Port of Odesa Opens One-Stop Customs Service to Curb Corruption

In early May the Odesa Commercial Seaport launched a one-stop border and customs service. Addressing the opening ceremony, Odesa seaport director Mykola Pavliuk said, “To organize a one-stop system for clearing containers is one of the main requirements of the president’s Stop the Contraband program.” Transport Minister Yevhen Chervonenko believes that see-through doors and constant video surveillance of inspectors working in the same building should discourage bribe-taking in any form. “The one-stop service is not simply a simplification of the customs clearance procedure. It is a triumph of ethics to which we have aspired,” the minister said. Customs Service chief Volodymyr Skomarovsky and Border Service chief Mykola Lytvyn were also present at the opening and did their best to provide convincing arguments that the one-stop border and customs service will stem the inflow of drugs, weapons, and contraband. They even proposed awarding bonuses to border and customs officers who intercept contraband cargo and rewarding them with a percentage of the contraband’s value. The crowd of businessmen and customs workers responded with whispers and murmurs about the implications of this crackdown on would-be smugglers.

The opening of the one-stop border and customs crossing at the Odesa Commercial Seaport was timed to coincide with the inauguration of the first stage of Ukraine’s first transit terminal. According to Yevhen Chervonenko, Ukraine is facing strong competition and thus cannot afford to create obstacles for the passage of containers; otherwise it will lose its competitive edge in this business. As the minister put it, Ukraine handles 2.3% of the world’s container traffic. “Containers are the cargo of the future. Cargo flows are like water: they will bypass any obstacles and go anywhere but not through Ukraine. This would be a crime against our children. We have to do whatever it takes for cargo flows to pass through Ukraine, in particular the Port of Odesa,” the minister said. The new terminal was built in record time with UAH 15 million in investments. Another UAH 40 million will be invested this year. The transit terminal occupies over 3.18 hectares. It has a parking lot for 100 trucks, a single office building housing all the inspection services, a warehouse module, and an inspection ramp allowing 9 container trucks to be inspected at a time. The terminal’s throughput is over 500 trucks in 24 hours. Experts say that the introduction of the one-stop customs and cargo terminal will reduce the time of cargo processing and clearance by an average of 30%. Specifically, the inspection and clearance time for import containers should be reduced from 24-36 hours to 12, and for export and transit containers from 16-24 hours to 6. This should minimize truck downtime. According to Mykola Pavliuk, the terminal’s first stage alone will make it possible to increase container truck traffic by 40% by year’s end.

Although cargo owners are happy about the advantages offered by the simplified clearance system, unlike the ministers and officials, they are not as ready to believe that the system of kickbacks will die off that easily.

There are mixed feeling in the region about the personnel purges undertaken by the new heads of the Customs Committee. Not only has it removed many professionals, it has also created an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion, which has had an impact on the performance of the customs service. According to Odesa Customs chief Oleksandr Symonov, in the past few months 180 out of 903 employees of the former Black Sea Regional Customs have been dismissed. Another 112 employees of the disbanded Black Sea Regional Customs are being investigated by the police. Employees who are proved innocent of all wrongdoings will be reinstated in their jobs. The Port of Odesa currently has 5,600 containers, an all-time record. In the near future two more commercial seaports in Odesa oblast — Illichivsk and Pivdenny — will have their own transit terminals identical to the one that has just opened at the Odesa Commercial Seaport. Odesa’s terminals for handling all hazardous chemical cargo will also be relocated to the Pivdenny Port.