Ukraine Customs

Hello Anderson Dale Harris here, I am an American citizen who is trying to move to the Ukraine to start a business and make a life here.

A little background, as a Service Connected Disabled American Veteran with a MBA, I meet my wife while she was going to Graduate school in the USA getting her second masters. Her visa a J-1 was up in January 08, and she had to return home. I sold my property and came to the Ukraine in hopes of stating a new life with my wife here in June of 08.

We sold our cars in the states and bought a new Kia Optima from Zeiser Kia in St Peters MO. Here in the Ukraine with this car we can get parts for it and have repairs done if we ever needed them, we then shipped it via Rinkens Moving Company to Odessa Ukraine. The car a new kia Optima cost 17,751 –a 3,000 rebate for a total of 14,751 bought and paid for in the USA, the same car in the Ukraine cost over 32,000 US.

As of today we have spent many full days going to customs in Kiev Ukraine. Here are some of our experiences so far from the Customs.
 

Day 1:

8:30 am we get up walk a mile to the subway and take the subway to the bus stop and then take a bus to the customs office on the outskirts of Kiev (VDNH).

We arrive with my father-in-law a former Colonel in the Ukraine Police, my wife and I. We are told to go to a customs broker in building #13 and this is who we are to use. We go there and are told it will be 53% of the cost of the car. I paid Sale price 17,751.00 US – 3,000 for rebate -10,500 for a trade in of my old car. The total was 4,251 for a new Kia that had 15 miles on it. We were told I can not own the car and I must relinquish my rights to the car and give them to my wife a Ukraine citizen. The customs has a form that we were told to go to a Notary to get this done. We went to four notaries to get the form and they could not do it because they did not know how. We found a family friend who had a friend who did this for us. (In the Ukraine a notary studies for five years to be a notary and they are very expensive). For almost 5 hours we searched for someone who could do this. It is now almost 6PM and everything is closed.

Day 2:

8:30 am we get up walk a mile to the subway and take the subway to the bus stop and then take a bus to the customs office on the outskirts of Kiev.

Customs on the Ukraine web site says the price is 10% of the cost of the car to import a car. We should have paid at the most 1,775 US we were charged 9,460 US. We tried to explain that this was not right we were told this is the way it is.

I spoke to the US Customs and was told try a temporary entry into the country, we were told we could not do this. No reason why. We made a total of 6 trips from building #11 to #13 back and forth. This is a total of 200 yards and up and down one flight of stairs, my father in law is 73 years old and I had knee surgery 7 weeks ago and I am still walking on a cane. We were then told we can not pay at the customs but have to deposit the money into Reiffeisen Bank downtown (about 7 miles by taxi, we go to deposit the money and were charged 120 US for a fee to deposit the money into the customs account. My wife and I then took a subway and a bus back to customs and tried to finish the paper work. We had the banks signed and stamped statement that they had our 9,460 US (about 44 thousand Hr) deposited into customs account. We were told by the senior official they would not do this because they were not sure the money was there. Even though we had the bank’s signed and stamped note. I have by this time called Alex Zavhorodniy at the US Embassy and he told us to only do the Temporary registration and the senior customs official told my wife and me they do not care what America says they will do as they the Ukraine wants. And we will go by their rules.

It was now almost 5 PM and they will not let us finish the paper work.

Day 3:

8:30 am we get up walk a mile to the subway and take the subway to the bus stop and then take a bus to the customs office in the outskirts of Kiev.

We go to the customs broker and have to get a green customs form from the customs broker. (We were told customs does not do the paper work only customs broker does it) While watching the customs broker who is not working with my wife and my wife is working with the female customs broker. Ukraine people are giving the male customs broker cash for him to do their forms first, he slips the money into the broker’s pocket and they get the paper work. Americans are made to sit and wait for the paperwork. So customs does not do the work the broker does. We go there and need a piece of paper the broker refuses to do it. Her boss tells her to, it takes 40 minutes to fill out a form were 22 items that were copied from our US title onto the Ukraine form, my wife is having to read and tell her the numbers to write into the box. We then go back to the senior Custom official who tells us to hand write out a paper and then they will stamp it. We write out the paper explaining the price, title number VIN number and date bought. Then we are told to go to room #5 we go there and an agent yells at me and my wife for coming into the room even though Ukraine people were in an out. Two other Americans were treated the same way, if you were American we were made wait outside and by doing this Ukraine people always were at the head of the line. 5 PM we are told no you can not see anyone today come back

Day 4:

8:30 am we get up walk a mile to the subway and take the subway to the bus stop and then take a bus to the customs office in the outskirts of Kiev.

