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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Former Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, on the eve of his dismissal, not only signed notices of suspicion against the heads of anti-corruption agencies but also left the country. If he does not return after 19 September, when his secondment ends, Kravchenko could become the second prosecutor general in the country’s history to flee the country.
In the history of independent Ukraine – 18 prosecutors general. Of them, seven (including acting ones) served during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s time. No head of the office has held the position for more than two and a half years.
OBOZ.UA writes about what former prosecutors general of Ukraine are doing now and which of them became millionaires.
What former prosecutors general from Zelensky’s era are doing now
The first prosecutor general under Zelensky, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, stayed in office for only slightly more than half a year; he was dismissed back in March of 2020. After his resignation he created a public organization, the "Institute of Democracy and Rule of Law." His partner in the NGO is the former head of the Department of International Legal Cooperation and Asset Recovery of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Polina Chyzh.
This summer Ryaboshapka, on his Facebook page, invited people to join the "Odesa Half Marathon of Invincibility," and in May on his Instagram page he criticized Zelensky’s decision to impose sanctions on the former head of the Office of the President, Andriy Bohdan. Ryaboshapka called that decision "illegal" and based on personal revenge. He also said that Bohdan is "an order of magnitude more pro-Ukrainian than Zelensky himself and his looter friends," and called the president’s decision "grounds for impeachment."
In November of 2020 Ryaboshapka, together with Oleksandr Danyliuk (former NSDC secretary) and Pavlo Klimkin (former foreign minister, who served until 2019), founded the Center for National Resilience and Development.
No real estate or car is registered in the former prosecutor general’s name. He divorced his wife Svitlana, and in recent years no new property has appeared in Ryaboshapka’s parents’ names either. The former head of the Prosecutor General’s Office has remained loyal to his long-time friend Andriy Bohdan, but it is obvious he has long ceased to be a "person of the president."
After Ryaboshapka, Viktor Chumak served as acting prosecutor general (from 6 to 17 March). His comments can be found on Ryaboshapka’s social media page as far back as 2016. The editorial office has already written that Chumak is now a pensioner with one of the largest payouts in Ukraine. By court decision, the Pension Fund must pay him 240,9 thousand hryvnias monthly.
"I receive my pension pursuant to the law ‘On Pension Provision for Persons Released from Military Service and Certain Other Persons’ from 9.04.1992, as amended by 2025, with interpretations provided by decisions of the Constitutional Court of 2005, 2008, 2015 years, which clarify the impossibility of limiting pensions by any normative acts of executive authorities, as well as the unconstitutionality of reducing the level of a pension set at the time this law was in effect," Chumak wrote in a written response he provided.
From March 2020 to July 2022, Iryna Venediktova held the position of prosecutor general. After her dismissal she virtually ceased public communication. Since her dismissal she has held the post of Ukraine’s ambassador to Switzerland. The former prosecutor general hid her declaration, and there is also no declaration from her husband, Denys Kolesnyk, in the NACP register; he worked in the National Police as deputy head of the cyberpolice department.
After Venediktova, for 10 days Oleksiy Symonenko was acting prosecutor general, and already on 28 July 2022 the Verkhovna Rada, at the president’s submission, appointed Andriy Kostin to this position. He served until October 2024, that is 2 years and 3 months. Interestingly, Venediktova lasted 2 years and 4 months in office. Like his predecessor, after dismissal he became an ambassador. Since 2024 the former prosecutor general has been working in the Netherlands.
Kostin lost his position as a result of a scandal over prosecutors’ pensions. It turned out that a number of them were granted disability and, through the courts, obtained early pensions, some of which reached over 100 thousand hryvnias.
Kostin’s biggest scandal is connected with his daughter Anastasia. In 2023 she wrote on her Instagram page that she was "f***ing fed up" with Scotland and Finland and that she wants to "go home to MONACO!!!" The post attracted media attention; the young woman apologized but later deleted her page.
Special prosecutors general: what else former heads of the office are known for
The true record-holder among prosecutors general is Sviatoslav Piskun. He is the only one who headed the office three times: in 2002–2003, 2004–2005, and again in 2007. He was also an advisor to Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova in 2020.
As early as 2016 Piskun said that his family had already lived for 10 years in the town of Le Cannet (located on the French Riviera near Cannes). Piskun’s estate was shown by former MP Serhiy Leshchenko.
However, the former prosecutor general’s family ties to Ukraine remain. In 2021 Piskun’s daughter Tetyana became the owner of a brand-new Audi Q7 2021. At that time such a car cost up to 75 thousand dollars. In addition, she owns seven real estate objects in Ukraine. In particular, a house with an area of 260,9 sq. m in Irpin and a house in Kyiv with an area of 744,8 sq. m.
The latter property is located on Obolonska embankment and may be worth more than a million dollars. It’s an estate with a view of the Dnipro in one of the most expensive areas. In addition, the former prosecutor’s daughter owns a house of 260,9 sq. m in Yaremche.
Piskun’s wife Svitlana owns four real estate objects in Ukraine. In particular, she owns a house of 109 sq. m in Yaremche.
How an ex-prosecutor general became an individual entrepreneur with million-dollar assets
Vitaliy Yarema served as prosecutor general from June 2014 to February 2015. The former MP, retired police lieutenant general built a career in public service and politics, but after his dismissal he became a private entrepreneur (FOP).
Yarema is likely a very successful private entrepreneur, as evidenced by the former prosecutor general’s assets. For example, his vehicle fleet includes two cars and a BMW motorcycle. He owns:
In 2017 Yarema became the owner of an apartment of 219,1 sq. m and a parking space in a residential complex on Redutna Street, 67. This complex is located next to the "Motherland Monument" and was built in 2016. It appears the prosecutor either invested in the apartment during construction or bought it immediately after the building was commissioned. At that time housing in this complex was significantly cheaper. Now an apartment like Yarema’s may be worth more than 900 thousand dollars.
His wife, Margarita, owns a BMW iX 2025, which may cost around 85 thousand dollars. Their daughter Ilona owns a BMW M4 2024 worth about 100 thousand dollars. She also owns the apartment adjacent to her father’s on Redutna Street, 67. There is also an apartment of 113,7 sq. m in the Novopecherski Lypky residential complex.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Пенсії по 240 тисяч і престижна нерухомість: як облаштували своє життя колишні керівники Офісу генерального прокурора за президентства Зеленського та...". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Rozsliduvach.
