Photo from UNIAN
Schemes were earlier revealed of cigarette smuggling across the land border with EU countries, where prices for the smokes can be up to ten times higher than those in Ukraine.
On November 19, a storm in the Black Sea off Odesa coast forced a Ukrainian tugboat to send a Mayday signal and unhook a barge that appears to have been transporting millions of packs of cigarettes in what could be the largest ever smuggling operation revealed in Ukraine.
In the early hours of November 19, approximately 9 miles from the coast in the territorial waters of Ukraine, the Ukrainian tugboat Parallel reported damage and requested emergency assistance. Four crew members were rescued and safely brought to Ochakiv, according to the BBC.
According to official information, the tugboat followed from the port of Hola Prystan near Kherson to the port of Skadovsk, also located in Kherson region.
The cigarette packs that the border guards found on board have no excise stamps on them while all inscriptions are in English. Part of the bulk is Marble brand cigarettes "made in Switzerland."
On November 20, the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service, and the Prosecutor's Office were working at the scene, having launched an investigation. The case is being probed under Article 201 of the Criminal Code – large scale smuggling.
The border guards told BBC that the tugboat with a barge was officially engaged in coastal shipping - that is, the goods were transported between two seaports of the same state.
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At the same time, a number of experts and journalists hint at the suggestion that cigarettes were bound for one of the Black Sea region's EU countries.
Journalist Yury Butusov also suggests that cigarettes could have been brought from the Russia-annexed Crimea and set to be smuggled to the EU with the use of the Ukrainian vessel. He points that this may be part of a larger smuggling scheme.
“Along with the Security Service of Ukraine, we are currently establishing the origin of these cigarettes. For the time being, it is impossible to confirm the version voiced in the media,” said a spokesman for the border guard service, Andriy Demchenko.
At the same time, the official admits that "it is extremely illogical to deliver so many cigarettes from one port to another within Kherson region."
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All the circumstances of the incident have yet to be established by the investigation, however, border guards say that all ships are being tracked.
"Had it navigated without permission and clearance, we would have immediately informed other countries that there was an illegal crossing," adds Demchenko.
He also notes that such a tugboat is not designed for the high seas.
In this light, the border guards admit that the ship could only be part of the larger transportation scheme. An indicative precedent was reported last summer.
At the end of July 2017, a barge with cigarettes was detained in the port of Mykolayiv. Back then, two million packs of cigarettes were reloaded from a foreign vessel Hermes that was set to load grain to a barge hooked to a tugboat.
Demchenko does not rule out that this time, the plan could be somewhat similar.
The SBU, which investigates the case, has so far refrained from comments.
Schemes were earlier revealed of cigarette smuggling across the land border with EU countries, where prices for the smokes can be up to ten times higher than those in Ukraine.