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Not a "state of war": Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko and his lavish lifestyle
A few months ago the author of this piece spoke with an influential person in power.
“I recently wanted to rent a car and do you know what my first thought was?”
“What?”
“What I will tell journalists, including you, when you film me and ask what car this is.”
“The sense of being monitored by the authorities is useful not only for society but also for the authorities themselves. It’s your safeguard against mistakes, although you usually don’t want to understand that.”
“And do you know what I thought right after that?”
“No.”
“That you won’t film me. That there will be no questions. No need to answer. The country is under a state of war.”
(Due to the curfew and a number of wartime restrictions, it is currently almost impossible to monitor officials – ed.).
It is precisely because of the state of war that we decided to tell this story.
The editorial team of Ukrainska Pravda had a lengthy professional discussion about the topic that follows.
In the end we concluded that the lifestyle of one of the most influential members of the presidential team at minimum does not fit the “state of war” in which the country has been living for ten months.
Can one, during wartime, choose as a means of transportation a new car from one of the most expensive brands in the world and live among the country’s wealthiest people?
Can representatives of the country’s government, a country a quarter of whose territory already lies in ruins, live in luxury?
And most importantly — were these benefits obtained transparently, and not through the use of power?
“Test drive”
At the end of June city cameras recorded a new Porsche Taycan 2021 model in Kyiv.
The car was purchased on 8 June 2022, and already on 25 June it was recorded seven times in a single day by the “Safe City” video surveillance system. It was seen on the Novoobukhivska and Staroobukhivska highways, near the main settlement of Ukrainian millionaires — Koncha-Zaspa, or officially Kozyn.
The car’s price on specialty sites is about 100 000 dollars.
The next day, on Sunday, the vehicle was again captured by cameras several times.
In one photo, taken at 16 o’clock in the urban-type settlement of Kozyn, we see a man at the wheel resembling Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko, with a woman in the passenger seat.
We decided not to further burden the official’s security with surveillance during a full-scale war. So we began working to find evidence without the usual practice of filming officials’ movements from another vehicle.
Journalists managed to obtain photos from other days from the “Safe City” system.
The next time — on 9 July, again on a weekend — a camera on Stolychne Highway recorded a man driving who again resembled Tymoshenko.
A few hours later the car returned — and again we see a woman to the right of the driver.
Later a camera recorded a man who resembled one of the Presidential Office’s leaders on 17 July. And again on a Sunday morning.
After some time a woman was at the wheel, and the camera recorded a man in the passenger seat resembling Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
On 23 July a man similar to Tymoshenko driving again appeared on that same stretch in the cameras’ field of view.
Then, on 30 July, on a Saturday during the day, a camera again recorded the same man at the wheel. This time the photo quality allows us to state that it was Kyrylo Tymoshenko with his son.
It is also noticeable that there is a Kyiv City State Administration pass for curfew displayed on the car’s windshield.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko driving the Porsche was captured by cameras in August as well — specifically on 6 and 7. These were also weekend days.
The vehicle is owned by Novem Logistic LLC, which is registered in Kyiv at Parkova Road, 16a. This is the address of the Parkovy conference and exhibition center, where until 24 February the Servant of the People party faction regularly met.
The sole owner of the company is the non-public businessman Vemir Davityan.
Ukrainska Pravda’s sources in political and business circles name Davityan as an informal curator from the authorities for Zaporizhzhia region.
A year ago it was reported that Davityan visits the Presidential Office and regularly contacts the head of the presidential faction in parliament, Davyd Arakhamia. Arakhamia and Davityan explained such contacts as friendship. However, at that time Davityan refused to explain whom he visits at the Presidential Office.
Could the expensive car have been purchased by Tymoshenko and registered to Davityan’s company? Or did the businessman provide the Porsche to the deputy head of the Presidential Office for free use?
Journalists asked both protagonists of this story for comment.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko replied that the car is not his, and that he did indeed borrow it from Davityan, used the vehicle 3–4 times and returned it several months ago.
At the same time the evidence published by the editorial team indicates that the number of times was at least twice as many. The car drove that same route on other days as well, but the camera did not capture the driver’s face.
Also, according to Ukrainska Pravda’s sources in law enforcement, the car disappeared from camera view. For example, on 26 June at 16:18 the vehicle was recorded by cameras in the urban-type settlement of Kozyn, and the next recording occurred on 9 August in Kyiv at the intersection of Instytutska and Shovkovychna streets near the Presidential Office. This may indicate that the car could have had other license plates, or that the cameras for technical reasons failed to record the vehicle.
