The story of the unsinkable Sasha Akst, or Why Zelensky did not approve the NSDC decision

The story of the unsinkable Sasha Akst, or Why Zelensky did not approve the NSDC decision

This is a tale about so‑called “sanctions.” About smugglers. And about Sasha Akst, whom Danylov “sanctioned,” and President Zelensky saved.

Whether for money, or whether someone once again expertly “fleeced” him. As they previously “fleeced” Bakanov, Naumov and that same Sasha Akst. And we’ll begin with the most enigmatic employee of the outfit — Andriy Naumov, whom V. Zelensky 25 July dismissed from the position of head of the Main Directorate for Internal Security of the SBU.

The President desperately needs a ratings boost, and public opinion polls already showed: sanctions work! Naumov came to the SBU from the GPU, but judging by the criminal cases against him during his leadership of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, he’s simply a criminal. And he wasn’t just a member of Ivan Bakanov’s team — he was a friend, a trusted person, and, as malicious tongues gossiped — his wallet. And, as the same malicious tongues claim, he remains a friend and a wallet. He just changed offices from Volodymyrska, 33 to Patorzhynskoho. But the SBU continues to be in charge. In the “outfit” Naumov was responsible for personnel purity. And one of those cleaned‑out cadres — former first deputy head of the Service D. Neskoromny — even did PR for Naumov. By “ordering” him (you remember that riveting story, right?). And Andriy Naumov also controlled customs. And continues to control it.

It is no secret that the Service threatened with losing its “bread” in the form of fighting economic crimes remains the main curator of smuggling flows in our country. After decriminalization, smuggling became not only profitable, but also safe. So why not carve up the market for yourselves using a new magical instrument — sanctions?

That, perhaps, was Naumov’s reasoning. He rolled up his sleeves and, at the behest of his boss Bakanov, took on the widely publicized anti‑smuggling work. He entered the fight with the shadow, so to speak.

By autumn 2020 — when by Zelensky’s doing Naumov received the military rank of brigadier general of colonels (!) Andriy Olehovych had already created a back office modeled on the Poroshenko era.

A few words about how the “fight against smuggling” worked during the rule of the country of victorious Dignity, Petro Poroshenko. The “patriot” president in those circles is called a dove of peace — in the sense that Petro Oleksiyovych did not fight any schemes and did not threaten anyone. The “overseer” of smuggling under him was Oleksandr Granovskyi. And the “treasurer‑administrator” — Seyar Kurshutov.

In 2014 year this unknown businessman arrived in Kyiv from Crimea and first befriended the President’s partner B. Lozhkin, and then A. Granovskyi… Thus he transformed from a small speculator into a magnate.

As they say — young but early: powerful figures like Vadym Alperin queued up to Kurshutov’s back office. Kurshutov’s shadow office was a point of intersection for the interests of customs, business and the SBU, and veterans of the smuggling trade like Alperin were simply clients for Seyar.

Naumov, it seems, studied Kurshutov’s experience and decided to copy his successful success. For this he hired Oleksandr Akst, who previously worked for Seyar. And under Bakanov his own “Seyar” grew — the creator of a smuggling scheme under the guise of courier delivery, known in narrow circles by the nickname “German.” The role of Granovskyi fell to Naumov. And only Zelensky suspected nothing.

So we arrive at the answer to the question: by what principle the first package of “anti‑smuggling” sanctions was formed. The sanctions list was compiled by Oleksandr Akst. A person close to the lustrated customs officer Hennadiy Romanenko — the godfather of the legendary millionaire from the CPU Kaletnyk.

In the new realities of the “fight against smuggling” everyone who wanted to steal something from the state queued up to Akst. And then — either became his clients, or… Those “colleagues” who did not suit the court, Akst sent under sanctions. Whereas Kurshutov and Granovskyi shook down smugglers and let them earn… Naumov and Akst worked to remain the only smugglers in Ukraine.

Let’s go through the personalities.

NSDC sanctions envisage asset blocking, account freezes, prevention of capital flight out of Ukraine, revocation of licenses and permits, suspension of resource transit, restrictions on trade operations and many other problems — for a term of as many as 3 years.

Oleksandr Chudakov was among the first to fall under sanctions because he was Akst’s competitor at Boryspil. Through that port passes 95% of air cargo, and the scheme Akst put into operation was: supplying expensive electronics under the guise of international parcels, each declared as a parcel worth up to 150 euros and imported duty‑free.

Valeriy Peresolyak — that unique businessman who created a private customs checkpoint in Ukraine. A strip of border controlled by Peresolyak is a tasty morsel. There are anecdotes about Peresolyak. He turned smugglers into a football team: by day the guys train, and by night they work as customs officers.

