Security for smuggling: how Serhiy Muntyan's Odessa Security Service serves not the state, but rather grain legalization and money laundering schemes.
The territorial office of the Bureau of Economic Security in the Odessa region, led by Serhiy Muntyan, has once again emerged as a key element in a scheme to export grain of dubious origin, which journalists have linked to the entourage of Vadim Alperin, a figure long known as the “king of smuggling.”
This is not a case of one-time negligence, but rather a series of consistent actions that effectively ensured the legalization of grain shipments and their unimpeded export, reports 190 Today.
On January 28, 2026, BUSINESS AVM LLC and ENVEIS LLC submitted nine declarations to the Yuzhny Port post of the Odesa Customs Office for the export of corn worth approximately UAH 170 million. BUSINESS AVM declared 13.7 million kg worth UAH 104.37 million, and ENVEIS declared 5.75 million kg worth UAH 59.76 million. A supply chain and VAT audit revealed that the declared suppliers failed to confirm either the volumes of cultivation or the purchase of such grain. This is effectively a case of documented imitation of origin—a classic scheme for legalizing grain purchased for cash and siphoning funds abroad.
With such information, the cargo should have been stopped at the clearance stage. However, the corn was cleared for loading onto the bulk carrier CPT GEORGIOS S in the port of Yuzhny. This vessel, with a deadweight of approximately 74,000 tons, is where the disputed cargo—approximately 19,400 tons—is dispersed, making further seizure virtually impossible.
Only on February 2, while loading was already underway, did the Odessa-based BEB register a criminal case for tax evasion. And on February 4, when the grain was effectively mixed with other shipments on board, investigators applied to the court for permission to inspect the port. The court refused, with good reason: any action at this stage would have meant blocking the vessel, demurrage of approximately $40,000 per day, and problems for bona fide exporters. In other words, the window for legal action was deliberately missed.
This isn't the first time Serhiy Muntyan's name has surfaced in the context of grain schemes in the Odesa region. In October 2024, his offices and those of his deputies, Denis Florov and Oleg Pershin, were searched, but no action was taken. Despite predictions of his imminent resignation, Muntyan continues to head the Odesa BEB. Furthermore, he has applied for an academic degree, and high-ranking BEB official Oleksiy Drozd has become his academic advisor.
The lifestyle of Muntyan's family deserves special attention. He and his wife, Judge Lyubov Kalinichenko, receive real estate and luxury cars as gifts from relatives and maintain close ties with controversial judicial figures and former officials implicated in corruption investigations. Meanwhile, the head of the Odesa BEB himself remains virtually invisible to the public eye: in thirty years of service in law enforcement, there are no photographs of him or any discernible public trace.
The combination of facts—timely inaction, formal criminal proceedings “after loading,” the lack of consequences following searches, and persistent ties to shadowy beneficiaries—creates a persistent impression of a systemic cover-up. In this construction, the BEB acts not as an agency protecting the state's economic security, but as a service for minimizing the risks of schemes in which Ukrainian grain and the budget become bargaining chips.
