Seyar Kurshutov: “naked king” of Ukrainian smuggling or FSB agent?
The war forced a number of politicians, officials and businessmen to hastily flee the country, feeling some kind of rottenness behind them. But at the same time, some scandalous corrupt officials, on the contrary, are trying to rehabilitate themselves with the help of feigned jingoism and return to the “feeding trough”, again take control of the old “flows”. Among them, Seyar Kurshutov, known in Ukraine as the “king of smuggling” of the Poroshenko era, stands out with particular zeal…
Remember how in 2014 Boris Flatov, who then became deputy governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region Igor Kolomoisky, promised to pay $10,000 for captured “little green men” and “Girkins”? Although no one received any award (and no one caught anyone), Filatov’s statement caused a great resonance, giving the “Privatovites” an inflated image of mega-patriots of Ukraine. Now Seyar Kurshutov decided to use this technique, announcer of reward 100 thousand dollars to the one who catches and delivers the notorious Crimean ex-prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya to the SBU.
But, given that Poklonskaya is constantly accompanied by Russian soldiers on the territory of the Kherson region captured by the aggressor, and from there to the nearest SBU department you need to make your way through the front line, then her successful capture will require an entire military operation, which will cost several times more than the promised reward ( excluding the risk of loss). Only the special services can do this, and Kurshutov understands this very well. Therefore, the probability of parting with the announced amount is practically zero for him! But he managed to earn a few political points with this cheap imitation of “patriotism.” Cheap because it really doesn’t cost Kurshutov anything. After all, he could have simply donated this money to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine or help refugees, spend a much larger amount on these important goals – but he didn’t do this, otherwise he would have already trumpeted his volunteerism all over the media. No, the promise of a reward for Poklonskaya is the only manifestation of Kurshutov’s “patriotism” during the days of this terrible war.
This pseudo-patriotic performance was staged by him as part of his own “special operation”, which he has been conducting since he was pushed back from participating in the control of corruption and smuggling schemes at Ukrainian customs, and then was completely included in the NSDC sanctions list as one of the “kings of smuggling”. Kurshutov’s goal is to portray himself as an innocently slandered honest and smart businessman (and now also a patriot) in order to return to the “gravy train”.
However, in this case, Kurshutov may be trying to kill two birds with one stone: a number of sources report that he has some old personal accounts with Poklonskaya, and they are not political at all. Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to find out all the details, since Kurshutov carefully hides his past – especially until 2014. This, by the way, is quite funny: cosmic-scale advice on how to properly manage the economy and the state is given in custom interviews by a “prominent businessman” without a single enterprise registered in his own name, hiding even his short biography from public access! And yet Skelet.Info We managed to collect some dossier on Seyar Kurshutov, which we kindly provide to you, for a more detailed acquaintance with this “expert on all issues.”
Seyar Kurshutov. Family history
Seyar Osmanovich Kurshutov was born on May 14, 1988 in Chisinau. His ancestors, Crimean Tatars, lived in the village of Nikita near Yalta before their deportation in 1944. Recently, Seyar Kurshutov often reminds of this in his interviews and social networks, emphasizing that his family, at one time, also became a victim of Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). Well, you can’t argue with that – after all, this part of the history of the Kurshutov family is truly tragic. However, it had a happy continuation, which Seyar Kurshutov prefers to keep quiet about – probably so as not to spoil his inflated image of a “Ukrainian patriot” and a “fighter against Moscow.”
The fact is that after the harsh years of Stalinist repression, the life of the Kurshutovs improved, and they settled in sunny Moldova. His father, Osman Seidametovich Kurshutov, graduated from the Chisinau State Medical Institute (KSMI) named after N. Testemitanu in the 80s. There in Chisinau he worked as an anesthesiologist, got married, and his sons Seyar and Amet were born there. In the 90s, their family decided to return to their historical homeland, although the main reason for the move was not nostalgia, but the economic crisis in Moldova, which turned it into the poorest country in Europe – the resort Crimea always seemed like an island of prosperity. So Osman Kurshutov replaced Chisinau with Yalta (whose current mayor Albert Kurshutov may be their relative), and soon received a place in the Simferopol Clinical Hospital named after. Semashko. This hospital is also known as the “University Clinic”, since it is part of the structure of the Crimean State Medical University (KSMU) named after. Georgievsky.
