Position: former state inspector of the customs clearance department No. 1 of the "Krakivets" customs post of the Lviv customs office of the Federal Tax Service, head of the department of technical means of customs control of the Lviv customs office.
Sphere of corruption activity: customs.
Region of corruption activity: Lviv region.
Qualification: Yuriy Tovt's actions were qualified under Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: at large.
The story of the case: in 2015, the Yavoriv District Court found Yuriy Tovt guilty of committing a criminal offense for receiving a bribe. Then he was caught for a $200 bribe. Tovt was convicted under part 1 of Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The court sentenced him to a fine in the amount of 1,500 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens, amounting to 25,500 hryvnias.
In addition, the court deprived him of the right to hold positions related to the performance of organizational-administrative and administrative-economic duties for a year. Also, Yuriy Tovt is in the registry of corrupt persons of NAZK.
After being released from the customs authorities, Tovt received income from entrepreneurial activities. He also worked as an assistant consultant to a People's Deputy of the Republic of Belarus. After that, he applied for a competition for vacant positions at the customs office and was appointed to Transcarpathia. There, Tovt worked for some time as a shift leader at the "Tysa" customs post in Chopa.
In February 2021, the convicted customs officer received a position at Lviv Customs, where he was previously caught for bribery.
Persons potentially involved in the corruption scheme: it is not known from open sources about possible accomplices of Yuriy Tovt.
Assets: in the declaration for 2022, Yurii Tovt indicated that he owns three plots of land (two in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, one more in the Lviv region).
Tovt also owns a Mercedes Benz C180 car, purchased in 2018.
Yuriy Tovt's income for the first year of the full-scale war was UAH 170,078. At the same time, he declared 150,000 hryvnias and 8,000 dollars in cash.
In 2023, the official's income increased and reached UAH 465,094. At the same time, Yuriy Tovta's wife, Neonila, received UAH 165,233 in wages and UAH 69,775 in social assistance. Tovt's cash savings have not changed.
Persons who should have responded to corruption schemes: law enforcement agencies should respond in time to the criminal activities of Yuriy Tovt. However, today he is still at large and holds a position in Lviv Customs.
Scandals: Yuriy Tovt is the son of the "eternal Chernivtsi customs officer" Mykhailo Tovt. In 2023, employees of the SBI and the Department of Strategic Investigations managed to find out that Chernivtsi customs officials had let trucks with electronic cigarettes worth UAH 42 million into Ukraine outside of customs control.
On December 19, 2023, employees of the State Security Bureau, the Prosecutor's Office, and the police conducted searches at the Krasnoilsk border crossing point. Evidence of illegal activities of Chernivtsi customs officials was discovered during the investigation. In particular, according to documents from the Romanian side, 42 million hryvnias worth of e-cigarettes were sent to Ukraine in trucks. However, they did not enter the territory of our state, but simply "got lost somewhere". Law enforcement officers detained two customs officers, the investigation continues.
The State Customs Service of Ukraine reported that according to the results of an internal investigation, the head of the Chernivtsi customs office, Mykhailo Tovt, was dismissed. The department noted that the chief is probably also involved in the handling of excise goods.
Sources:
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/239882cf-8795-4cae-9b90-528211d06e12
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/cbc5a330-3fb4-4b36-844e-db96169e1e43