Marushevska Lets Up the Brakes

Marushevska Lets Up the Brakes

The head of the Odesa Customs unexpectedly and publicly harshly criticized her boss, the head of the State Fiscal Service. Head of customs 26-year-old Yuliya Marushevska has been working for eight months.

The well-known Euromaidan activist and, until recently, deputy head of Odesa region was recommended for the post by the head of the regional administration Mikheil Saakashvili. The Georgian reformer-politician was confident that Marushevska’s arrival at Odesa Customs would bring positive changes, in particular that it would be possible to fight corruption. These days, it seems, her patience has run out, notes the newspaper Express. It’s no secret that relations between Marushevska and her Kyiv boss Mr. Nasirov were never cloudless. Marushevska even received three reprimands from the capital — she says it’s revenge for trying to change the system. With Groysman’s arrival it seemed the conflict would die down. The prime minister visited Odesa and promised Marushevska’s reprimands would be withdrawn. Silence followed. But not for long. These days the rebellious subordinate of Nasirov made a loud and public statement in which she called her boss, the head of all the country’s tax officers, the main brake on reforms in the agency. More on this in an interview with Yuliya Marushevska.

-- Roman Nasirov issued you three reprimands — that’s known. But did he revoke them, as Prime Minister Groysman promised while on a working trip in Odesa?

-- No, the reprimands have not been revoked. On the contrary, we have inspections on top of inspections. As I see it, the prime minister wasn’t heard. However, I perceive these reprimands rather as something positive. Because a priori Roman Nasirov and I have different views.

-- Then why did he punish you?

-- The first reprimand was supposedly for purchasing software for the customs office. But that does not correspond to reality at all. Because we did not purchase software. The software we wanted to use in a pilot project is provided by the UN free of charge. Then there was a reprimand for the storage of psychotropic substances in warehouses in 2014, when I was not yet the head of customs. The third reprimand was for introducing lotteries to allocate confiscated goods across warehouses.

-- Were you suspected of trying to do things secretly?

-- Quite the opposite — for deciding to do everything publicly. Distribution was traditionally done through commissions. The commission would meet and decide where confiscated goods would go. We believe that is a corrupt approach. Because you could make deals with the commission and build a huge business on confiscated goods. We proposed using a lottery tool — when a warehouse to store state-confiscated property is chosen at random. And for that I received a reprimand! But interestingly, now this tool is being implemented at the national level.

-- So Mr. Nasirov wants to fire you? But if you work transparently and effectively, why do they want to get rid of you?

-- It’s simple. We created a precedent showing that you don’t have to divide cash flows, but can actually change things in the interests of people. For Mr. Nasirov, a person who has headed the SFS for over a year and does virtually nothing besides extracting money in various forms, this causes discomfort. We are a constant irritant. As I know, under Mr. Nasirov even an office has been formed whose purpose is to discredit our attempts and stop what we are doing. Because if we achieve what we want — create a truly transparent system — it will no longer be possible to operate the old way. In a transparent system it will be clear where the money goes, what the processing fee is, and so on. An inspector will not be able to make subjective decisions. That is a danger to the corrupt system that Roman Nasirov so protects.

-- So you claim that the tax and customs service in Ukraine is not changing because their head, Mr. Nasirov, does not want it to?

-- That is exactly what I am asserting today, and I do so with facts. Nasirov embodies the sabotage of change, the protection of corrupt interests. He continues the traditions of his predecessors. The system he runs is no better than the system run by Azarov, Klymenko, Kaletnyk and others. Under Nasirov’s leadership of the fiscal service nothing has changed in the system. The situation in the tax and customs spheres has not improved. No one feels the reforms that Nasirov is conducting. People’s disappointment, including that of entrepreneurs, is enormous. 6% support — that is the assessment of the “reformist” activity of the head of the SFS. According to all surveys, the fiscal service remains a leader in levels of corruption.

-- Okay, then explain what you are doing differently at the customs office you run?

