RUOP Tackles Customs

<BR>Yevgeniy Fedorov, the deputy head of the Pulkovo customs service, which services Pulkovo-1 and Pulkovo-2 city airports, has been arrested. He is charged with bribe-taking.<BR>This is the first case in St Petersburg, in which such a highly-positioned customs official has been held. <BR>Yevgeniy Fedorov is suspected of having extorted $6,000 from the relative of a man who was employed as an ensign at the customs service.The man approached the Regional Organized Crime Unit (RUOP) after being given the job. According to DP's information, the man had already tried to win a job at Pulkovo customs in the summer of 1998, but he was not accepted.<BR> RUOP and the Northwest Customs Security Service held Fedorov after the bribe was received. <BR>Yevgeniy Fedorov has worked at Pulkovo customs since March 1994. As deputy customs head, he was responsible for law enforcement activity. Recruitment of new employees was not among his duties.<BR>The recently-appointed head of Pulkovo customs said last autumn, "The time has gone when they worked for an idea. Customs officers earn $30-50 a month. They all have families, and this is the time of the market. In any normal country, civil servants are paid enough not to think about taking bribes. And there has to be just one thought: if he takes it, then he loses his job. The state is pushing customs inspectors into taking bribes."