{"id":246104,"date":"2022-08-26T15:11:25","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T12:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/investigator.org.ua\/?p=246104"},"modified":"2022-09-22T20:53:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T17:53:23","slug":"%d0%b7%d0%b5%d1%80%d0%bd%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%be%d0%b7-%d0%ba%d0%b0%d0%ba-%d1%8d%d0%ba%d1%81-%d0%bc%d0%b8%d0%bd%d0%b8%d1%81%d1%82%d1%80-%d1%82%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%bd%d1%81%d0%bf%d0%be%d1%80%d1%82","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investigator.org.ua\/en\/investigations\/246104\/","title":{"rendered":"Grain carrier. How \u00abex-minister of transport of Crimea\u00bb does business in occupied Ukrainian South"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Our series of investigations about <\/b>\u00abgrain express\u00bb<\/b><\/a>\u00a0highlighted sea and ground routes which Russian occupants use to take away stolen Ukrainian grain from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Participants of this lasting war crime are transport companies carrying grain and other products from occupied territories to elevators and ports.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

One of transport businessmen is Anatolii Tsurkin, former \u00abminister of transport of Crimea\u00bb and assistant of Sergii Aksenov, \u00abthe head of republic\u00bb. Before and after the occupation of Crimea he was involved into the fraud. Criminal investigations into his activity were opened and completed by Ukrainian and even Russian occupation authorities. Their results were confirmed by court decisions. However, under support of Crimea authorities, this rogue entrepreneur keeps doing his business on the newly occupied territories of Ukraine.<\/b><\/p>\n

Unlike other businessmen from occupied Crimea or Russia who do not disclose their activity on newly occupied territories, Anatolii Tsurkin eagerly gives interviews. He regularly publishes in his telegram channel impressions and advices to occupation administrations of Kherson region and some raions of Zaporizhzhia region about organization of cargo transportation. He also criticizes them for obstacles to business activity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While investigating the activity of this Crimean collaborator, we uncovered a lot of important information about Russian governance on occupied territories of the Ukrainian South. Before making its overview, let us answer the question \u00abWho is Mr. Tsurkin?\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

Key facts from Tsurkin\u2019s biography\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

36 years old Anatolii Vasiljevich Tsurkin, Simferopol resident, was appointed \u00abthe minister of transport of the Republic of Crimea\u00bb on October 21, 2014. He was promoted from the position of the deputy minister. His predecessor was Yuri Schevchenko, agricultural entrepreneur and ex-member of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea of Ukraine. After Tsurkin stepped down from the \u00abministerial office\u00bb, there were 11 successors as \u00abministers of transport\u00bb within \u00abCrimean government\u00bb! This personnel turnover is not surprising. Non-corrupted professionals did not want to collaborate with occupants. On the other hand, heads of \u00abCrimean government\u00bb were looking for people skillful in making corruption schemes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When any \u00abCrimean minister of transport\u00bb got quite rich, he drew attention of Russian public officials in Crimean government appointed by Russian Federal Security Service who had its own corruption stake in Crimea. As an outcome, \u00abthe minister\u00bb was dismissed or even imprisoned if he could not successfully \u00abnegotiate\u00bb or \u00abshare\u00bb his corruption wealth with Russian \u00abcurators\u00bb.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tsurkin had the same destiny. But, to his luck, he became useful for Aksenov, the \u00abhead of Crimea\u00bb, who supported the growth of his business career.<\/span><\/p>\n

The way Tsurkin conducted his transport business before the Russian occupation of Crimea is demonstrated by <\/span>Ukrainian court decisions<\/span><\/a> about his fake entrepreneurship and dubious schemes with VAT refunding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anatolii Tsurkin founded companies-clones with almost identical names (the letter \u00abp\u00bb was doubled): LLC \u00abNova-Grup\u00bb and LLC \u00abNova-Grupp\u00bb, LLC \u00abGrupa Avgust\u00bb and \u00abGruppa Avgust\u00bb. They traded the \u00abair\u00bb between them but reported officially about delivery of services. As a result, the state budget did not receive 2\u00a0728\u00a0732 UAH of value added tax and profit tax, in accordance with an investigation of the Department of Prevention of Laundering of Criminal Proceeds of State Tax Service in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The case did not reach the court consideration before the occupation of the Crimean peninsula as documents in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions of Ukraine demonstrate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the occupation, the \u00abhead of Crimea\u00bb Aksenov highly praised \u00abtalents\u00bb of Tsurkin and invited him to his \u00abgovernment\u00bb.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tsurkin worked as the \u00abminister of transport\u00bb only for five months and resigned in March 2015. Aksenov declared that Tsurkin would work as an \u00abassistant of the head of Crimea on transportation affairs\u00bb. The management of the Kerch Ferry was mentioned as one of Tsurkin\u2019s duties (in 2015, Russia did not yet construct the Kerch Bridge and had to solve the problem of supply of goods to occupied peninsula).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u0426\u0443\u0440\u043a\u0438\u043d\"

Anatolii Tsurkin, \u00abex-minister of transport\u00bb of Crimea. Photo: screenshot from video \u00abArgumenty Nedeli\u00bb, 2015\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/div>\n