Also on the blacklist were the big names of “contraband” who are well known, so it was simply impossible not to include them: Vadym Alperin, Ivan Bokalo, Oleh Doronin (the latter was included in the second wave of sanctions).

Businessman‑minimizer Orest Firmanyuk was sanctioned for allegedly “ordering” articles about the SBU from Plinsky and Dubinsky, and Naumov and Akst learned about this.

Under Kurshutov, Viktor Sherman briskly shipped rags from Turkey. They say Seyar wanted to become a monopolist in this industry, but tolerated 4‑5 businessmen with a “roof.” Such as, for example, Yerimychuk (“Slon”), who also imported Turkish light industry goods and had patrons in the leadership of the People’s Front.

Oleksandr Yerimychuk. He was sanctioned because Akst was not satisfied with taking only a percentage of a business that he could make his own. The “German” saw himself as No. 1 in supplying Turkish clothing.

For the same reason — to clear the market of competitors — other “Turkish light‑industry” players ended up under sanctions: Yuriy Kushnir was hit in the first wave, while Denys Aminev and Serhiy Serdyuk fell into the second package of “anti‑smuggling” restrictions.

But it turned out that something else was missing for successful operation: either offices in Istanbul, or IQ. So Akst compromised — those included in the first list of smugglers temporarily continued to work for him, sharing their experience.

Our sources say the “rags” business is all gray, so the light‑industry importers didn’t suffer much from the sanctions. However, they all found themselves on the hook at the SBU. And, understanding that they could be handed over at any moment, they decided to resist.

The second wave of sanctions covered 13 smugglers and among them — Oleh Bohdanov. Akst took his manager Yakubov into his employ and made him head of the “Turkish direction.”

Also caught in that wave were former customs officers with whom Akst simply did not get along. Among them retiree Yuriy Dvorak. And businessman Mykhailo Hrybanov, who won the competition for head of Odesa customs and in three months managed to anger Yakubov (former manager from smuggler Bohdanov’s team) so much that he earned sanctions. Along with Hrybanov the blacklist also included his manager Andriy Popov, although according to our data he’s simply an official who lives in a one‑room apartment.

Finally, the aforementioned Seyar Kurshutov also fell under sanctions. Those he used to “ticket” turned out to be vindictive guys: they did not forget how under Poroshenko Seyar was “shearing sheep,” taking dividends from others’ smuggling businesses.

Also punished along with his former patron was Oleksandr Cherepinsky, who previously worked in Seyar’s “Office of Smuggling” at Seyar. They say Cherepinsky has long been “out of business,” but former clients bear him a huge grudge.

Eduard Kukoba fell under the sanctions sword because Akst also set his sights on Kukoba’s cigarette business.

The problem of the “successful fighters against smuggling” from Ivan Bakanov’s agency was that all their frantic activity to redivide the market was not coordinated with Zelensky.

Have you not forgotten those who fell under the 1‑th wave of sanctioned light‑industry importers who decided not to give up? They wrote a letter to the President saying they were being manipulated. And the offended smugglers also found friends in the DBR, who collected kompromat on Naumov and opened Zelensky’s eyes to the shadow “Office of Smuggling” in the SBU.

Andriy Naumov, who joined the SBU in 2019 year and within a year received the rank of brigadier general, had access to Zelensky’s office. And it turns out how he repaid the favor. Having learned the truth, Zelensky was so enraged that he cleaned out the SBU along with Naumov several other of his close leaders. And he ordered that the third package of “anti‑smuggling” sanctions be prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, not the SBU.

As a result, three people fell under the third sanctions wave. First and foremost — the same Oleksandr Akst, who under Zelensky managed to destroy all competitors and make his company “Premium Paket” a monopoly.

Then — Vladyslav Studenets, who is a manager for the odious Denys Pudryk. Pudryk has worked at customs since 1998 year, starting as an inspector at Donetsk airport, and then moved through 12 regions, where he held the position either of chief customs officer or deputy. In 2015 year he was lustrated, but Pudryk through the courts obtained compensation of 677 thousand hryvnias (!) and was reinstated. He was head of Odesa customs in August‑October 2020 year, after which he was fired for poor performance, but resurfaced as a deputy, and is still considered the “king” of Odesa customs. Adding his “right hand” Studenets to the sanctions list is an attempt to put Pudryk in his place, which is not easy to remove. Rumor has it that the cut from Pudryk goes to the Head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine Pavlo Riabikin himself.

