Billions of hryvnias are being laundered: the SBI Director Oleksii Sukhachov talks about budget losses from customs fraud

The State Bureau of Investigation, together with the Security Service of Ukraine, continues large-scale operations to combat customs abuse. The SBI Director Oleksii Sukhachov said this in an exclusive commentary to Apostrophe.

"This is a long and meaningful process, the ultimate goal of which is to fill the state budget of Ukraine.

The main task is to restore legal order, not to take measures for show. The issue is to change the system and philosophy of customs. This is not a private structure, but a financial lever to fill the state budget. We are talking about the entire vertical of the State Customs Service - from the top to the ordinary inspector. Everyone involved in the abuse must realize and understand this.

According to preliminary estimates, up to ten billion hryvnias are washed out of the state budget every month through customs fraud. This is a lot of money that should be spent on paying pensions, implementing social projects, or helping the army. This is a third of what the institution should have collected during the month, meaning that every third hryvnia of customs duties went into the pockets of corrupt officials. These funds should be returned from the shadow sector to the budget. Law enforcement agencies are working on this task today," he said.