during the entire inspection period.
And depending on the mood of customs and security forces, such an “inspection” can last from 2-3 days to several weeks.
Recently, I even published a screenshot of business outrage over such “empty” inspections, which result in no violations being found and huge losses for the business. And there is nowhere to complain.
Why did the security forces interfere with the “visa” system?
This is the most interesting point. According to my sources, this is being done to put businesses on a “quiet season ticket”. If you want your companies and cargoes not to be marked as “reviewed” in the inspection chat, but only “+”, then you have to pay a subscription fee for each container.
According to rumors, the tariff is as follows: SBU — $200 DBR — $200 MIA — $100 Customs — $10 “ungulates”.
If you pay, they don’t touch you. If you don’t pay, no offense. Your cargo will be inspected, and you will lose not only money but also time, and therefore customers. That’s why almost everyone chooses the “negotiate” option. Silently.
What about Zakolodyazhnyi?
After being appointed as the new acting head of Odesa Customs, Zakolodyazhnyi is trying to find a way to show Demchenko his effectiveness and do something unusual.
And judging by his actions, he chose the story of expelling the security forces from the customs and removing them from the trough.
Since yesterday, a group of customs officers have been moved to the central building of Odesa Customs. They are forbidden to use phones or communicate with security forces while working, and their entire working day is now under video cameras, which are monitored by Zakolodyazhnyi personally.
With this decision, in an instant, the security forces lost control over the cargo leaving the port, lost the right to give businesses nightmares, and most importantly, to receive a “peace of mind fee.”
(Those who were going to pay, don’t have to.)
For Zakolodyazhnyi to escalate the situation with the security forces is, of course, a bold move, and Demchenko, as well as the business, will appreciate it, but we will see how the SBU and the DBR, which know how to create problems for customs officers, respond.
Summary
Corruption at customs, especially in wartime, should be equated with collaborationism, because the money lost has a strong impact on the army and the country as a whole. Unfortunately, the situation with smuggling has only worsened, and Vitaliy Zakolodyazhny’s activities are proof of that.