Ukraine’s ambassador to Slovakia fired due to cigarettes smuggling scandal

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has fired Oleh Havashi from the post of Ukraine’s ambassador to Slovakia.
Poroshenko signed relevant decree No. 232/2016 on Friday, June 3, the president’s official website said.

The State Fiscal Service branch in Zakarpattia region reported earlier that on May 21, 2016, a Volkswagen Transporter van driven by a citizen of Ukraine entered the “green corridor” of the checkpoint. At the customs control, he presented a diplomatic pass of a citizen of Ukraine, a certificate of registration of the vehicle, and a letter of one of Ukraine’s embassies that the car is carrying diplomatic cargo, which, in accordance with the law, is not subject to control.

On Monday, May 23, Head of Zakarpattia Regional State Administration Hennadiy Moskal said that they detained a Volkswagen Transporter minibus with a cargo of smuggled cigarettes belongs to the Embassy of Ukraine in Slovakia, and its driver is “a resident of Kyiv, Serhiy Lischyshyn, who is the husband of the first secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Slovakia.