Golden Calves of Power: Which Officials Are Spending Millions During the War

Golden Calves of Power: Which Officials Are Spending Millions During the War

With the start of the war, public officials stopped declaring their incomes, and this has affected the level of corruption

The martial law relieves Ukrainians from declaring assets. Public officials may not report apartments, cars, jewelry, “cash gifts,” and relatives’ incomes acquired during the war. Coincidence or not, but every month the Ukrainian media space is filled with shocking stories about officials’ purchases whose cost far exceeds their salaries. Recent examples — for millions of hryvnias the wife of one MP recently bought two apartments, a tax official bought an apartment in Kyiv, and the family of the head of one of the military recruitment offices bought a villa in Spain. Which cases have occurred recently and why corruption in Ukraine has intensified during the war, read in Apostrophe’s piece.

For some, war is a mother’s blessing. Officials are spending millions

There is another scandal in the authorities. The wife of Bohdan Torokhtiia — an MP from the ruling party Servant of the People — Alina Levchenko bought apartments in the resort town of Nessebar, Bulgaria. 1 August 2022 she became the owner of an apartment with an area of 59 sq. m. and a premises with an area of 283 sq. m. in the Bulgarian residential complex Valencia Gardens. Ukrainian journalists report this citing the local real estate registry. Such housing really costs about $500 000 ($1400–1600 per sq. m).

Last October Levchenko also bought another apartment and a parking space — in the luxury Kyiv residential complex Novopecherska Vezha. A residence of 68 sq. m. in "as built by the developers" condition has a market price of about $115 000, after renovation - $200 000, parking space - $30 000.

In addition, the MP’s family has an interesting car story. In the summer of 2022 Levchenko sold a Range Rover Sport for $76 000 and bought a Mercedes‑Benz G400 for twice as much. Four months later she changed that car for a new Range Rover (market price $185,000). In March 2023 the family again upgraded to a Mercedes‑Benz EQS 580 for the same amount. Levchenko stated on Facebook that "her wealth allows her to buy expensive cars." That post is currently unavailable on her page.

The daughter of football coach Vitalii Levchenko 2012 opened the luxury clothing store Addict and now owns the interior design studio ALV Design. She assisted MP Serhii Kaplin and advised former Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan. 2020 she ran for Kyiv City Council from UDAR but did not get in. Since February 2023 she was an adviser to the acting CEO of SE Antonov. Recently Antonov and the security service of Ukroboronprom conducted an investigation regarding Levchenko. 26 June the media wrote that the commission found no violations, but the next day the plant dismissed her.

Moving on. 22 June it became known that the family of Yevhen Borysov, head of the Odesa Regional Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center, acquired a villa and a car fleet in Spain during the war. The market value of the real estate exceeds $3 million. The villa, purchased at the end of 2022, was registered in the name of the official’s mother. Once this became known, Borysov was suspended from work, and the State Bureau of Investigation opened an inquiry into alleged illicit enrichment. Borysov denies the suspicions — saying he does not know what property the family owns. An internal inquiry into his possible trip to Spain over the New Year found no grounds for removal — the official provided documents confirming travel abroad for medical treatment. Nevertheless, Borysov was eventually dismissed.

Ukraine has not seen thefts at this level since 1991. The state cannot influence this because it is gravely ill and cannot heal without external help," — Viktor Nebozhenko, director of the social service Ukrainian Barometer, tells Apostrophe.

A few more illustrative cases. This January the NACP found undeclared assets of a deputy of the Volyn Regional Council — he did not report 8,5 million UAH for 2020 year. In February the NACP found an Audi Q7 bought in 2019 and not declared by a Transcarpathian deputy for 1,7 million UAH. At the same time it became known that a deputy from Vinnytsia region indicated assets worth 1 million UAH in his 2020 declaration, “forgetting” about 11 vehicles and four real estate objects worth 25 million UAH. In March the Agency found that another Vinnytsia deputy purchased an Audi Q8 for 2,1 million UAH with funds from his brother, who did not have such official income.

In April anti-corruption activists found unjustified assets of 4,5 million UAH in prosecutor Vitalii Plekan and his father Valerii at the Lviv Regional State Administration. According to documents, the oldest man in their family — 90-year-old Ivan Datsko — bought an apartment and a parking space in Kyiv’s Boulevard Fountains residential complex for 4,4 million UAH, and a Lexus NX300H for 1,4 million UAH. In June it became known about false declaration by a former Kyiv Regional Council deputy for 27 million UAH — this concerns former chair of the budget and finance commission, a deputy from European Solidarity, Ruslan Kuzmenko, who fled Ukraine before Russia’s attack and still has not returned.

26 June the State Bureau of Investigation searched the head of the Chernihiv division of the State Tax Service, Liudmyla Slotiuk. Why? She bought elite real estate in Kyiv whose cost does not match her official income. The apartment and two parking spaces worth 12 million UAH are registered to Slotiuk’s mother.

Punish, don’t forget

How can dishonest officials be forced to stop spending disproportionate sums at least until the end of the war? Political scientist Viktor Nebozhenko is certain they cannot.

"During the war corruption accelerated. A few years ago officials had family-ceremonial ‘standards’ of corruption. The theft started about half a year after arrangements were made. Now among deputies there are wedding photographers who run the show; they are managers. They lack professional and bureaucratic experience, and upon getting into a big field of pleasures, they improve their welfare. They start stealing on the second day in office," Nebozhenko states.

What next? “Some will ‘eat their fill’ and become honest, the rest will become underground millionaires and fear exposure for the rest of their lives,” the expert is convinced.

MP from the Holos party Andrii Osadchuk told Apostrophe that one cannot accuse all officials of corruption. “There are more than 240 thousand civil servants and more than 40 thousand local council deputies in Ukraine who ensure the state machine functions. Most of them are devoted to their work, but some are corrupt. The NACP should monitor officials’ lifestyles; it has all the powers to do this,” Osadchuk says.

“Before the full-scale war officials’ incomes were monitored through electronic declarations. At the start of the war declaration requirements were removed for security reasons, and that was right,” says Tetiana Shevchuk, an expert at the Anti‑Corruption Center, to Apostrophe. “Last summer it could already have been reinstated, but it remains voluntary, and that benefits officials.”

As early as October 2022 an MP from Servant of the People, Davyd Arakhamia, submitted draft law No. 8071 to parliament, which restores mandatory declarations. Reinstating declarations is written into the IMF‑Ukraine Memorandum and would allow Kyiv to receive a tranche of $15,6 billion and bring it closer to EU membership. The law must be adopted by the end of July 2023, and the NACP supports this. However, parliamentarians have been considering the bill for nine months.

“If 226 people do not have the courage to vote for a law that is inconvenient for them, then they want to steal Ukrainians’ money by hindering eurointegration. We are not Russians to allow this,” says Tetiana Shevchuk.

Can it be assumed that corruption intensified because of flows of money from Western partners? Experts say no.

“Officials close to the Office of the President and city halls of large cities take advantage of Ukraine drowning in war, and it has no time for them,” says Viktor Nebozhenko.

Western aid is budgetary support, says Tetiana Shevchuk. “60% of the state budget are donor funds that help fight. These funds are accounted for, so corruption is not a consequence of Western money flows, but a question of impunity,” the expert concludes.

Kostiantyn Sobornyi

skelet.info