Elite apartments paid for by taxpayers: how MPs take housing allowances in Kyiv’s most expensive residential complexes

Elite apartments paid for by taxpayers: how MPs take housing allowances in Kyiv’s most expensive residential complexes

In Ukraine at least 30 members of parliament receive 19,5 thousand UAH each month from the state budget as compensation for renting housing in the capital.

A significant number of them prefer to stay in state-run hotels, including the Kyiv Hotel Complex. Others rent large apartments in the most expensive residential complexes at taxpayers’ expense.

This year the amount of so‑called "MP" payments for performing duties increased threefold — now each member of parliament receives roughly 200 thousand UAH per month in addition to their base salary. The substantial increase in funding does not stop some parliamentarians from regularly filing claims and demanding additional budget funds to cover housing rent.

Maksym Berezin from the Servant of the People faction receives 19,5 thousand UAH per month from the state treasury for rent. According to his declaration, he lives in an apartment of 86,8 sq. m. The owner of this property is 71-year-old Svitlana Haidutska — the wife of the well-known NAAS academician Pavlo Haidutskyi. The apartment is located in a prestigious government quarter, although in a building from an older departmental stock. Housing with similar characteristics in this area is rented on average for 30 thousand UAH per month — primarily due to its advantageous location. The MP does not own real estate in Kyiv; he only owns several plots of land in Poltava region.

His faction colleague Kyrylo Nesterenko is officially registered in an MES dormitory in Dnipro. Since September 2019 he, a 32-year-old parliamentarian, has been renting an apartment of 106,9 sq. m that belongs to Oleksii Kolesnichenko. Nesterenko also regularly receives funds from the state budget for this housing.

Servant of the People representative Oleksandr Kunaiev takes compensation to live in one of the capital’s most expensive and luxurious residential complexes. Since January 2024 he has been renting an apartment of 113,6 sq. m from Serhii Korzhov. The Boulevard of Fountains residential complex is located in the Pecherskyi district. According to current listings, housing of similar size in this complex costs at least 76 thousand UAH per month. Before being elected to the Verkhovna Rada, Kunaiev held leadership positions at Motor Sich PJSC. The MP is currently 34 years old.

Anton Shvachko (also from Servant of the People) rents housing of 60,2 sq. m from Maryna Yevtushenko. The apartment is located on Instytutska Street (Alley of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred).

Pavlo Yakymenko from Servant of the People has been renting a huge apartment of 156,7 sq. m since January 2025. The owner of the property is 67-year-old agribusinessman Hennadii Lapitskyi. He privately owns at least 53 real estate objects, among them luxury apartments in the capital’s most elite residential complexes: Busov Hill, Novopecherski Lypky, and PecherSKY. The total value of Lapitskyi’s real estate can be estimated at tens of millions of dollars.

The apartment of 156,7 sq. m is located in the Busov Hill residential complex, where the monthly rental cost for similar spaces currently starts from 1,5 thousand USD.