Pudryk received a greeting from the list compilers not without reason. The MIA has its own contenders for the market redistribution. They are thought to be two brothers: Oleksiy Sementsov — a regional council deputy from Servant of the People, ex‑head of the Department for Protection of the Economy of the National Police in Odesa region, and businessman Rostyslav Sementsov.

Valeriy Falkovskyi — the former husband of the Sementsovs, who defected to the competitors, was included in the third sanctions package and thus punished.

But the funniest part began afterwards. Danilov announced the decision on sanctions against Akst on 30 July this year. In previous sanctions cases President Zelensky signed a decree putting those sanctions into effect within a week. But … in Akst’s case this did not happen. There is still no Presidential Decree on sanctions against him. Could it be that it’s all that simple, and Zelensky was handed a couple of suitcases of dollars and he “changed wrath to mercy”? And Akst continued to work. Only no longer through “Premium Paket,” but through other firms, focusing his attention on Odesa and Volhynia. And Naumov continues to effectively control customs. And the money goes into his pocket, into envelopes for Servant of the People deputies, and for Zelensky’s future election campaign. Riabikin is no more than a “front,” who takes instructions from Naumov, and personnel are supplied by Bezzubenko, Yermak’s adviser. The “juiciest” customs posts are given to the security service people from Bezzubenko’s cohort. And you say — fight against smuggling. Zelensky, it seems, understands everything perfectly. As they say, “both in the know and in it for the cut.”

BELOW — THE FULL LIST OF THOSE WHO FELL UNDER SANCTIONS AS PART OF THE FIGHT AGAINST SMUGGLING.

1‑st wave of NSDC “anti‑smuggling” sanctions (from 02.04.21):

1) Ivan Bokalo (Lviv) — former senior inspector of the technical control means department of the Lviv customs and ex‑deputy of the Lviv regional council; according to Strana, manager for I. Kryvetsky nicknamed “Pups,” operator of schemes for importing cars into Ukraine and “ticketing” trucks entering Ukraine from the EU.

2) Valeriy Peresolyak (Uzhhorod) — former deputy head of the Risk and Offenses Prevention Department of the Zakarpattia customs, owner of FC Mynai. According to Strana, he oversees a scheme for delivering various goods from the EU without declaration in minibuses, as a result of which the cargo enters Ukraine without clearance. In 2020 year former Mynai footballer Yevhen Myronchuk became head of the operational response department of the anti‑smuggling directorate of Zakarpattia customs.

3) Yuriy Kushnir (Chernivtsi region) — entrepreneur, figure in a case about a bribe of 400 thousand dollars to a former head of the regional council. According to Strana, he has the reputation of the godfather of smuggling in Chernivtsi region, and from 2010 to 2015 year was a deputy of the regional council.

4) Oleksandr Yerimychuk (Chernivtsi) — brother of a former prosecutor linked to Arseniy Yatsenyuk and former People’s Front MP Maksym Burbak. He was also linked to importing goods from Turkey. Yerimychuk was stripped of Ukrainian citizenship and there were statements about plans to extradite him. According to Strana, known in Bukovyna by the nickname “Slon,” he is considered the “overseer” of smuggling flows for the former People’s Front MP and friend of Yatsenyuk Maksym Burbak.

5) Orest Firmanyuk (Kyiv) — businessman, customs broker and owner of companies operating in foreign economic logistics (LLC “Valger Group”, “Airport Kyiv Cargo”), whom former head of the State Customs Service Maksym Nefyodov called “smuggler No. 1 of Ukraine.”

6) Vadym Alperin (Odesa) — businessman whom the media collectively call the “king of smuggling.” In 2019 year the SAP accused him of abuse of office, tax evasion, levies and creating a criminal organization. Arrested by NABU detectives, Alperin was released on bail of 76,6 million hryvnias. At first he was required to wear an electronic bracelet, but in May 2020 he was relieved of that obligation. He was called “smuggler No. 1” by the President himself. Alperin was also stripped of Ukrainian citizenship.

7) Oleksandr Kravchenko (Odesa) — former deputy head of Kherson customs, headed the investigative department of the SBU in Odesa region, later was deputy head of the Main Investigation Department of the Security Service of Ukraine. Specialized in combating smuggling.

8) Oleksandr Chudakov (Odesa) – according to Censor.net, a figure in an SBU criminal case on smuggling and the appropriation by Odesa police leadership of a consignment of smuggled cigarettes. He owned a warehouse where, allegedly at police direction, 3,5 million packs of smuggled cigarettes were sent for storage, after which they were sold.