We go into room #5 and are told that we will wait outside, my wife explains that we are waiting for #5 he yells at her and makes her go outside even though Ukraine people are coming into the room and out. My wife tells them my leg is hurting and I need to sit the guy tells her no, she insists and I sit. He is muttering and talking bad about us in Ukraine, as my wife leaves. Also, there’s no AC in the hall waiting room with the temperature going over 90F. A client leaves room 5 and I go stand in the doorway a lady looks over our paperwork and stamps it then has us move to her boss who is 4 foot from her desk and he tells us that even though we have a paper that shows our engine size is 2.4 liter we have to go downtown to the auto research company to get a letter stating that this is indeed the engine size. I go back to the senior agent who grins and says it is almost over but you have to have this form before they will let you have your car. We now have to leave take a taxi downtown and they say (we do not know what size engine). They say, they see on our forms the engine size but cannot verify it so they look on Google and agree that this is the engine but they can not guarantee it. So they refuse to give us the prescribed paperwork. They tell us to go to a Kia dealership, during this time I am calling the US Embassy trying to get trade help from Alex. He says all he can do is forward several other American complaints who have had similar treatment to the Ambassador. We now take another taxi to the dealership and they say that the car was bought in the states they can not say which engine it has even though the car has 750 miles on it and it is brand new. Everyday we wait around the freight forwarder is charging me a fee to store my car. All total for a car costing 14,751 I will have over 29,000 US in the car after paying all fees and bribes. And still do not have my car.

Day 5:

8:30 am we get up walk a mile to the subway and take the subway to the bus stop and then take a bus to the customs office in the outskirts of Kiev.

Today we try a new tack, I stay home and my father in law and wife go they are there and done by 1 pm. It takes about an hour for customs officials to sign and stamp a simple form. They also make my wife and her dad go to the broker and bring a new page of declaration with the updated currency rate. An inspector mentioned that when we get the car back from Odessa we’ll have to get a Certificate of origin for our KIA and that the customs will check whether we paid enough taxes according to their estimations of the car value. Now we go to Odessa to get the car on Monday. What happens there is they charge us 750 for off loading (driving it out of the ship container) our shipper told me the most it would be was 500 and maybe less but we are Americans then we drive back to Kiev and then have to deal with these customs people. They now have to inspect our car and see if it meets there Ukraine standards, we still do not have our license plates. When you get a car even a new car you are given a red plate and 30 days latter you have get a white plate paying for each plate.

Day 6;

7 am we get up take a subway to the train station; we have a 10 hour train ride to Odessa.

Day 7:

 At Odessa we go to customs at 12:15 and told come back at 2 pm we are going to take lunch at 1pm.

While my wife and father in law are inside I meet an American couple who I gave the embassy number to. They have there car they gave to there grandmother who is here in the Ukraine and it has been sitting in the impound for 5 months. They live 800 kilometers from Odessa and they have driven here three times and been sent to Kiev two time trying to get paper work that doesn’t exist. They are so flustered.

My wife and father in law are working with customs getting the paper work done it takes about 1.5 hours to complete. We now start the drive back to Kiev. On the way we are flagged over by the road police three times, my father in law shows his badge and they let us go. But if you run American plates (temporary) we are told by the police they will stop you and every stop you must pay a bribe.

Day 8:

We drive to customs in our new car it now has 1033 miles on it. We go into customs we are told it must be impounded. We take it to impound, it is a lot that is filled with junk cars and trailers.

My wife goes in and is told by the agent who yelled at us two times our car is not up to Ukraine standards and all engine parts will have to be modified or the car will not be allowed into the country. We must also have a Radiological evaluation of the American car. We call three companies asking about the certificate on the car compliance and are told we do not need it. We go back to customs, my father in law talks to the agent and he gives the name of his friend who can give us the certificate. The agent says that his friend will make a certificate that he will accept, in other words this is a fake document that we have to have. We go to the senior agent and complain and he says it is just starting that we will be here several more days. We are upset and flustered so we go home. We do call the person whose name we are given for the certificate and were told it will be between 1000 and 3000 Hr or 200-600 US for this fake document. He also said he has a friend who can make a Radiological certificate for us, (fake that is) and the agent his friend will accept this also.

Day 9:

We are getting all our paper work to the man who will make the fake document.

We honestly hoped that Ukrainian legislation is updated according to the rules of WTO, but in reality this country is still ruled by the old soviet bureaucrats. In spite of legitimate 10 per cent of tax we have been taxed 53 per cent. It turns out that we haven’t saved any money by shipping our own car here. And what’s more important, we had to go through stress, hassle and humiliation for trying to bring our own vehicle into the country. The customs offer no consultations on the phone, so it was hard to predict what we were getting into while shipping a car here.

