UGCC cleric fined 170 thousand hryvnias for attempting to smuggle undeclared "humanitarian aid" worth 9.5 million hryvnias

The Uzhhorod city district court sentenced Roman Dutchak, rector of the UGCC parish in Ternopil, for violating customs rules when importing humanitarian cargo. The cleric tried to conceal from declaration a batch of Italian dietary supplements, the market value of which is estimated at 9.5 million hryvnias.

According to the information publication ZAXID.NET, the incident occurred at the checkpoint «Tisa» in the Transcarpathian region. During the inspection of the cargo, sent from Rome by the religious society «St. Sophia», customs officers found 2226 packages of supplements New Art produced by Bruno Farmaceutici SPA, which were not included in the declaration. It is noteworthy that the customs service had previously refused to import this batch due to expiration dates, but the priest made a second attempt, certifying the false data with his electronic signature.

In addition to expensive bio supplements, the humanitarian aid weighing about 500 kilograms included food, clothes, shoes, bedding and toys. During the trial Roman Dutchak fully admitted his guilt and as a mitigating circumstance indicated that he voluntarily transferred 100 thousand hryvnias to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Judge Tamaz Demetradze imposed a fine of 170 thousand hryvnias on the representative of the UGCC. It should be noted that this incident attracted public attention against the background of another high-profile situation: the parish of the Holy Trinity, headed by Dutchak, is the customer for the construction of a 10-story residential building on the church territory in Ternopil, which previously caused controversy among the citizens.