How the Lviv customs

Who actually runs the schemes at the customs that cost hundreds of billions of hryvnias to the budget and worsen Ukraine’s relations with EU countries, despite our state’s full dependence on European support and the president’s and government’s constant statements about improving ties with Europe, especially with Poland? Behind the facade of statements about European integration and normal conditions for international business, the system continues to operate, in which entrepreneurs are faced with ever-new artificial obstacles, procedures are delayed, and they are effectively nudged toward making “deals.” This is no longer about a single customs officer who may overstep his authority, but about a “back office” where someone decides by which scheme today they will “milk” the business and who must ensure the scheme’s implementation on the ground.

One of such touchpoints is the Lviv customs, led by Ivan Kerezvas, in particular the Gorodok customs post of VMO No. 2, where cargoes of food products come under the control of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection for Lviv region, headed by Bilyk. Under the pretext of conducting necessary control measures, samples of products are taken and sent for laboratory analyses, while refrigerated trucks, meanwhile, stay at the border for four days or more. Refrigeration equipment runs around the clock, burning fuel, deliveries are disrupted, carriers and goods owners incur losses, and the end consumer risks not receiving the product at all or receiving it with degraded quality. This is especially absurd for perishable products — bananas, oranges, tangerines and other goods, for which each extra day under control directly translates into financial losses.

One example is the Polish company OLVAR SP. Z O.O., which had already faced such delays.

Its cargoes of citrus — notably oranges and tangerines — could be under control for two, three, and almost four days, and in one case a batch of fresh mandarins lost 89,52% of its commercial value, causing multi-million losses. Separately raises the question of a situation when samples were taken again — first within phytosanitary control, then again within food safety control, which effectively increased the wait time for results. For a reefer, this means days of idling, ongoing costs to maintain temperature, and the risk that the product will lose its commercial value earlier.

After our appeals and publications on the matter, the officials of the State Customs Service and the State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service decided to change tactics. Now the customs started closing clearance within four hours, but in practice trucks still remain at the customs post, because the product continues to undergo control by the State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service, and samples taken are sent for laboratory tests, including to Kyiv. 28 August two OLVAR trucks with bananas were already at the Muravane border post for the second day in a row awaiting the results of such tests. In other words, the previous model has simply been changed: now four hours can be shown in documents, but the actual movement of the cargo remains blocked for an indefinite period.

For business, the difference is only on paper, because the reefer still sits, the refrigeration equipment keeps running, fuel is consumed, and perishable goods lose their remaining shelf life. At the same time, responsibility is conveniently shifted between two services: the customs authorities point to completed formalities, while the ongoing possession of the cargo is explained by the procedures of the State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service. That is why it is necessary to determine who makes the decision to take samples, why they can be taken again, on what grounds the transport is held after completing customs clearance, who determines the timing of laboratory analyses, and why perishable goods cannot resume movement after the required control procedures are completed.

And the main question — to the law enforcement authorities of Lviv region.

The Lviv regional prosecutor’s office, led by Meret, the Lviv City Office of the State Bureau of Investigation under Lviv, led by Lyashko, and the Security Service of Ukraine in Lviv region, led by Pylyp, have for years seen what is happening at Lviv customs and in the controlling bodies of the region, yet order has not been established. It seems that the system’s impunity benefits someone, because instead of real checks there are formal responses and materials sent to the long box. If law enforcement sees no problems for years, a perfectly natural suspicion arises: perhaps someone among those who are supposed to stop these schemes is himself interested in their existence.

By the way, a new complaint is already being prepared, in which a new mechanism of pressure on business is described and specific demands are set: to check the entire chain — from the customs post, inspection and sampling to the laboratory and actual release of the cargo, to determine who makes the decision to prolong procedures, why samples are taken again, who determines the timing of laboratory analyses, on what legal grounds the cargo is actually held after completion of customs clearance, who will be responsible for the losses suffered by business.

Because when a Polish supplier, lawfully importing products into Ukraine, refuses to “negotiate,” a new barrier appears for him each time — customs, sanitary, and laboratory. Customs clearance formally ends within the established period, the State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service cites the need for analyses, and Polish business pays for idling, fuel, disrupted deliveries and spoiled goods. This is no longer bureaucracy, but a mechanism of pressure, in which responsibility is shifted between services and all losses remain on business.