Oleksandr Hennadiyovych Shutsky is a Ukrainian former official who, thanks to his Napoleonic ambitions in dishonestly enriching himself in customs positions, found himself in the sights of the SBU and the State Bureau of Investigation. So in this article, we decided to investigate the blatant episodes of Shchutsky's corrupt activities that got him into trouble.
Oleksandr Shutskyi began his career at customs in September 2016, taking up the position of head of the customs post “Lutsk” of the Volyn Customs. Already in October 2017, he participated in the competition for the position of head of the Volyn Customs, but this position was taken by Viktor Kryvytskyi, who was closely associated with the team of the then Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman. Subsequently, Shutskyi was offered to head the Sumy Customs of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine as acting head.
Since November 22, 2019, Oleksandr Shutsky has held the position of Acting Head of the Black Sea Customs of the State Customs Service of Ukraine. In this position, he continues to work on strengthening border control and combating smuggling.
As part of his political career, Oleksandr Shutskyi was an assistant to People's Deputy Mykhailo Apostol from 2012 to 2014, and later an assistant to Ihor Brychenko on a voluntary basis.
Back in 2016, Oleksandr Shutsky, one of the deputy heads of the Volyn customs, found himself in the spotlight due to his significant property situation, which raises questions about the sources of his income and the system of work of customs officials in general. At a time when the average salary of customs officers in Ukraine was several thousand hryvnias, the declarations of officials include luxury cars, expensive houses and significant amounts of cash. Shutsky is no exception to this trend.
One of the most high-profile cases involving Shutsky was his tax declaration, where he listed luxury cars, including a Bentley Continental GT, a BMW X5, and a Mercedes GL 350. Such luxury does not quite match the official salary of a customs officer. Shutsky confirmed that the Bentley really belongs to him, but explained that the Mercedes was “given” to him by a friend due to technical problems with his car, which partially burned down. This explanation, however, did not dispel doubts about the sources of financing for such purchases.
Shutsky's property includes not only a luxury car fleet, but also elite housing in Kyiv. For example, his apartment in Podil, one of the most expensive areas of the capital, is estimated at about a quarter of a million dollars. This real estate is surprising to many, because the official income of a customs officer does not allow such purchases without attracting additional sources of financing. And this is in the first year of work at customs.
The next episode of Shutsky's unscrupulous activities was exposed in 2017, when Yuriy Lutsenko, the former Prosecutor General of Ukraine, was going through difficult and troubling times.
On August 15, Lutsenko made a significant move in favor of Vadym Alperin, known as the “king of Odessa smuggling.” He transferred Alperin’s case from the NABU to the National Police, giving Alperin a chance to return $20 million seized in a 2017 special operation. This money is currently held by the National Agency for Investigation and Asset Management.
How did this happen? NABU claims that on May 24, the case was transferred to the State Bureau of Investigation, but in late June, Lutsenko overturned that decision and on August 15, unexpectedly transferred the case to the National Police “without examining the case materials.” This could make the evidence in the case inadmissible in court, which in turn could allow Alperin to get his money back.
Interestingly, in 2017, Alperin tried to bribe a NABU agent in the amount of $800,000 to have his case transferred from NABU to the National Police, but this failed. Lutsenko apparently knew about this and, apparently, consciously made an illegal decision with obvious consequences.
To better understand the situation, it is worth recalling Alperin's smuggling scheme "Article 55", which was in operation in 2017. The scheme consisted of creating "paper companies" that received large consignments of goods from China at understated prices. When the goods reached customs, their value was adjusted to the real level, but thanks to "Article 55", the companies were able to release the goods into free circulation, and then the importers went to court, which obliged customs to clear the goods at an understated price.
The fiscal authorities could not cope with this scheme on their own, since judges of the Odessa District Administrative Court participated in it. As it turned out, Alperin systematically filed lawsuits to get to the right judge, which gave him results. As a result of a special operation by the NABU and the State Financial Service, UAH 450 million in financial guarantees was seized on the deposit accounts of the Kyiv Customs.
Alperin tried to get his money back, to look for ways to influence the case. On November 30, 2017, he was detained for attempting to bribe a NABU agent. The Pechersk court ruled on his arrest with the possibility of posting bail of UAH 20 million, but in January 2018, the Kyiv Court of Appeal reduced the bail to UAH 140,000.
An important role in this situation was played by Oleksandr Shchutsky, who had close ties to Lutsenko. Shchutsky, a partner of Serhiy Serdyuk, worked in Sumy customs and was a close friend of Lutsenko's eldest son, Oleksandr Lutsenko. Shchutsky was appointed to the customs office in 2016, which coincided with Lutsenko's appointment as Prosecutor General. In June 2018, 37 containers of goods worth a total of $15-20 million were detained at Odessa customs, which led to a major scandal. Lutsenko was forced to remove Serdyuk, admitting that he had worked with a man whose group was one of the largest smuggling clans.
Thus, together with Poroshenko's trusted representative, People's Deputy Oleksandr Hranovsky, all these high-ranking officials formed an office that controlled the customs and all the schemes related to it. It is difficult to imagine how much money was stolen from the state.
