Jan. 22, 2026, 1:03 p.m.
(ILLUSTRATION: AI)
In Odesa, a long-running case concerning the disappearance of a large batch of smuggled cigarettes that were material evidence in a criminal proceeding has been completed. The case concerns more than 3.7 million packs of cigarettes worth USD 587 thousand that disappeared from warehouses after being seized at Odesa Customs.
The Center for Public Investigations learned about the details of the case and what the High Anti-Corruption Court decided.
The key defendants in the case are former Odesa police chief Dmytro Holovin, his deputy Kostiantyn Heiko, director of Agat 2016 LLC and founder of Expoyug LLC. These companies were officially responsible for the storage of the seized cigarettes, but, according to the investigation, they actually became part of the scheme to misappropriate them.
The story began in November 2017. The British company Star Team Investments L.P., controlled by an unidentified group of individuals, in collusion with Odesa Customs officials and law enforcement agencies, imported seven sea containers of tobacco products without excise stamps through the Odesa-Central customs post.
The cigarettes arrived at the port under bills of lading addressed to JSC Odesa-Ukraine, and part of the cargo was delivered in the "warrant" mode without a specific recipient. According to the contract between Trust General Traiding Sarl and Star Team Investments L.P., the tobacco shipment was valued at USD 587 thousand. As early as November 2017, the Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal investigation into the abuse of power by customs officers, and during searches in December, the cigarette containers were seized.
Law enforcement officers counted more than 50 million cigarettes of various brands, including Richman Royal, Golden Deer, TGT Golden Bridge, R.G.D., MAC, CAPITAL Slims, 99 NINE/NINE, and A&B White. They were recognized as material evidence and transferred for storage to the warehouses of Sky Line LLC in Odesa. In 2018, the pre-trial investigation was transferred to the police of Odesa region.
According to the investigation, in 2018, the director of Agat 2016 LLC decided to take possession of the cigarettes and engaged the founder of Expoyug LLC, which owned warehouses in the village of Avangard, Odesa region, to do so.
In August 2018, Agat 2016 LLC and Impo-Ukr-Group PE entered into an agreement with the police on the free storage of material evidence. After that, the cigarettes were gradually moved from the warehouses of Sky Line LLC to the warehouse of Expoyug LLC at 18-B Angarska Street.
Although they were formally in safe custody, in early September 2018, they were illegally transported to another warehouse on the territory of the U Dvuh Stoliv market in Odesa. From that moment on, the cigarettes effectively disappeared.
In order to hide the traces of the crime, the director terminated the warehouse lease agreement with Expoyug LLC, withdrew from the founding members of Agat 2016 LLC, and re-registered the company to a nominee director who formally signed the documents for $100 without receiving any goods or assets.
In 2019, the case was transferred to NABU detectives. Together with the ARMA, they found that all the cigarettes that were supposed to be stored as material evidence were missing. As a result, the state lost the opportunity to transfer them to ARMA's management and receive funds from their potential sale.
In 2021, the High Anti-Corruption Court received an indictment against former Odesa police chief Dmytro Holovin and his deputy Kostiantyn Heiko for misappropriating 3.6 million packs of cigarettes illegally imported to Odesa Customs in 2017.
The tobacco products were stored in private warehouses, with which the police leaders, according to the investigation, colluded. The shipment consisted of seven sea containers. In July 2019, the NABU and the SAPO served all four individuals with a notice of suspicion of misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office.
The cigarettes worth $587,000 (equivalent to UAH 13.5 million) were supposed to be transferred to the ARMA, but they were moved to another warehouse and disappeared. Some of the cigarettes were allegedly sold in Ukraine, while the rest were taken abroad.
All four defendants, who, according to the investigation, seized property through abuse of office (Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code), faced 7 to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. However, on December 15, 2025, the prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office changed the charges against the former police officers to negligence.
Since this crime is classified as a minor offense, the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution expired in 2023. In addition, the entrepreneurs entered into plea agreements with the SAPO prosecutor, undertaking to fully compensate for the damages in exchange for a suspended sentence.
The defendants immediately filed a motion to dismiss the case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, as more than five years had passed since the crime was committed. The High Anti-Corruption Court closed the criminal proceedings against Dmytro Holovin, former head of the Main Department of the National Police in Odesa Oblast, and his first deputy, Kostiantyn Heiko.
In December 2025, the SAPO approved an indictment and simultaneously entered into plea agreements with two businessmen: one pleaded guilty to large-scale embezzlement and the other to aiding and abetting.
The court accepted the plea agreements: both were sentenced to seven years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period and imposed additional obligations under the criminal law. In addition, they pledged to transfer UAH 1.5 million to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine through the Come Back Alive Foundation and reimburse the state for the costs of the examinations. They avoided actual imprisonment.
Also in Mykolaiv, a court ruled to take into custody the director of a charitable foundation and former MP from Odesa region, Serhiy Kryvenko, who is suspected of facilitating the illegal transportation of conscripts from Kherson region abroad.
The Center for Public Investigations learned about the details of the case and the former MP's background.
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