On September 4, 2025, the HACC officially began the trial of Odesa businessman Vadym Alperin, often referred to as the “king of Ukrainian smuggling.”
During the first session, the defense unexpectedly requested a panel of judges — a motion that could have been submitted during the nearly year-long preparatory proceedings. The judge rejected it. One of the defense lawyers then requested the judge's recusal, but the court dismissed this as a repeated motion.
The prosecutor read a brief summary of the indictment. Alperin and five others are accused of orchestrating a smuggling operation across Ukraine’s borders. The defense argued the roles of the defendants were described vaguely and filed a motion to remove the prosecutor, which was also denied.
In March 2025, the HACC completed preparatory proceedings and scheduled the case for trial, but hearings only started nearly six months later. Up to now, the court has only dealt with motions for recusals. At least five hearings were postponed, two due to defendant no-shows.
In our latest monitoring report, we highlighted the abuse of procedural rights by participants and recommended introducing countermeasures, including financial penalties.
According to prosecutors, in mid-2016 Alperin formed a criminal organization to illegally import goods into Ukraine, setting up branches in Odesa and Kyiv. The group allegedly included Alina Skomarova, former director at the State Fiscal Service; Serhii Tupalskyi, deputy head of Kyiv Customs; Alperin’s associates Oleh Sebov and Yevhenii Iskold; as well as Serhii Shkuratov, representative of private companies at customs. Their customs fraud schemes reportedly deprived the state budget of over UAH 60 million.