After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Osman Kurshutov did not flee from the Russian “occupation”, but continued to work at the “University Clinic”. Moreover, he even acquired his own medical business, opening in Simferopol dental clinic “Five principles”. As the name suggests, he is a very principled person! His second son Amet, who accepted Russian citizenship together with his father, did not leave Crimea either, and in 2018 registered with the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) as an individual entrepreneur (TIN 910311859928, OGRNIP 318911200042035) with the right to “trade drinks in specialized stores.” However, it is worth recognizing that the scale of this business is too modest for those whose son and brother were called the king of Ukrainian smuggling…
It seems that Seyar Kurshutov simply broke up with his relatives so as not to share money with her. However, he still visited Crimea – not necessarily to visit his parents and brother, but he went! Proof of this is the incident that occurred in 2016: Seyar Kurshutov entered Crimea from Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) (it was reported that he was on a flight from Moscow to Simferopol), and from there he went straight to Ukraine by car through the Chongar border post, as a result of which he was “caught” for an illegal visit peninsula and was brought to administrative responsibility – having paid a fine so as not to stir up a scandal (according to Skelet.Info, in reality he paid thousands of times more).
Seyar Kurshutov. Garbage schemes
Osman Seydametovich wanted to see his sons completely different, he hoped that one of them would continue the family dynasty of doctors. Therefore, in 2005, when Seyar graduated from high school, he helped him enter the Simferopol KSMU. Which faculty Seyar Kurshutov chose and how well he studied remains unknown. Moreover, it is not a fact that he received a medical diploma at all, because on his Facebook page It is only indicated that he studied at KSMU – but he could have dropped out! Moreover, according to sources Skelet.Infowho knew Seyar Kurshutov in those years, from his youth he preferred business to study. True, honest trade did not suit him: at first he “dealt” on the Simferopol radio market (allegedly buying stolen phones), then he met the right people (including representatives of criminals) and began to provide the services of an intermediary and “fixer”. In general, what kind of exams and tests are there! And when the time came for an internship, Seyar Kurshutov had already reached a new level: he tried to fit into the “streams” and began to “muddy up the schemes.” During the period 2011-2013 he appeared in the city of Saki, where, together with some companions, he tried to dominate the local minibus drivers – hence the incorrect information in the media that Kurshutov is a native of Saki. And then he surfaced in the scandalous story around the Simferopol PRC “Clean City”.
This utility company began operating in May 2011, and to finance it, the autonomy authorities issued a loan in the amount of 133 million hryvnia (its fate remained unknown). “Clean City” began by immediately concluding an agreement with the contractor – the Odessa company “RAF-plus” (USREOU 31185987), which had only two people on its staff (director and accountant). The founder of this company was the London company Mirotex, and the director was Odessa City Council deputy Igor Shatalov. Within a few months, local journalists began publishing photo reports that eloquently demonstrated that neither Clean City nor its Odessa contractor was in a hurry to remove garbage from the streets of Simferopol. But at the same time, the enterprise generously squandered budget money on salaries and bonuses for management, on renting equipment from private companies, which then stood idle, on the purchase of garbage cans (from the Odessa LLC Terminal-Yug) and garbage trucks at a price much higher than the market price. And this was only the beginning of a long-term corruption epic! The media reported only that Kurshutov’s participation in these garbage schemes was that he was involved in the scandal that broke out around the “Clean City”. But, according to sources, Kurshutov was connected with the residents of Odessa, who “milked” the Crimean budget through their people who oversaw the work of the “Clean City”.
In the media you can find a statement that until 2014, Seyar Kurshutov was an “ardent Russophile.” A edition ORD reportedthat in 2013 Kurshutov allegedly bought from Vitaly Kovalchuk (deputy head of the UDAR party) the position of head of the republican organization for 500 thousand dollars. And at the same time, ORD does not rule out that Seyar Kurshutov could also become an FSB agent!
At first glance, this information is very contradictory – but only because these scattered puzzle pieces were not put together.
After all, the clever Crimean “decider” Kurtushov could rush between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian parties, depending on the desire to get into power or hide in the opposition – just as thousands of other Ukrainian officials, businessmen and simply various scoundrels did the same (let’s take the same Alexey Goncharenko). But regarding his possible recruitment by the FSB, a very interesting picture emerges, because both “Clean City” and Poklonskaya appear in it. Is it really bingo?
