Since the beginning of this year, border guards of the Lviv Detachment have refused bribes worth more than UAH 1.7 million. The money was offered in national and foreign currency.
“In all cases, our employees informed the competent authorities about the offenders. The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has zero tolerance for corruption. The servicemen who refused to accept the bribe were rewarded with cash bonuses,” said Valentyn Skred, head of the Corruption Prevention and Detection Group of the 7th Carpathian Border Guard Detachment.
A total of 131 people tried to bribe border guards. The largest amounts of bribes were recorded three times. In February and March, USD 9,000 was offered to border guards at Krakivets and Shehyni checkpoints. Another USD 4,000 was offered in September at the Uhryniv checkpoint.
The bribery attempts were made by people trying to illegally leave the territory of Ukraine, including those using forged documents. The offenders also included those who failed to provide the necessary documents to cross the border, as well as travellers who tried to influence a legal decision by bribing to avoid being brought to administrative responsibility.
By the way, liability for the offence is provided for in Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Offer, promise or giving of an unlawful benefit to an official”.