-- This is my eighth month at Odesa Customs. By the way, in the recent three-year history of Odesa Customs this is a unique case. Because none of the heads worked there more than three months. Usually people came with their own specific intentions, implemented them and moved on. I came into a half-destroyed team where there was no proper management, let alone one aimed at changes. I’ll note that Odesa Customs is territorially the largest in Ukraine: 65% of all goods pass through Odesa ports. Odesa Customs has always been synonymous with corruption. I deliberately went there to change that. For me it was an important challenge. I understood that taking a post in the most corrupt sphere and showing results there was very important. Now Odesa Customs is not a synonym of corruption but of positive changes. Today business representatives say that when they go to other customs points to clear goods and are asked for a bribe, they say, “If you want a bribe, we’ll go clear in Odesa.” For me that’s already a good sign. We created a precedent — an example that even in such a corrupt system you can work honestly and create normal conditions for honest business. We achieved this by changing current procedures. But overall my main goal in this position is to launch a customs office of a new formation and to open a new terminal at the marine station in Odesa port.

-- Can you give concrete examples of changes?

-- We reduced the number of physical inspections and prohibited other control agencies (such as the police, the Security Service, the border guard — everyone who used to “shake down” business) from conducting inspections without prior approval. Processing time for companies with low reputational risk decreased from 4 hours to one hour. The average processing time for international transit decreased more than threefold and is now only 10 minutes. Today 89% of all cargo passing through Odesa Customs is processed at the contract price rather than by indicative prices — to reduce the possibility of fictitious inspector decisions. So everything we do is service-oriented. We say the state is created to provide services to the people who live in it. Customs is also a service organization. It is not an instrument of terror or control. It is an agency that should, on the contrary, improve trade and form a healthy climate for business. -- If you have done all that, it’s hard to understand how Mr. Nasirov hinders you?

-- All the changes we propose face fierce resistance from the system. Head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov assured me of support for the reforms implemented at customs. However, behind my back he systematically opposes them and in recent months has not even hidden it. I am very surprised that people like Roman Nasirov still run the country’s customs service. Because of constant opposition from the SFS leadership, because of a total unwillingness to change the system, because of blocking the simplest changes, not everything comes easily. We have constant Security Service inspections. Before that there were many internal checks within the State Fiscal Service. I have to spend the lion’s share of my time not on constructive work, not on creating something new, but on fighting for the right to do anything at all. I understand that what we have done is a lot within the Ukrainian customs system (because almost nothing positive happens here in terms of reforms), but that is not enough to achieve the goals we set ourselves.

-- Have you managed to understand which corrupt schemes are key at Ukrainian customs?

-- Certainly. The main one is under-declaring prices by using indicative prices — when you can make a deal with an inspector about the price at which your goods will be allowed through. Sometimes business uses this opportunity, and sometimes an official does. It depends on what’s convenient for whom. Sometimes an official may raise the price and demand a bribe, and sometimes business may pay a bribe so the price is lower than the official’s proposed price. It’s a kind of trade. What do we do? We work using the prices specified in the contract. We don’t work with businesses operating in the gray, or rather dark-gray zone. The consequences are twofold. On the one hand, in recent months more than 200 new companies have come to Odesa Customs. On the other — many companies, including Odesa-based ones that were used to underpaying taxes to the budget and making deals instead of paying honestly, are moving to other customs offices — to places where they can find a “compromise.” We created a white field in Odesa so those who want to work honestly have that option. But to completely change the situation and retain money for the state, the whole system must change. One region cannot block these flows. For example, I was told: while you are in office you don’t collect bribes. That means the corrupt machine loses about 700 dollars per container. Considering the number of containers that pass through Odesa, that is 700 thousand dollars per month. Just on that. Overall there are many corrupt schemes. For me it’s less important to delve into their details than to build a fair customs working system.

-- These days you have effectively openly attacked your boss. Aren’t you afraid you might lose your job?

-- We have strong international support

-- Representatives of five embassies have already visited Odesa Customs. Businesses that tried to operate honestly in Odesa also support us. Since there are positive results, it’s harder to get rid of us. I’m not clinging to this position. It is not essential for me to be head of customs. However, I want to achieve the result and to continue doing what we are doing. We want reforms, we can implement them and we will not stop at what we have achieved. Mr. Nasirov and I are different. He simulates reforms for self-preservation, and we do them and will do them despite the system’s resistance. Because we want Ukraine to become better. Because we live here, not in some London...

-- Are you hinting at the two undeclared flats of Nasirov in the British capital that our civic anti-corruption activists uncovered? -- Ellipsis for now.

Nataliya VASYUNETS

expres.ua