9) Viktor Sherman (Odesa) — businessman, owner of numerous companies (LLC “TriExpo”, LLC “Expedition‑3”, LLC “Sikargo Logistic”, etc.), linked to the processing of customs declarations and collection of “black cash.” According to Strana, he specializes in delivering goods from Turkey, transports up to 50% of the goods for the “7 kilometer” market, and has interests in other activities. For example, he is building a high‑rise in one of Odesa’s most prestigious neighborhoods — on Leaderskyi Boulevard. At the end of 2020 year SBU conducted searches at his home and enterprises.

2‑nd wave of NSDC “anti‑smuggling” sanctions (from 15.04.21):

1) Denys Aminev (Odesa) – according to vgorode.ua, a former employee of Odesa customs suspected of stealing 37 containers with uncleared cargo worth 154 million hryvnias.

2) Oleh Bohdanov (Kherson region) – according to vgorode.ua, the “overseer” of the customs black fund. At Kyiv customs he held a position that involved fighting smuggling. In Odesa customs he was deputy chief.

3) Mykhailo Hrybanov (Kyiv) – according to vgorode.ua, former head of Odesa customs, who in 2020 year was detained on a bribe charge. He now resides in Kyiv.

4) Yuriy Dvorak (Kyiv) – according to Vysokyi Zamok, former head of Kyiv customs, served as first deputy and also worked in the State Fiscal Service; he was subject to lustration.

5) Oleh Doronin (Kyiv) – according to journalist Ye. Plinsky, involved with the organized crime group “Borody,” which lowers declared values on customs clearance and evades taxes.

6) Eduard Kukoba (Mukachevo) – according to mukachevo.net, long‑time business partner of the former mayor of Mukachevo and MP Vasyl Petevka in shared shadow business.

7) Seyar Kurshutov (Kyiv) – the “right hand” of former People’s Front MP A. Granovskyi, who under Poroshenko was the main “overseer” of smuggling. According to Antikor, importers were required to pay a “fee” for trouble‑free customs clearance and import. Kurshutov controlled the flow of money from schemes and passed part of it upward.

8) Tigran Melkonyan (Odesa) – according to vgorode.ua, director of the firm “Sky Line.” In 2017 year the Prosecutor General’s Office seized seven containers of cigarettes at the Odesa commercial seaport, which were transferred to his firm for storage. The court allowed destruction of these cigarettes, but NABU suspected that PGO employees sold them.

9) Volodymyr Polusytok (Lviv) – according to ZN, former customs officer who was deputy head of the operational department for combating smuggling and customs offenses — head of the department for customs offenses proceedings at Lviv customs, now a businessman; he was considered but did not make the 1 list.

10) Andriy Popov (registered in an uncontrolled territory — in Yevpatoria) – according to vgorode.ua, director of the terminal at the port Pivdennyi, engaged in oil transshipment.

11) Serhiy Serdyuk (Odesa) – according to ZN, former PGO employee who featured in a case about the theft of 37 tankers from the port of Odesa causing the state damage of 154 million UAH, considered but not included in the 1 list. He came to the Prosecutor General’s Office at the same time as Yuriy Lutsenko.

12) Oleksandr Cherepinsky (Kharkiv) – businessman mentioned in the investigation by the “Nashi Hroshi” (Bihus) project in the context of dubious airport procurements; considered but did not make the 1 list.

13) Araik Amirhanyan — citizen of Armenia and Ukraine, who according to vgorode.ua had business in Odesa and was accused of organizing a “mechanism of illegal transfer” of people from Ukraine to Russia via Crimea, illegal appropriation of property of Ukrainian enterprises totaling almost 20 million hryvnias. He was released from pretrial detention on bail and fled to France.

Also sanctioned were 95 legal entities associated with them.

3‑th wave of “anti‑smuggling” sanctions (announced by O. Danylov 30 July 2021 year):

1) Oleksandr Akst — citizen of Germany, founder of one of the largest postal operators — LLC “Premium Paket” (Kyiv), whom they call the SBU’s “overseer” of smuggling during I. Bakanov’s tenure.

2) Valeriy Falkovskyi — according to ZN, former head of the customs clearance department No. 3 of the customs post “Odesa‑cargo,” who on dismissal did not hand over his service ID.

3) Vladyslav Studenets — according to Antikor, son‑in‑law of the former prosecutor of Odesa region, cashier and curator of schemes on behalf of Odesa customs head Oleh Pohorilivskyi, founder of LLC “Best Customs Solutions” (Boiarka), which organizes freight transport and a mass of enterprises in Odesa region; he is also linked to Odesa customs head Denys Pudryk.

In addition, 24 companies affiliated with them were sanctioned.

ORD