I officially ask that the US stop funding the Ukraine pending an investigation into were the US tax payer’s money is going in this country. This worked in Bulgaria when the Un cut off funding and Bulgaria immediately complied with the UN. From a search on Google I found over 1.3 Billion dollars was sent to the Ukraine not counting NGO’s from the USA in the last three years.

Every political official in the Ukraine drives a Mercedes, Porsche, or Lexus and the common people beg in the streets. I have worked in over 12 different countries and done business in several others and have never been treated as we have in the Ukraine, solely because I am an American.

Sincerely,

A Dale Harris

011-38-044-419-8252

PS We have all documentation for review for anyone to see that we are honest and up front. And also enclosed is the response from the US Embassy.
 

Dear Mr. Harris,

Thank you for your e-mail of August 14, 2008 to Ambassador Taylor, which
was forwarded to the consular section for response.

We are very sorry to hear about the problems you are currently
experiencing with the Ukrainian customs officials. Unfortunately, U.S.
government regulations do not permit us to act as the legal
representative of private individuals or to offer specific legal advice.
Therefore, we recommend that you obtain professional legal assistance
from a qualified Ukrainian lawyer who can assist you with Ukrainian
customs regulations and protect your legal rights. We have attached here
a list of local attorneys who have expressed their interest in helping
foreign clients. Please note that this list has been prepared based on
the information from guides and directories for public distribution. The
U.S. Embassy in Ukraine can not recommend any particular law firm and
cannot take responsibility for the quality of their services.

The State Customs Service is the Ukrainian authority responsible for the
enforcement of customs regulations. Their contact details are as
follows: 11g, Degtyarivska str., Kyiv, 04119, Ukraine. Their telephone
number is +38 (044) 2472706. The Ukrainian State Customs Service provide
consulting services by phone at +38 044 249 9284 or at +38 044 522 8169.
Unfortunately, only Russian / Ukrainian speaking operators are available
to answer your questions.

You may wish to explore the information available on their website at
http://www.customs.gov.ua/dmsu/control/uk/index. The information is
available in Ukrainian only.
The following is the link to general customs information
http://www.customs.gov.ua/dmsu/control/uk/publish/category?cat_id=295945
; exporting goods from Ukraine
http://www.customs.gov.ua/dmsu/control/uk/publish/category?cat_id=295948
; importing goods to Ukraine
http://www.customs.gov.ua/dmsu/control/uk/publish/category?cat_id=295951
. Attached is the Ukrainian Customs Code (also in Ukrainian).

There is also a commercial consulting center that cooperates with the
Ukrainian State Customs Service. They can be reached either by e-mail at
acap@ukr.net or by phone at +38 044 228 4931; +38 044 253 1174. They are
located in Kyiv, at 10, Grushevskogo str. Your information request
should be translated into Russian or Ukrainian.

The telephone number for the customs office of Boryspil International
Airport is +38 044 281-73-79. They may also be able to answer customs
related questions if asked in Ukrainian or Russian.

For your convenience, we also attach a list of translation agencies
should you require translation assistance.

May we reiterate once more that the U.S. Embassy can not provide any
legal assistance. Although U.S. consular officers can provide lists of
translators and attorneys in their consular districts, they cannot
recommend any particular attorney or translator, offer legal advice,
represent U.S. citizens in hearings before foreign courts, or attempt to
influence the outcome of those hearings.

Additionally, should you believe that you are suffering discriminatory
treatment, you may address a complaint to the State Customs Service,
which we would be willing to forward to them under the cover of our
memorandum.

We hope the information above is of help. If you have further questions,
please do not hesitate to contact us at this e-mail address.

Sincerely,

Landon R. Taylor
Consul General

U.S. Embassy Kyiv, Ukraine
tel.: (+38 044) 490-4445
fax: (+38 044) 490-4040
After-hours emergency line for U.S. citizens: (+38 044) 490-4000
This e-mail is UNCLASSIFIED based on the definitions provided in E.O.
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Taylor, William B
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 9:12 PM
To: 'Adharris@aol.com'; Pettit, James D; Needham, Robert S
Subject: Re: Ukraine Customs.

Dale,
I'm on leave, but Jim is charge and will handle for us. Good luck.
Bill

----- Original Message -----
From: Adharris@aol.com <Adharris@aol.com>
To: Taylor, William B
Sent: Thu Aug 14 15:28:07 2008
Subject: Ukraine Customs.

Bill,

As a courtesy to you and as a friend and fellow GI I am sending this to
you before it goes to several Senators in the US. But I want to give you
a chance to put it to bed before I send it off.

Thanks for your help

Dale