This raises the question: could Vemir Davityan have given a brand-new car to Kyrylo Tymoshenko for two months just two weeks after purchasing it?
In comment to journalists Davityan said that he provided the car for a “test drive” because it didn’t suit him. In the materials from the “Safe City” cameras available to the editorial team Davityan was never recorded behind the wheel.
“YeOselia” on 1000 m2
At the beginning of summer not only Tymoshenko’s private life but also his public life unexpectedly reached a new level.
Perhaps for the first time since entering high government offices, Tymoshenko began posting photos and videos of his runs on social media.
Attentive readers immediately noticed this and recognized in those stories one of the top suburban settlements of representatives of the Ukrainian elite.
We do not name the settlement for security reasons. For the same reasons we do not disclose Tymoshenko’s new influential neighbors. Although, for general understanding — they are former formal and informal state leaders and large businessmen.
Through sources in political and business circles we were able to determine in which estate the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office settled.
It is an estate of nearly 1200 square meters with private access to a body of water that belongs to businessman Ihor Nikonov.
Nikonov is among the 100 richest people in the country according to Focus magazine and is considered one of Kyiv’s largest developers.
In comment to journalists Kyrylo Tymoshenko said he rents the estate for security reasons, since his own residence is located in an area dangerous due to regular missile attacks.
Tymoshenko also agreed to show the lease agreement, which was signed with Nikonov in July of this year. According to the agreement, the estate is rented by Kyrylo Tymoshenko’s wife, and the rent is 230 000 hryvnias per month, which at the current exchange rate is about 6 000 dollars.
The editorial team consulted real estate market experts and analyzed public listings. Based on the data obtained, it is possible to conclude that the estate’s rental price in this cottage community was understated as of the summer of 2022. According to experts, the average rental cost for houses of similar size in this cottage community can range from 10 to 25 thousand dollars. The price can be affected by the estate’s condition and the quality of finishing materials used.
Tymoshenko is a public curator of the construction sector, and Nikonov’s business is precisely in that area. Asked about a possible conflict of interest, the deputy head of the Presidential Office replied that Nikonov does not participate in state projects.
However, a few weeks after our conversation a message appeared on the page of Nikonov’s construction company that two residential quarters of KAN Development joined the state program “YeOselia” — preferential mortgage housing.
Thanks to this program, Ukrainians of certain professions can buy apartments on credit for 20 years at a rate of 3%, and developers gain the opportunity to sell apartments that, for obvious reasons, have hardly been selling since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The editorial team does not know whether the deputy head of the Presidential Office could have influenced the owner of the estate’s company joining the state preferential lending program.
But it is obvious that all developers are currently in a difficult position and to some degree need state involvement, which means involvement of the authorities.
Why money if you have power
In comment to Ukrainska Pravda Tymoshenko added that he and his family have official means both to rent the estate and to buy the Porsche, if they decided to take that step. And this does correspond to the data in his previous declarations.
A month ago our colleagues at Bihus.Info published a story that Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko was using a Chevrolet Tahoe as an official vehicle. Such vehicles are not sold in Ukraine, but the American company General Motors donated 50 vehicles to Ukraine for humanitarian purposes and to evacuate people from combat zones this spring. After that publication Tymoshenko refused that vehicle.
According to that report, Tymoshenko was already using the vehicle in May of this year. It turns out that Tymoshenko, having enough personal funds to buy cars, simultaneously used a humanitarian Chevrolet Tahoe for official purposes for half a year and at least two months used Vemir Davityan’s Porsche Taycan 4S on weekends.
Meanwhile, according to his declaration for 2020 year, Tymoshenko and his wife already owned a BMW X5 2019 year, a Porsche Macan 2017 year, and a Volkswagen Caravelle 2014 year.
If among the subjects and readers of this piece there are those who will say: now is not the time to report that the deputy head of the Presidential Office drives a new Porsche, we hope those same people can at least ask themselves one more question.
And is it the right time for the deputy head of the Presidential Office to be driving a new Porsche?
Mykhailo Tkach
Ukrainska Pravda
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Не "воєнний стан" заступника керівника ОП Кирила Тимошенка та його розкішний спосіб життя". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
