One of them drinks cinnamon coffee every Thursday to relax in the Dominican Republic, the other is the daughter of a priest of the Moscow Patriarchate who has a blank declaration and drives a Mercedes, the third one declares luxury real estate and claims in comments to journalists that these are gifts from her former — wealthy — husbands. All of them are officials of the State Customs Service, whose declarations were investigated by Slidstvo.Info journalists and revealed a lot of interesting things.
This is reported in the Slidstvo.Info story. The video has English subtitles.
In early April, a video by a popular Lviv blogger went viral on the Internet, in which former Lviv Customs inspector Yulia Dryga said that the clothes she was wearing cost more than $8,000. The comment cost the official her job.
After the video was published, she immediately resigned ‘by agreement of the parties’, and the customs management sent information about her to the National Agency for Corruption Prevention for ‘verification and appropriate response’.
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In a commentary to a media outlet, Andriy Kuznik, the head of Lviv Customs, said immediately after the incident with his ex-employee: ‘It is difficult to explain to everyone where she got these things. It’s like the joke about the prostitute daughter. Before you do or say anything, you have to think about the consequences, and when you are in the civil service, you have to think about it 24/7.’
Cases when only one fashionable outfit of an official is several times higher than the declared income always provoke a strong reaction in society. A logical question arises – where does the money for expensive purchases come from?
‘DADDY, SEND SOME MONEY’
Sofia Krikunova, 22, is a state inspector at Odesa Customs. According to her, she has held this position since around November 2023.
Sofia Krikunova
In her declaration for 2023, Krikunova indicates a salary of just over UAH 34,000 (for the time she has worked) and two apartments in Odesa worth almost UAH 9 million, which she became the owner of in 2020.
In the same declaration, Sofia also indicates a gift in cash from her father, Oleksandr Krikunov, in the amount of UAH 1.5 million. This is interesting because Krikunov’s declaration as a candidate for the post indicates his father’s salary of UAH 6,500.
‘I am from Donetsk myself. I had an enterprise that I sold and the money from the sale of which was declared,’ Oleksandr Krikunov explained to Slidstvo.Info journalists the origin of the gift for his daughter. During the conversation with journalists, the man also adds that it was he who insisted that his daughter go to work at the customs office to gain experience.
In the register of enforcement proceedings, Sofia has several proceedings for traffic fines, the most recent one dated 15 February 2024. This means that the customs officer drives a car, even though she declares neither the right to use nor ownership of any vehicle.
The journalists of Slidstvo.Info found Krikunova’s social media, and there are many interesting things in them. In particular, humorous videos with captions: ‘Daddy, send me some money’.
On her social media pages, Sofia also broadcasts her lifestyle: shopping, branded clothing and accessories, jewellery and holidays in the Maldives and Dominican Republic.
In the Dominican Republic, Sofia was on holiday with her family, probably in early 2024, at the 5-star Lopesan Costa Bavaro hotel. To book a room for two in the hotel where Sofia and her family were on holiday currently costs from 25 to 31 thousand hryvnias per night.
Slidstvo.Info asked the experts of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption whether Krikunova should declare this holiday.
‘It depends on who paid for it. Income subject to declaration includes gifts, among other things. But gifts are declared only if the amount of the gift exceeds 5 subsistence minimums established for the able-bodied population as of 1 January of the reporting year. Currently, this is UAH 15,140. The second situation is when the declarant pays for their holiday expenses on their own. In this case, the amount of a one-time expense must exceed 50 subsistence minimums. This year, it is UAH 151,400,’ comments Oleksii Tuchak, Head of the Declaration Clarification Department of the Department for Formation of Legal Positions on Declaration and Conflict of Interest.
Oleksii Tuchak, Head of the Department for Clarification of Declaration Issues, Department for Formation of Legal Positions on Declaration and Conflict of Interest
An interesting fact: when journalists were researching the social media of Sofia’s parents, they found photos of her mother from Moscow and the temporarily occupied Crimea published in 2019. It was not possible to find out what the official’s closest relative was doing in the aggressor country after the occupation of Crimea and the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine.
WEARS FAKE BRANDED CLOTHES AND DOES NOT KNOW HER SALARY
Serafyma Dumytru, 23, is a chief state inspector at the Chernivtsi customs office, and before that she studied at the Odesa Law Academy.