However, Oleksandr Shutskyi did not bear any responsibility at that time and continued to work until journalists exposed his schemes in 2021.
According to media reports, Oleksandr Shchutsky is a key figure in customs schemes that bring the state monthly losses of 30 million hryvnias. The amazing schemes to minimize customs payments that Shchutsky introduced allow a number of companies to reduce the cost of imported goods, which leads to significant losses for the state budget.
It is known that companies managed by Oleksandr Shchutsky, such as Ukrtorgpromsnab LLC and Arker Trade LLC, are actively working under this scheme. They systematically underestimate the customs value of imported products, which allows them to avoid paying full customs duties. Instead of replenishing the country's budget, millions of hryvnias end up in the pockets of businessmen.
While researching this material, it also became known that Shchutsky became famous for his schemes while working at the Sumy customs. It was then that the first accusations against him began to appear regarding evasion of anti-dumping duties on Russian mineral fertilizers and other products. Even Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman was contacted about his activities, but the results of the inspections were never made public. However, while collecting material for this investigation, there were no media reports about Shchutsky's such schemes, perhaps this is slander, but this link clarified the situation https://www.fttc.com.ua/2021/01/aleksandr-shhutskij-i-shematoz-chernomorskoj-tamozhni-bolee-30-mln-v-karman-ezhemesyachno/ , which contains a headline about Shchutsky, but when clicking on it, a completely different article is highlighted. Apparently, Oleksandr Shchutsky uses money or his own connections to enrich himself in the information field.
So after moving to the Black Sea Customs, Shchutsky continued to work according to the old schemes, which immediately affected the budget revenue plan. In January, the customs under his leadership fulfilled the plan by only 51%, which was the worst indicator in the country. Because of such “results”, the state received billions of hryvnias less.
Bribery of Shchutsky
In the summer of 2021, was found . Most of the amount could have been intended for the acting director of the Risk Profiling Department of the customs service, former head of the Volyn customs, Oleksandr Shchutsky.
On June 4, SBI officers detained the head of the customs post "Yagodyn" of the Volyn customs Mykhailo Burdeyny while transporting a bribe. In his car, they found $700,000 - this was the May monthly delivery of "cash" for a group of state structures involved in a number of corruption schemes. As noted by the editor-in-chief of the publication "Censor. NET" Yuriy Butusov, a significant part of this amount could have been intended for the acting director of the Risk Profiling Department of the customs service, Oleksandr Shchutsky.
According to Butusov, the bundles of money were tied with rubber bands, and the addresses were written on them: "SB Lyub", "Prosecutor's Office", "Deputy".
"SB Lyub" may mean the Security Service of Lyubomlya - a district department that deals with the fight against smuggling at the "Yagodyn" checkpoint. "Prosecutor's Office" - the recipient is not specified. "Deputy" - it is difficult to understand where exactly the money is intended, but it is likely that this is some customs chief. There is also information about money for the police and structures responsible for the registration of vehicles. The total amount of money for the regulatory authorities is about 100 thousand dollars," Butusov writes.
According to him, the bulk of the money was intended for the management of the Risk Profiling Department of the Customs Service.
"Who exactly was the majority of the amount intended for? According to sources close to the investigation, the bulk of the money was to be transferred to the leadership of the Risk Profiling Department of the Customs Service. The acting director of this department is Oleksandr Shchutsky," Butusov emphasizes, adding that the investigation must establish the involvement of the former head of Volyn Customs.
The editor-in-chief of the publication also emphasizes that the amount of the bribe — $700,000 in cash — is impressive, since it was taken in just one month and from one customs post.
“Perhaps we do not know the entire scheme of distribution of funds. It is quite likely that this is not the only channel for collecting money at Yahodina. If we calculate the amounts on a country-wide scale, it becomes clear that such schemes may exist at all customs offices and posts. The recently appointed head of the customs service, Pavlo Ryabikin, estimated the state’s losses from smuggling at approximately 100-150 billion hryvnias… Unfortunately, systemic reforms of law enforcement agencies are not being carried out, and therefore, probably next month, when transporting “cash” to Kyiv from other posts and customs offices, no one will be detained, the “watchers” will be replaced, and new heads of departments, appointed by the right people, will again carry money in trunks,” Butusov concluded.
Of course, after the $700,000 bribe scandal, customs officer Oleksandr Shchutsky began to cover his tracks thanks to his favorite media technologies.
After the "flight" with the Volyn Customs cashier, who, according to many, was going to him, Oleksandr needed to clear his name a little.
He couldn't think of anything better than placing a classic "jeans".
But he couldn't even do that well.
What is not a sentence is a pearl.
"They took advantage of the situation. Apparently, in their understanding, the fact that I once worked in Volyn was supposed to be a certain argument in my alleged participation in a corruption scheme. According to this logic, I could be accused of setting fire to a synagogue in Kherson last year, because I was working in that region at the time.".
However, the jeans did not help, and customs officer Oleksandr Shchutsky, who was supposed to receive a bribe of 700 thousand dollars, was searched.
