Mykolaiv customs officers expose schemes with forged documents for humanitarian aid

In four months of 2025, Mykolaiv customs officers recorded attempts to smuggle goods under the guise of humanitarian aid. The main scheme of the offenders was the use of forged documents and false information about the final recipients.

This was reported by the press service of Mykolaiv Customs.

In January-April 2025, the customs revealed 22 violations of customs rules totaling UAH 1.6 million. The average value of the offenses amounted to UAH 72 thousand.

The most common types of violations were attempts to move goods concealed from customs control - 9 cases were opened over this fact. Another 6 cases concern unlawful exemption from customs duties or reduction of their amount.

During the reporting period, 12 cases totaling UAH 1 million were sent to court. Instead, the courts themselves considered 25 cases of customs rules violations for a much larger amount - UAH 309.5 million. As a result of the proceedings, decisions were made to impose fines of UAH 200.4 million and confiscate goods worth over UAH 225 million.

The Customs also independently reviewed 8 cases, six of which resulted in amicable agreements concluded under the compromise procedure.

The customs office notes that the main trend of offenses is the use of forged documents or documents with false information about the final recipients of humanitarian aid.

In September last year, a scheme was exposed in Mykolaiv region that turned humanitarian aid for the Armed Forces into a source of income. The pseudo-volunteers brought cars ostensibly for the army, but instead of handing them over to the military, they disposed of them at their own discretion.

According to the investigation, a 35-year-old resident of the Lviv region, Yuriy Korol, took advantage of the benefits that were then in effect for the import of vehicles without duties and fees in the first months of the full-scale invasion. He arranged for the importation of 17 cars - minivans, crossovers and passenger cars - allegedly for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

However, none of the vehicles were delivered to the military. All the cars remained in civilian use. Meanwhile, in the summer of 2022, the government abolished tax exemptions for such imports.

Анна Бальчінос