Continuing the theme of the transport mafia at the KMDA, it is worth mentioning separately the mechanism of illegal evacuation and extortion from Kiyan. In the previous article, we mentioned the need for evacuation under certain circumstances, explained :
The well-known lawyer and human rights defender Rostyslav Kravets in his comment for "Telegraf" noted that the car can be evacuated only in certain cases.
"According to the Traffic Rules, evacuation is permissible only if the car seriously complicates traffic or the work of public utilities. This is not the case with the situation in Kyiv. Even if about ten percent of all the evacuated cars parked incorrectly (which are a hindrance) are collected, it will be good," he says.
Kravets explains that a fine is issued for violating traffic rules due to improper parking, and evacuation is not carried out. "Therefore, in most cases there are abuses that the local authorities do not stop," the lawyer adds. He also notes that some local government officials may be interested in (and actually benefit from) receiving funds directly from car towing companies.
Kravets believes that in order to stop the disorder caused by illegal evacuation, it is necessary to simultaneously fine the local authorities for improper organization of parking lots. He suggests conducting official investigations in all cases of illegal towing to determine why the car was towed and what exactly caused the car to interfere, rather than simply issuing a fine for improper parking.
"In order to overcome the arbitrariness of local officials, it is necessary to make a willful decision of the state leadership to stop these abuses and illegal activities of companies engaged in the evacuation of cars," concludes the lawyer.
Thus, the crisis with chaotic parking and illegal evacuation of cars in Kyiv remains unresolved. At the same time, tens of millions of hryvnias paid in fines are directed to the accounts of companies and private individuals, which are not always transparent.
Calculation of evacuation prices
How can two companies make money on one car? Maybe "Express T" LLC and "Evacuator Service" LLC simply obeyed the whim of Nataliya Pryimak, who decided to work as a director of another company and "accidentally" provides car towing services for Kyiv residents. But this version does not stand up to criticism. Under Anastasia Melnychenko's post, about which Kateryna Degtyar from Kyiv came below, who posted a photo of the act of evacuation of her own car, performed according to documents by the same company "Evacuator service".
According to the act, the evacuation was carried out on an "Iveko" car, registration number ВА8345АС, which was accepted by Kateryna Digtyar for transportation by "Evacuator Service" LLC. The woman paid her 1,270 hryvnias for the evacuation of the car and another 50 hryvnias as a commission. It is interesting that if you check the data on the car with the number ВА8345АС on the service that provides information about cars by license plates, it turns out that the white tow truck of the "Iveko" brand of 2015 production belongs to a legal entity registered in the Obolon district of the capital. And here there is a hole, because "Evacuator Service" LLC is registered in the Holosiiv district of the capital, but "Express T" LLC is registered in the Obolon district. A separate issue is the contacts of the representatives of the Tow Truck Service LLC, namely their e-mails.
Yes, the e-mail indicated on the Prozorro website for contact with the company representative Yevhen Medik is called [email protected] , and the e-mail of PP-FOP Tetyana Komisarova is called [email protected] . "Comments" contacted Kateryna Degtyar, noted the strangeness in the ownership of the tow truck, which was involved in removing her car, and addressed a request to the KMDA, on the basis of which the company "Tow Truck Service" operates. "It turns out that there are no contracts with the KMDA for the provision of services for the evacuation of "Express-T" cars, using the cover of the "Evacuator service" company, which is also owned by the same persons, illegally providing services for the evacuation of cars. And if something happens to them during transportation? And at this time, in response to requests to the KMDA, they give written answers that only those companies that have contracts with the city hall can evacuate cars," says Kateryna Degtyar.
Another important issue is the price of the car evacuation issue, which was raised back in 2020. In general, the service of forced evacuation of a car costs 1,270 hryvnias, although due to fines and payment for downtime at the penalty area, the car owner's expenses usually reach the amount of about 2 thousand hryvnias. According to both mass media and car owners, 1,270 hryvnias is an overestimated cost of car evacuation.
"The average distance to the penalty area is about 10 km. The cost of gasoline will cost UAH 50 per day, another UAH 1,000 will go to the driver's salary, at the rate of UAH 150 for one evacuation, depreciation and maintenance of the car - another UAH 150 per day. Therefore, the cost of evacuating one car is about UAH 215," Taras Getmanskyi, the owner of the Getmancar car sharing network, cites the calculations of the Business League publication.
Thanks to this calculation, the profitability of one evacuation is up to 1,000 hryvnias, and there can be up to 10 evacuations per day. "During 22-24 days of work, 240,000 hryvnias are obtained per month," the publication summarizes. At the same time, the mass media writes, on the websites of regular Kyiv tow truck services that work on call, the prices are much lower - 400-500 hryvnias for delivery and loading of a passenger car and 10 hryvnias per km. For the services of a tow truck with a manipulator (these are used when evacuating violators' cars) — 800 hryvnias plus 10 hryvnias per km.
At the same time, contracts between KMDA and the laying company "Express-T" are drawn up in such a way as to protect their business interests as much as possible.
And the parking inspectors, having corrupt and profitable motives, report the need for evacuation to the tow truck assigned to them, for which they later receive a kickback.
Further, companies withdraw, legalize and transfer the received money to cash by:
- conclusion of fictitious agreements on the purchase of services, works or goods;
- rental/use/leasing of tow trucks;
- fuel write-off;
- fictitious employment;
- simplified accounting and tax system of the IP;
- services of conversion centers.
The withdrawn cash is distributed among the participants of the criminal scheme, including the KMDA and the police.
List of tow truck companies currently operating in Kyiv:
– FOP Lukyanenko Yevhenii Oleksandrovych;
- FOP Yaremenko Hryhoriy Vasyliovych;
– FOP Lyshchyna Oleg Oleksiyovych;
– KP "Traffic Management Center";
– EXPEDITION 777 LLC;
– LLC "Ukrtranskontrakt";
– KP "Kyivtransparkservice";
– LLC "Parking Ukraine";
- "Expressautocom" LLC.
And if you have already encountered the illegal evacuation of your car by the company "Express-T" gaskets and extortions for this, write to us by mail: [email protected] . We intend to collect all the facts of such violations and contact the competent authorities.
