Kurshutov Seyar: “naked king” of Ukrainian smuggling or FSB agent? PART 2

Start: Seyar Kurshutov: “the naked king” of Ukrainian smuggling or an FSB agent? PART 1

Kurshutov. The story of one photograph

A photo posted either in 2015 or 2016 on his Facebook page revealed a lot about Kurshutov’s previously unknown connections. It shows Seyar Kurshutov (in a bright red baseball cap) posing against the backdrop of the Athos Monastery, where he went on vacation, in the company of Gleb Lobov, a certain elder, Vladimir Skorobogach and Vitaliy Kopylenko (from left to right). Well, many Ukrainians know Kopylenko: this professional boxer (in the middleweight division) has won many championship belts. But the other two are much less famous and downright scandalous.

In 1994-96, Gleb Lobov worked in the export department of the Ukrinmash Research Institute, then for five years as an inspector and chief inspector of the Kyiv customs office, then founded his own LLC Grisan, which deals with customs clearance of goods. Since 2009, he has owned West-Logistic-Group (customs terminal No. 5 of the Kyiv regional customs office). In 2011, Lobov created the Export-Import Company Torgdial LLC, which, in addition to customs clearance of goods for others, was engaged in its own export and import. Lobov was called a very influential person at the Kyiv customs office, with extensive connections in Odessa, Kharkov and the Donbass. But the main thing is that Lobov owed such success to his godfather and neighbor in the “royal village” Anatoly Makarenko. In the late 90s, Lobov and Makarenko worked together at the Kyiv customs office, then Makarenko was promoted (chief of the Kyiv customs office, head of the Customs Service of Ukraine), “protecting” Lobov’s companies and carrying out colossal smuggling schemes through them.

By the way, pay attention to how friendly Kurshutov is hugging Lobov – it’s immediately obvious that they are “buddies”! And considering Lobov’s passion for traveling, we can safely assume that he was the main organizer of the trip. Why exactly to holy places? Did the smugglers really hope to atone for their sins or “bring” money to God? It seems that the idea was suggested by Kurshutov’s second friend – a Kharkov businessman, deputy of the Kharkov city (5-7 convocations) and regional (7-8 convocation) councils Vladimir Skorobogach. Who for many years, especially on the eve of the elections, created for himself the image of a devout parishioner of the UOC MP, sparing no money for the churches of the Kharkov diocese. Well, in addition to this, Skorobogach, who was part of the team of the late Gennady Kernes, in 2006-2010 headed the deputy group in the Kharkov city council “Young Regions”His political career ended in 2014 with the “garbage lustration”, after which Skorobogach, who had gotten out of the bin, joined the “Renaissance” party, and in 2019, the Opposition Platform – For Life.

It would seem that what connects the “customs officers” Kurshutov and Lobov with this Kharkov “devout” Russophile? Very simple: since 2012, Skorobogach was a friend and business partner of Vitaliy Khomutynnik, with whose help he imported huge volumes of Brazilian meat to Ukraine (for which he received the nickname “Kharkiv Butcher”) and other dubious goods. Khomutynnik headed the committees on customs and tax policy in the Rada of the 6th-7th convocations, and during the time of Yankovych, he held one of the levers of control over Ukrainian customs in his hands.

And what happens now: in this photo we see people closely connected with the customs mafia of the Yushchenko era (Lobov-Makarenko), the Yanukovych era (Skorobagach-Khomutynnik), and the post-Maidan 2014-2015 (Lobov-Makarenko again), in whose company is Seyar Kurshutov! Who then, after Makarenko’s resignation from the post of the chief customs officer of Ukraine, immediately found a common language with his successor Likarchuk…

From the “Smuggling Office” to the President’s Office

Thus, Seyar Kurshutov entered the society of “customs fixers” even before Alexander Granovsky created his so-called “Smuggling Office”, about which he wrote so much Skeleton.Info Ukrainian media. It was thanks to this shadow center of corruption that the previously virtually unknown Kurshutov acquired his first “fame”, from which he is now trying to wash himself clean!