This is what happened: after the annexation of Crimea, in the summer of 2014, the Clean City PSC was transferred to the balance sheet of Sevastopol and consolidated by merging with several other utility companies. During this process, “Clean City” underwent a large-scale audit by the Russian financial supervision service, during which abuses and shortcomings identified in the amount of 205 million rubles (about 70 million hryvnia at the then exchange rate). Moreover, not for several months of annexation, but even for the period 2012-2013. The results of the audit were transferred to the republican prosecutor’s office and the FSB Directorate, after which there was a pause in the work of Clean City, which lasted until December 2014, when it was re-registered under Russian law. And the corrupt officials got away with it: its director Valery Gumenyuk later even became Sergei Aksenov’s deputy. This topic was no longer raised in the media in Crimea, but there were rumors on social networks that the FSB did not pursue corrupt officials, but came to an agreement with them – then putting pressure on Poklonskaya’s Crimean prosecutor’s office to close the case. Therefore, all of his defendants, including Seyar Kurshutov, who was involved in the garbage schemes, could well have been hooked by the FSB. Well, their relationship with Poklonskaya, quite naturally, remained hostile – that’s the whole secret of Kurshutov’s stormy “patriotism”!
Connections of Seyar Kurshutov
The most interesting thing is that almost no one knows when exactly Seyar Kurshutov moved from Crimea to Kyiv. But Kurshutov himself never specified this – apparently, in order to avoid unwanted questions about why he stayed there. Likewise, there is no single version of how a petty corrupt official from Simferopol managed to become one of the “kings of smuggling” of Ukraine and the right hand of Alexander Granovsky himself. However, if you read Granovsky’s “life”, you can understand that the main thing in such a matter is to successfully cross paths and get close to the right people. Granovsky, having been elected as a deputy of the Kiev City Council from the UDAR party in 2014, became close with Igor Kononenko there. In turn, Kurshutov either successfully crossed paths with Granovsky somewhere, or was introduced to him by other people with whom Kurshutov had become close earlier. And if we proceed from publications in the media, then this happened somewhere at the end of 2014 – beginning of 2015, that is, exactly after the FSB hushed up the “Clean City” case in Crimea. It’s also worth adding here that arranging “successful meetings” and bringing your agents together with the right people is a long-honed technique of the intelligence services. That is why many hint that Kurshutov could have owed his rapid advancement up the Ukrainian corruption ladder to the Lubyanka. Moreover, he was previously not a public person at all, with no past in open sources, who did not hold any positions in the civil service, but controls one of the largest flows of corruption in the country – this is a portrait of an ideal “mole”!
Kurshutov himself mentioned that after leaving Crimea he had a certain logistics business, which he then sold. However, he did not want to announce the name of his former company. Searches in open databases also do not yield any results: there Seyar Kurshutov appears only as a private entrepreneur-restaurateur (another Kolya-Cutlet – Kolya-Mitball – Nikolay Tishchenko) and co-owner of the private Kharkov school of architecture. By the way, among its beneficiaries is Odessa resident Oleg Mikhailenko, the owner and co-owner of many trading, construction and other companies.
It is worth remembering the Odessa company “Terminal-Yug” (33509121), from which “Clean City” purchased garbage containers at an inflated price. After all, the main direction of its activity is transport services and customs clearance, but along the way it sells garbage cans and agricultural equipment.
A version also surfaced in the press that Seyar Kurshutov gained control over customs thanks to his friendship with Konstantin Likarchuk. However, he received the position of deputy head of the State Fiscal Service only in May 2015 (and was fired with a scandal 4 months later), when Kurshutov was already working with smuggling schemes through other people. And now you will find out with whom…
Mikhail Shpolyansky, for Skelet.Info
CONTINUED: Seyar Kurshutov: “naked king” of Ukrainian smuggling or FSB agent? PART 2
on topic: “Zelensky’s smuggling office”
Don’t “stop” smuggling: who controls customs and how, and what does Seyar Kurshutov and Andrey Ermak have to do with it
How Nefyodov lobbied for the protege of smuggler Seyar Kurshutov
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