However, the Investigative Committee of Russia and \u00abCrimean prosecutor\u00bb Natalia Poklonska evaluated Tsurkin\u2019s skills and merits differently. In December 2015, they declared guilty verdict against Tsurkin. In accordance with their information, Tsurkin forced the operator of the Kerch Ferry (LLC \u00abMorskaya Direktsia\u00bb) to favor cargo trucks of LLC \u00abPervaya Krymskaya Logistika\u00bb in January \u2013 March 2015. The company was owned by his close relative. Losses caused by Tsurkin\u2019s \u00abexcessive use of powers\u00bb reached 3 million Rubles. More to that, it turned out he repaired his \u00abToyota Land Cruiser\u00bb by using resources of state owned \u00abKrymavtotrans\u00bb (250 thousand Rubles).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The court decision was the following: three years of imprisonment (suspended sentence), ban on holding public offices for two years and obligation to reimburse more than 3 million Rubles of losses and penalties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New dubious business<\/b><\/p>\n

When full scale Russian invasion was launched, Tsurkin had two companies registered in Simferopol in 2016 and related to transportation services: LLC \u00abNova-grupp\u00bb and \u00abNova-grup transport\u00bb.<\/span><\/p>\n

In July 2022, the transportation of goods from newly occupied territories reached unprecedented scale and Anatolii Tsurkin registered another company \u2013 in Moscow. To be precise, he acquired Moscow company registered in 2005 (LLC \u00abVidan\u00bb) and appointed its former owner Vjacheslav Anoshko as the director.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why does he need Limited Liability Company registered in Moscow? Its purpose is likely to \u00abfacilitate\u00bb corrupted deals \u2013 cargo transportation from the Ukrainian South to the Russian Federation is closely supervised and paid by Moscow authorities and related businesses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, Tsurkin became very \u00abmedia visible\u00bb. He knows personally many Russian propagandists. Some of them were Ukrainian citizens who collaborated with Russian occupation authorities in Crimea in 2014-2015 and then moved to Russia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a distinct group of former Odessa political and media figures that left their city in 2014, became Russian propagandists and campaigners and now regularly highlight Tsurkin\u2019s activity (we will cover their activity on newly occupied territories in special report).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There are <\/span>thirteen publications<\/span><\/a> mentioning Anatolii Tsurkin in Russian media called \u00abUkraina.RU\u00bb (it is part of the Russian media holding \u00abRussia Today\u00bb). It is interviews with him or his comments as an \u00abexpert\u00bb about wide array of issues \u2013 from Western sanctions to the lack of managers on occupied territories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As an \u00abex-minister\u00bb, he gives recommendations to occupation administrations about \u00abhow to organize cargo transportation from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to Crimea and Russia\u00bb. He criticizes introduction of so-called \u00abyellow permits\u00bb in Melitopol. They are issued by local collaborators. Owners of cargo trucks need to pay and receive them if they would like to deliver their services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is remarkable that <\/span>local collaborator Oleksii Selivanov<\/span><\/a>, one of initiators of \u00abyellow permits\u00bb and former deputy head of the \u00abpolice\u00bb on occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region, was imprisoned by Russian occupation authorities after the conflict with owners of trucks (he was charged with pedophilia\u2026).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u0426\u0443\u0440\u043a\u0438\u043d\"<\/p>\n

Tsurkin also commented on criminal charges against him put forward by the Investigative Committee of Russia. To his mind, he tried \u00abto optimize\u00bb the transportation of bitumen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is ironic that nowadays he is also involved into supplying bitumen to occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia region. Occupants started reconstructing the road from Melitopol to Berdyansk, in order to secure convenient transportation of stolen Ukrainian grain and other goods to the port (and further \u2013 to Russia and other countries).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u0426\u0443\u0440\u043a\u0438\u043d\"<\/p>\n

Tsurkin\u2019s business interests already reached Mariupol and \u00abAzovstal\u00bb destroyed by Russian bombardment. Occupants pretend to build \u00abtechno-park\u00bb on the \u00abAzovstal\u00bb territory. But up to now, they steal the metal and bring it to Russia. \u00abWe are given the task to secure transportation of all types of cargo for construction and everyday life of people\u00bb, as he commented in August.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His posts in social media persuade that he can do everything. When asked about number of trucks he can provide, he replied: \u00abHow many are needed?\u00bb\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to Tsurkin\u2019s posts, we were able to identify companies supplying fuel and lubricants to the Ukrainian South, occupied by the Russian Federation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00abRecently, we concluded an agreement with ATAN company, one of the largest Crimean operators of gas stations, and received refueling cards. We relocated part of our transport to Crimea, in order to supply goods to Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions\u00bb, as \u00abex-minister\u00bb informed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u0426\u0438\u0440\u043a\u0443\u043d\u043e\u0432\"<\/p>\n

Tsurkin is also involved into transporting the Ukrainian grain. He proudly declared that after the creation of State Unified Enterprise \u00abState Grain Operator\u00bb he became one of the first sub-contractors to carry grain to Zaporizhzhia elevators, in order to form so-called \u00abgrain reserves of region\u00bb.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite obvious support of his business by occupation authorities, Anatolii Tsurkin sometimes complains about problems caused by Russian governmental bodies. He complained that the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Transport stopped his trucks \u00abwith Ukrainian car plates\u00bb for four days at the entrance to the Kerch Bridge. Trucks went from Melitopol to Temruk. He was forced to reload excessive cargo and pay penalty, though, the Russian government cancelled weight limits for carriers of food goods.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n