Maksym Nefyodov started his fourth working day as head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine by speaking to members of the business community in Kyiv on July 18, a meeting organized by the 1,000-member European Business Association.
Nearly 100 people from businesses, law firms and media came to hear Nefyodov’s plans for transforming one of the most corrupt state bodies in the country.
The first results might even be seen soon, he predicted.
“I expect that the first changes will appear before the end of the year, while systematic changes, like electronic customs, will take at least a year. But there are some quick wins that can be done very soon,” he said.
Before taking over his new post, the 35-year-old Nefyodov was the first deputy minister of economic development and trade, the one who implemented the e-procurement system ProZorro, which is considered one of the most successful reforms for the past five years because it brought transparency and competition to drive down the costs of public spending.
On Dec. 18, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to divide the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine into two state bodies – one for taxes and another for customs — to build a more effective system.
“We positively perceive that you have won this competition. For the last five years we have been waiting for this very much,” said Oleksandr Lazarev, CEO at Lamarin, a customs consulting and clearance company.
To start with, Nefedov said he wants to get rid of officials who take bribes and who are involved into criminal schemes.
“I am ready to accept all the information regarding specific violations. I will be grateful for this and it will help in personnel decisions. You can give it even in anonymous way without any official blanks and signatures,” said Nefedov.
Moreover, he wants to change the customs code before the end of this year to create single legal entity for customs and reduce the number of regional customs points from the current 26 to five or six.
“Some regional branches need to be closed, and buildings need to be sold,” said Nefedov.
He also plans digitization. His team start with one segment and try to create a proper customs service that can be replicated.
“Currently we are choosing one segment from three possible – automotive, containers or postal transportation,” he said.
In addition, he wants to implement an open data system for companies.
“I’m a strong supporter of the company’s disclosure. The damage from revealing someone’s name is less than the harm caused by the fact that some documents are closed. Because of this, the fraud can be huge,” he said.
Moreover, Nefyodov said that he will make public the results of automatic checks on the tax debts of companies.
“In many countries such information is open. I simply don’t understand why in Ukraine it’s a secret,” he said.
Nefyodov’s team
As a first step, Nefyodov expects to start forming his team next week. Currently, he has Serhiy Bilan as first deputy chairman. Bilan has been repeatedly involved in criminal scandals, but Nefyodov promises to replace him very soon.
“He won’t be my deputy for sure,” said Nefyodov accompanied with applause from the audience. “I have some people whom I see in my team as an adviser and I think you will see them shortly.”
He believes that this is the first genuine chance since the EuroMaidan Revolution, which ousted President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, to reform the fiscal system and bring new people without political obligations.
“I can say openly that no one gave me any political tasks. This is all my responsibility to bring people to the team. If there will be bad people working, it’s going to be my fault,” said Nefyodov.
Realistically, the revamped customs service will start working fully by autumn, according to Nefedov.
SBU factor
“They never can be seen there, but the cargo stands not customs cleared,” said Ivan Sakal, financial director at Agrofusion, the largest Ukrainian vertically integrated producer of tomato paste.
Sakal was talking about officers of the Security Service of Ukraine, mainly known as the SBU. And dozens of trucks full of tomatoes can simply be held up at customs because the SBU don’t like something unless “charitable help” is paid.
“These guys have no failures. Please pay attention to this. In Mykolaiv, this virus has strong roots and still cannot be destroyed,” said Sakal.
Nefyodov answered that he is ready publicly to fight with this problem.
“I will be your ally,” he said.