The first publications about this appeared in the summer of 2018, when the struggle for control over customs sharply intensified between President Poroshenko and Prime Minister Groysman. During this, some information was leaked to the press. In particular, it was reported that in 2016, Granovsky (working through Igor Kononenko for Poroshenko) received control over the “K” department (the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime) in the SBU, having facilitated the appointment of his friend and companion Pavlo Demchyna as its head. It was from this moment that Granovsky began to create his “Smuggling Office”, trying to establish control over all customs of Ukraine (or at least over most of them). Then Granovsky made his classmate, Colonel Serhiy Kovalenko, Demchyna’s deputy – the same ““Hero of the Walnut War”to whom the outgoing Poroshenko gave in May 2019 general rankand which the State Bureau of Investigation took up in August 2019. Kovalenko had previously worked and been friends with Vladimir Bedrikovsky, who, in turn, was “stirring up business” with the aforementioned customs officer Anatoly Makarenko. And so, following the chain of Lobov-Makarenko-Bedrikovsky-Kovalenko-Demchina, our “hero” Seyar Kurshutov began working for Sasha Granovsky — as one of the assistants responsible for “arrangements” and collecting money at certain customs offices.

As you can see, Kurshutov was not the only one, but just one of many “kings of smuggling”, and worked under the “roof” of much more influential and sly people. Moreover, it should be noted that Kurshutov does not have his own companies related to transportation and customs (or any at all) – as there is no information that he had them before. As if he were just a hired manager of shadow schemes, working for “bonuses in envelopes”. It turns out that our “king of smuggling” is completely naked? The press reports that he invests all his money in enterprises registered to his wife Ekaterina Leonidovna Lyubchik (born in 1987). The former vice-Miss Minsk (2007), who then became a TV presenter, then a blogger, in 2016-2017 seriously took up the restaurant business, which suddenly turned out to be very successful (according to her). Perhaps she found her innate talent as a genius of public catering. However, if you read our recent publications about Nikolai Tishchenko, you know that the most profitable restaurants are those through which gangster and corrupt money is laundered.

But his friend and partner Victor Sherman has many of his own companies. Sherman was called the “father of Turkish smuggling” because he controlled a significant portion of consumer goods imports from Turkey, as well as from China and Greece.

The goods arrived through the Odessa and Ilyichevsk ports, bypassing inspections and duties, using forged documents and, according to data Skeleton.Infopassed through Odessa customs through front companies, and were then sold at the “7th kilometer” and other wholesale markets.

Sherman’s profit investments are also impressive: in the Belyaevsky district of Odessa region, he bought 42 land plots with a total area of ​​several hectares – all of them are adjacent to each other, so it turned out to be an impressive “fiefdom”! Viktor Sherman also invested his “profit” in the companies of his wife Diana (who is engaged in a successful tourism and advertising business), and Lidiya Borisovna Sherman (mother?), who is a partner of Ekaterina Lyubchik. In particular, they jointly own Sport-Service LLC (32574968), although they recently transferred their shares to trusted persons.

But although Sherman was investigated by NABU and firms associated with him were included in the decision of the High Anti-Corruption Court (see document), it can be said that he got off with only a slight fright – as did Kurshutov, who worked with him.

April 2, 2021 The National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions against the ten largest smugglers of Ukraine. In it, in the company of such practically “legendary” personalities as Vladimir Didukh (aka Vova Morda), Vadim Alperin and Yuriy Kushnir, Viktor Sherman also found himself.

On April 15, 2021, the National Security and Defense Council decided to impose sanctions against 13 more leading smugglers in Ukraine. This list, which then suddenly “miraculously” became unavailable on the website of the head of state, but still saved in cachewe find Seyar Kurshutov at number two – right after the scandalous Arayik Amirkhanyan. There we also meet Mikhail Gribanov, former head of Odessa customs (February-May 2020), who, together with Sherman and Kurshutov, figured in the scandal about the new “Smuggling Office”, which was already operating under the “roof” of the Office of President Zelensky.

