Former Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Service of Ukraine Ruslan Cherkassky, together with Vitaly Kiro, who was involved in the production of cigarettes with counterfeit excise stamps, purchased apartments and office space in Dubai, the total cost of which is about 25 million dollars.
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The owners rented out some of this property, and have already sold some.
This is stated in the investigation of the project “Radio Liberty Schemes: corruption in detail – RFERL”. The journalists used transaction data from the official Dubai registry, which the journalists received access to as part of the international investigation #DubaiUnlocked.
The schemes noted that the available property declarations of Ruslan Cherkassky do not contain information about these investments or income from sales or rentals.
Cherkassky was fired with a scandal at the beginning of 2023. In 2008, he invested in apartments together with Vitaly Kiro, a person involved in journalistic investigations, a businessman associated with the production of cigarettes with counterfeit tax stamps.
In total, Cherkassky and Kiro invested in several apartments and offices in Dubai, the total value of these properties, according to transaction data, is about $25 million. Moreover, two apartments from this list were rented out, but Cherkassky never mentioned this in his declarations.
“Schemes” also drew attention to how the financial situation of the official’s common-law wife, the founder of the cosmetology clinic Maria Trifonova, has improved, namely, since 2017, when customs officer Cherkasky began to indicate her in his declarations. Over the course of several years, she and her mother became the owners of five plots of land near Kiev, country houses and expensive cars.
Another customs officer to whom Schemes drew attention is the state inspector of the Smolnitsa customs post in the Lviv region Andrey Konanets. In 2010, he built a studio with an area of 34 square meters. m in the Lakeside complex. This Dubai apartment was purchased for $175 thousand. and was subsequently rented out, which brought in $36 thousand. In his property declarations, Konanets did not mention that he owns an apartment in Dubai and receives rental income.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.