The investigative actions took place in accordance with a court ruling (a copy of which was handed to Shchutsky) within the framework of the criminal case of “the cashier of the Volyn customs Mykhailo Burdeyny”.
“The case of “cashier Burdeyny” and his alleged patron Shchutsky is currently one of the most revealing — both for the SBI and the State Customs Service. We are convinced that an honest investigation into Burdeyny and Shchutsky could lead to very scandalous details of corruption at the customs during the time of Mr. Ryabikin,” writes “Antirating.”.
Already in the fall, the Burdeyny case was continued by the Decision of the Prosecutor General's Office, on June 22, 2021, the "Volynska Kasa" case was separated into a separate proceeding and transferred to the NABU. And in 2023, the case was closed . And of course, Shutskyi did not even appear in it.
Friendship with a Ukrainophobe
Every time the media published materials about Oleksandr Shchutsky, the topic was raised that the hero of the investigation did not indicate in his declaration the two luxury cars he uses, and did not reveal the real owner of these cars. And yet, in the same summer of 2021, the reason for this became known. As stated in the investigation of the program “Money”, the cars are formally registered to a resident of Sumy, Maryna Wegmann, who actively supports separatist sentiments and anti-Ukrainian propaganda.
Journalists of “Groshe” found that Shchutsky regularly drives an Audi SQ7 with the license plate ВМ5000ВМ, which was released in 2017 and costs about 100 thousand dollars. This car is not listed in Shchutsky’s declaration. Also missing from the declaration is another Audi car – a Q7 with the same license plate, which Shchutsky was seen driving last year when he was fined for speeding on the Odessa highway.
Instead, the official indicated in the declaration that he was renting an Audi A7, the owner of which was allegedly Marina Wegmann. Despite the fact that Shchutsky incorrectly indicated Wegmann's middle name in the declaration (instead of Valeriyevna, he wrote Serhiyevna), journalists were able to find her.
It is known that Marina Wegmann, born in 1980, previously lived in Sumy, where Shchutsky worked as the head of the customs office. In recent years, she has probably been living abroad, working at Duty Free and demonstrating an open dislike for Ukraine and Ukrainians. On social networks, she publishes posts with anti-Ukrainian content, in particular: “My country gave me nothing. I would never go to war for it! My country is Orthodox Russia. I love it and I love its president! And you get lost in your so-called ATO.”.
Wegmann's social media page shows her openly supporting Porechenkov, who shot Ukrainian soldiers. Wegmann praises Putin and speaks negatively about Ukrainians, calling them unfortunate and poor people who suffer from a lack of intelligence.
The authors of the investigation emphasize that for Wegmann, even “Givy” is a real idol, as she writes: “And Givy is my idol.”.
Shchutsky did not provide to journalists regarding his connections with a person who openly promotes anti-Ukrainian ideas. Groshey journalists officially appealed to the special services that counter separatism with a question about Shchutsky's possible connections with a person who conducts anti-Ukrainian propaganda, and whether this does not constitute financing of subversive activities and treason.
Such a number of scandals cooled Shchutskyi and for the next 2 years he did not get into scandals or very carefully cleaned up the negative about himself in the media, but already in the winter of 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers dismissed the acting head of the State Customs Service, Vyacheslav Demchenko, and two of his deputies, including the hero of this investigation.
As noted by Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a member of parliament from the Holos faction and first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Tax and Customs Policy, one of the deputies, Serhiy Zvyagintsev, will be the new acting chairman of the State Customs Service.
And on February 10, the SBU and the State Bureau of Investigation announced a new wave of searches , which affected both the central office of the State Customs Service and nine regional customs offices in the north and west of Ukraine. The reason for the new searches was numerous accusations of corruption and participation in smuggling schemes of a systemic nature.
In early 2023, large-scale corruption schemes within the “grain corridor” were recorded. The SBU and BEB conducted searches in the administrative premises of the State Customs Service and in the residences of some high-ranking officials. Particular attention was paid to the activities of Oleksandr Shchutsky, who at that time was already under the sights of investigators.
On February 1, after a series of high-profile investigations, the government decided to make personnel changes in the State Customs Service. Oleksandr Shchutsky was dismissed from the position of First Deputy Head of the Customs Service “by agreement of the parties.” At the same time, another deputy, Ruslan Cherkassky, was temporarily suspended from his duties due to a disciplinary investigation.
The scandals did not subside, and from February 3 to 9, the SBU and the State Bureau of Investigation reported new revelations of corruption schemes in the Odessa and Chernivtsi customs offices. It was noted that the search and investigation were the result of extensive preparatory work, during which about 50 business entities were identified that helped customs officers implement shadow schemes.
Studies have shown that such schemes siphoned off up to UAH 10 billion from the state budget every month. This caused outrage among society and politicians, in particular, People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak emphasized the importance of eliminating not only individuals, but also all corruption schemes.
In this context, the role of Oleksandr Shchutsky, as the former first deputy head of the customs service, becomes clear. His participation in systemic corruption schemes was obviously an important part of this situation. After his dismissal, questions began to arise about whether enough would be done to eliminate all corruption schemes in the customs service, because the detection and elimination of corruption requires not only personnel changes, but also systemic political decisions.