The abrupt change of the country’s leadership in 2019 only briefly stunned corrupt officials and smugglers. They quickly found approaches to the new government, and it turned out that it was also not against “making money”. Seyar Kurshutov was saved by his long-standing acquaintance with lawyer Andrei Smirnov, who became deputy head of the Office of President Andrei Bohdan. The “Customs Mafia” sent Kurshutov as a kind of walker to the OF – and soon he agreed on everything. And now in 2020, Kurshutov and Smirnov have met several times flew abroad together — and based on the photo from Athos, we now know that Kurshutov has a tradition of traveling with his closest partners in customs schemes! The head of the Tax Service, Maxim Nefedov, who was close to Granovsky during his work at the Ministry of Economic Development (2015-2019), did not refuse their offers.

True, in February-March 2020, the new government also “fell into disarray”, and Kurshtov’s connections almost broke. It was then that he began feverishly to mold a public image for himself as an expert on economics and other issues, for which he turned to journalist Yuri Romanenko (portal “Khvylya”). As the range and quality of such services depend only on the client’s solvency, and Kurshtov did not want money. And so Romanenko arranged several long, abstruse conversations for him “in a relaxed atmosphere”, which he then cut into fragments and periodically posted on YouTube. Kurshtov also began to sponsor the publication “Censor” (Yuri Butusov), which wrote incriminating materials about him back in 2018-19. Perhaps only to keep Butusov quiet. But then Kurshtov’s “philanthropy” played into his hands when in the fall of 2021, Arsen Avakov stood up for Kurshutovstating that he was included in the NSDC sanctions list not for smuggling, but for financing an opposition website. Avakov’s emotionality was noted by everyone, and it was not his intention to criticize Zelensky, whom he left – after all, of all the people on the list, Avakov stood up for Kurshutov! Why?

A small note: Seyar Kurshutov is being actively swindled out of money by PR laymen. For example, it is a known fact that Kurshutov actively sponsors the “true Ukrainian patriot from the plough” Yuriy Butusov, who is the editor-in-chief of the website Censor. The site editor is no less effective in taking off Kurshutova’s shoes Khvilya Yuri Romanenko:

If we analyze the information from the media – and it is sometimes somewhat contradictory – we can come to the conclusion that after the change of the head of the Presidential Office, Kurshutov found himself a new boss in the person of Andrey Yermak. Hence articles about how the “presidential nanny” with the help of the “smuggling king” took over customs schemes. However, their fruitful cooperation was hampered by politics!

The fact is that Seyar Kurshutov financed not only the publication “Censor”, but also the party “Voice” (according to Skelet.info — through Nefedov), but it was so oppositional (on the right) that it got on Zelensky’s nerves. His nerves gave out after the head of the party, Kira Rudyk, began actively seeking support in the United States as the leader of the pro-American opposition. And then the most interesting thing happened and was almost never voiced: the British became very interested in Ukraine. As is known, unlike the Americans, the British pay more attention not to the “democratization” of other countries under the roar of the Maidan drums, but to the quiet taking control of their elites, politicians, corrupt officials, economy, logistics. And in this case, the British were interested in the Ukrainian Black Sea ports and the customs that worked there — along with the “smuggling kings” who had attached themselves to them. Therefore, one of the versions of the reasons for the fall of Seyar Kurshutov from his “throne” was the “cleansing” of customs from unnecessary people, organized at the request of London’s emissaries. Perhaps this was also due to the fact that rumors about Kurshutov allegedly working for the FSB could have been more than just rumors. But in any case, Kurshutov did not dare to quarrel with those who exert a decisive influence on the president himself. But he has not yet been able to prove his usefulness to them, much less his indispensability. So Kurshutov has to play the role of an “expert” and a “patriot” for now, hoping that he will be noticed and invited again for a business conversation…

Mikhail Shpolyansky, Skelet.Info

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