Position: Senior State Inspector of the Lutsk Customs Post.
Sphere of corruption: customs.
Region of corruption activity: Volyn region.
Qualification: the actions are qualified under Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (acceptance of an unlawful benefit by an official).
Status: at large.
Case story: in early October 2025, the Lutsk City District Court sentenced Yaroslav Kuvichka, a senior state inspector of the Lutsk customs post, who was caught extorting money for importing goods into the territory of Ukraine. The suspended customs officer was reinstated in his position through the court and ordered to compensate him for the entire time of forced absenteeism. The other day, the court nevertheless found the official guilty of receiving illegal benefits and imposed a fine of 68 thousand UAH without the right to hold office for three years.
As stated in the court verdict of September 30, the state inspector of the Volyn customs Yaroslav Kuvichka systematically demanded and received money from entrepreneurs who imported goods into the territory of Ukraine. According to the SBU, in exchange for illegal remuneration, the official promised not to create artificial obstacles and reduce the amount of customs payments. The customs officer was exposed on April 3, 2024, while receiving another bribe.
Then the Lutsk City District Court ruled to suspend Yaroslav Kuvichka from his position for two months, pending the investigation. The customs officer tried to appeal this ruling, but the Volyn Court of Appeal left the decision unchanged. However, in September 2024, Yaroslav Kuvichka filed a lawsuit with the Volyn District Administrative Court, in which he requested to reinstate him and recover from the employer the average earnings for the period of forced absenteeism, i.e. UAH 22,065 for each month. Judge Oksana Adrusenko supported the lawsuit and the suspect returned to work.
Yaroslav Kuvichka partially pleaded guilty and told the court that in February 2024, an acquaintance asked if he could reduce the weight of the car, which was indicated in the documentation. The customs officer replied that he would help for a fee of $100 to $300, depending on the amount of work. Thus, in March 2024, he registered the first car, and by April 1 of the same year, he registered two more. He received $500 for this. At the same time, the accused denied the information that he threatened to create obstacles and refuse customs clearance.
The entrepreneur who asked Yaroslav Kuvichka for a favor told the court that he had been working at Feral+ LLC since 2023. His duties included, among other things, preparing documents for the Volyn customs. In February 2024, he met with the accused and asked if he could reduce the weight of the car in the documentation. The customs officer agreed, but announced the amount of the bribe. After this meeting, the victim contacted the SBU and continued to act exclusively under the control of law enforcement officers.
Judge Yaroslav Artysh found Yaroslav Kuvichka guilty of Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (acceptance of unlawful benefit by an official) and imposed a fine of UAH 68,000 without the right to work in law enforcement agencies for three years. The decision can still be appealed in the Court of Appeal.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: no information is available from open sources about possible accomplices.
Assets: Yaroslav Kuvichka's 2024 income declaration shows that he lives with his wife. In addition to two apartments in Lutsk and Luhansk, where the official is from, the couple had two cars. Both are registered to his wife: a 2017 Audi A7 hatchback and a 2016 Hyundai Elantra, purchased during the full-scale war.
Yaroslav Kuvichka officially earned almost 184 thousand hryvnias at customs last year and over 30.5 thousand at the Patriot Agro company, where he got a job as an accountant. Anita Kuvichka, who registered as an entrepreneur only last year, earned over 840 thousand hryvnias. At the beginning of 2025, she became the owner of another Hyundai Elantra, only this time a 2017 model.
Kuvichyk declared $4,000 and 110,000 hryvnias in cash as savings. He keeps 13,000 hryvnias in the national currency in a bank account.
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies responded to Kuvichka's criminal activities in a timely manner, presenting him with a suspicion.
Scandals: Before the corruption scheme, he was not seen as a figure in other scandals.
Sources:
https://zaxid.net/vikritiy_na_poborah_mitnik_z_volini_otrimav_shtraf_i_zvilnennya_n1620749
https://sylapravdy.com/za-habar-500-dolariv-ssha-sud-pokarav-kolyshnogo-volynskogo-mytnyka-shtrafom
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/01bd5c75-389c-4ca4-b795-0d75ef297f0b