Two lines of reality converge on the western border of Ukraine today. On the one hand, official statements about customs reform, digitalization of processes, simplification of control and the fight against corruption. On the other, stories of minibus drivers, local entrepreneurs and activists who assure that it is impossible to cross the border without a “passport”. This is written by “Antikor”.
In these conversations, the name of a person who is not a public politician, does not give interviews and does not seek to be famous, but has long held a prominent position at the Lviv Customs, is increasingly heard. This is Oleg Fedorovych Budz, head of the customs clearance department No. 1 of the Mostyska post. It was around his name that numerous rumors about extortion, "black markets" and selective control began to be woven.
The story takes on an even more interesting hue if you look at the documents. The declarations that Oleg Budz submits annually show a picture far from the modest life of a bureaucrat. These are large sums of cash in dollars and euros, executive cars, income from his wife's business, and even mentions of gifts in millions of hryvnias. These figures by themselves do not prove violations of the law, but they are striking when you compare them with the family's official income. And therein lies the main intrigue: how transparent and honest was the financial situation of the Budz family?
The figure of Budz remained in the shadows for a long time, until materials about schemes at the border began to appear in Telegram channels and regional publications. The authors claimed that some minibuses pass control faster and without a queue, and drivers pay fixed amounts in exchange for a guaranteed "green" window. It is in this context that the name of the head of the customs clearance department, Oleg Budz, became a symbol of the "customs conveyor" .
However, official documents paint a much more restrained picture. The Unified State Register of Declarations of the NACP clearly records that Oleg Budz holds a position in the Lviv Customs system. His annual reports reflect his salary, several cars, bank accounts, and cash assets. The key point is that, starting in 2019, data about his wife Anna Koval appeared along with the declarations, whose income from entrepreneurial activities significantly exceeds her husband's salary.
The declaration for 2024, for example, indicates a total family income of over 3.5 million hryvnias, of which 2.38 million were his wife's income from business. She is also listed as receiving a salary from the private company Petro Carbo Hem in the amount of over half a million hryvnias. Against the background of this income, Budz's own official salary of 623 thousand looks much more modest.
But the monetary assets are more impressive: 160 thousand dollars in cash, 90 thousand euros and almost one and a half million hryvnias, plus bank balances. In terms of hryvnias, this is over twelve million, which is three and a half times the total family income for the year.
The 2021 declaration deserves special attention, where a gift to his wife Anna Koval in the amount of over 1.3 million hryvnias is recorded. Who this gift came from and on what terms — the question remains unanswered, because the declaration records only the fact of receiving funds. We will modestly keep silent about the fact that this “gift” was somehow not noticed by law enforcement agencies, which are called upon to track such things. Why explain the obvious?
If in Budz’s declarations the main attention is drawn to the ratio of income and assets, then in the case of his wife — it is a combination of official earnings and entrepreneurial income. Anna Koval is indicated as an employee of a commercial company and at the same time as an entrepreneur, whose income in just one year exceeds two million hryvnias. She also appears as the owner or user of premium cars, a 2016 Audi Q7 and a 2021 BMW X6, with the latter listed as free use, which in itself looks unusual and requires documentary confirmation. Oleg Budz himself drives an old “Passat”, as befits an exemplary official. At least that’s what it says in the declaration. Which we will also leave without comment.
In addition to the declarations, the wife's name also appeared in court records. In October 2024, a case of traffic violation that caused damage to cars was recorded in the register of court decisions. In Telegram channels, this case is directly linked to Anna Koval, but public access to the full text of the decision is limited, and therefore it is not yet possible to establish a direct connection. Nevertheless, it is the mention of the surname in court documents that increases attention to her role in the Budz family history.
And it is unlikely that "Person_1", indicated in the text of the Resolution of the Halytskyi District Court of Lviv as the "victim", who drives a BMW X6, is the full namesake of Anna Viktorivna Koval. So there is no need to doubt who drives the "free" BMW X6.
Taken together, this creates the image of a family whose financial capabilities are significantly higher than the average, even by the standards of large entrepreneurs. The presence of large amounts of cash, expensive "free" cars and gifts raises natural questions: how transparent are the sources of these funds and do they correlate with official income? Especially if you look at Oleg Budz's declarations systematically. And compare the figures for the growth of his fortune over the years. In 2015, Oleg Budz came to the customs office poor. And in 2025 he became a millionaire. However, see for yourself and draw your own conclusions.
Skeptics will say: what is unusual in the fact that the wife of a customs officer runs a successful business, and the family earns legally? Formally - nothing. Everything is reflected in the declarations, the numbers match, the documents are filled out. But suspicions arise not only because we are talking about an official from a sensitive area - Ukrainian customs. They are fueled by the reputation of the system itself, where corruption schemes have been considered the norm for decades.
The stories of carriers and entrepreneurs about "black boxes" where thousands of dollars in cash are collected daily are confirmed by numerous publications and investigations about other posts and other names. Budz in this story becomes a symbol - a figure through which society tries to explain to itself how the old mechanisms work in the new reality.
The complexity of the situation is aggravated by the silence of official structures. Neither Budz himself, nor the Lviv Customs, nor the prosecutor's office have given public comments on the allegations. Journalists' inquiries remain unanswered. At the same time, activists and Telegram channels continue to publish lists of employees who, in their opinion, should be checked for corruption.
This silence only increases distrust. When millions in cash are recorded in declarations, but investigative bodies are in no hurry to check the sources of funds, society receives a signal: the system is still closed, and uncontrolled schemes may continue to exist.
The story of Oleg Budz has it all: official documents that demonstrate the family's significant assets; declarations that list millions of hryvnias of his wife's income; cars, gifts, and foreign exchange reserves; a court decision indirectly related to his wife. All of these are facts recorded in open registers. There is another side to the story: numerous accusations of extortion and schemes at the border that have not yet been documented.
At the intersection of these two realities, the investigation is born. It does not pass judgments or put a final stop to it. But it does record the obvious: the ratio of the family's income and assets raises questions that require careful examination. It shows that the Budz surname is not a coincidence, but because it symbolizes a systemic problem.
Budz may be just part of a larger machine that has been setting up informal rules for years. Perhaps his name is being thrown around by opponents to discredit one person. But if the system doesn't provide answers, suspicions will multiply.
Meanwhile, the bottom line is a paradox: the family's official annual income is a little over three and a half million hryvnias, and the declared assets are over twelve million. There are large gifts, expensive cars, foreign currency savings, and there is silence from those who are obliged to check such discrepancies. And in this silence is the main signal to society: if the system does not change, the surnames may be different, but the result will remain the same.
