Prosecutors of the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office have sent an indictment to the court against a 39-year-old resident of the region who established a scheme for importing cars from European Union countries without paying mandatory customs duties (part 1 of Article 201-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the investigation, the man used the mechanism of importing humanitarian aid to Ukraine as a cover for his own business. By filing declarations for the import of goods supposedly intended for charitable organizations and funds, he imported used cars into Ukraine for sale.

From January 2024 to October 2025, the man imported 12 cars from Lithuania, Estonia, and Bulgaria through border crossing points in the Chernivtsi and Lviv regions. Among the imported vehicles were a Toyota Land Cruiser, Volvo XC90, Mercedes-Benz Vito, KIA Sportage, KIA Sorento, Nissan X-Trail, and other popular models.

The total value of the imported cars is about 1.5 million hryvnias. When crossing the border, he declared the vehicles as humanitarian aid for charitable funds. However, none of the cars reached either the military or volunteers — the cars were sold.

The pre-trial investigation was conducted by detectives of the Territorial Department of the Bureau of Economic Security in the Chernivtsi region.

Note: according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a court verdict.