It is notable that her declaration is completely empty — she does not declare her vehicles, place of residence or relatives.
At the same time, the young woman is active on social media. In the photos, Serafyma poses with branded accessories, and her companion in most of the pictures is a black Mercedes E-Class.
‘I just don’t have anything of my own. I live with my parents. I don’t declare the car because it’s not registered to me. I bought it from my brother maybe 5 months ago, and he bought it from a man from Ivano-Frankivsk. It is still registered in their name. I’m going to re-register it, but I don’t have time yet,’ Serafyma Dumytru told journalists.
As the NACP explained to Slidstvo.Info, it is still necessary to declare vehicles, but under certain circumstances.
‘The declaration shall contain information about vehicles owned by the declarant or a family member as of the end of the reporting period; or if they were in use or possession of the declarant or a family member for at least half of the days of the reporting period, or as of the last day of the reporting period and provided that the right to use arose at least 30 calendar days before the end of the reporting period,’ explains Oleksiy Tuchak.
Serafyma tells journalists that all the branded items in the photos are not really branded, but simple fakes: ‘It’s all replica, it’s artificial leather, it’s Kalynivka market.’ Serafyma can’t immediately recall the amount of her salary either, explaining simply that she hasn’t been working for long and writes everything out on a piece of paper.
In addition to her luxury lifestyle, she posts photos of herself and her father, Lorin Dumitru or Archpriest Pavlo, on social media. The man is a dean of the Hertsaiv church district of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese of the UOC-MP.
Seraphima with her father, priest Lorin Dumytru
Her father can be seen in the photographs together with another priest of the UOC-MP, the mentor of the Bancheny Monastery, Metropolitan Longin, or Mykhailo Zhar, who has been conducting anti-Ukrainian rhetoric since 2014. In 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine served Zhar with a notice of suspicion for inciting sectarian hatred.
His son, also Mykhailo Zhar, ran for and was elected to the Chernivtsi Regional Council in 2019 from the Opposition Platform for Life (transl. — Ukrainian political party containing many pro-Russian members; its activities were suspended by the National Security and Defense Council for the period of martial law due to allegations of having ties to Russia made by the Council). Serafyma also published campaign brochures in his support on her page.
Screenshot of Serafyma Dumytru’s post
Slidstvo.Info journalists asked the young woman about her attitude to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the pro-Russian narratives in her environment: ‘Here, where my father serves, there is nothing to do with the people who attacked us. Bishop Longin, Mykhailo Zhar, the monastery – they have nothing to do with pro-Russian priests.’
On the Internet, you can find Serafyma’s profiles on several foreign dating sites. Serafyma says that she has earned a thousand hryvnias this way:
‘Two months ago, I was given a thousand hryvnias for this. I filled up the car and that was it.’
‘I HAD WEALTHY MEN WHO GAVE ME THESE GIFTS’
Anna Asanova is the chief state inspector of the customs control organization department at Kharkiv Customs.
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- Anna Asanova
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- Anna Asanova
In her declaration for 2023, Asanova did not indicate the size of her salary. She also declared an apartment in a business-class residential complex in Kharkiv worth over UAH 3.5 million, which she acquired in the summer of 2021, before her appointment to the customs office.
‘I’ve been working at the customs for less than a year. I barely survive on my salary of about UAH 20,000. I bought my apartment before I got the job, it was a gift,’ Asanova explains.
In the ‘Vehicles’ section, the woman lists two cars — a 2018 Toyota CH-R for over UAH 600,000 and a 2018 Mercedes-Benz for almost UAH 750,000.
According to the main service centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Anna currently owns only a Mercedes, which she received in March 2023, in the midst of a full-scale war.
‘It was a gift from my ex-husband. You see, I had wealthy men before who gave me these gifts. I didn’t think it was necessary to declare it,’ the official says.
The social media and profiles of the customs officers studied show that they lead a glamorous life, do not always know the amount of their salary, forget to declare anything, and are given everything.
In response to a journalistic inquiry, the State Customs Service explained:
‘The State Customs Service of Ukraine analyses the documents of candidates applying for a position in the State Customs Service for compliance with the requirements. Internal checks on candidates for positions at the State Customs Service of Ukraine are not provided for by law.’
In the same response, the Customs Service states that it only checks the fact that a candidate has filed a declaration, and that the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption is responsible for maintaining the state register of declarations.
