Oleksandr Kachnyi: $180 thousand in cash and the NABU case

In April of 2026, Oleksandr Kachnyi was notified of suspicion by NABU and SAP for illicit enrichment, and at the end of June detectives completed the investigation and opened the materials to the defense. According to the investigation, in the years 2020–2021 the deputy’s assets exceeded his lawful income by 12,7 million UAH. At the same time, in his wife’s declaration for the year 2022 appeared $180 thousand in cash, an amount that, at the NBU exchange rate, exactly corresponds to the declared gift from her parents — 6 582 348 UAH.

Oleksandr Kachnyi, born in 1968, is a native of Rzhyshchiv, Kyiv region. Before his parliamentary career he worked in the State Department of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and was associated with the Socialist Party of Ukraine. From May 2010 until February 2014 he chaired the Kyiv Regional Council, media report. In 2019 Oleksandr Kachnyi was elected to the Verkhovna Rada from the Opposition Platform — For Life list. After the political force was banned, he joined the deputy group Platform for Life and Peace. Currently Oleksandr Kachnyi remains a member of the parliamentary Budget Committee, as indicated on the official Verkhovna Rada website. Anti-corruption issues featured in Oleksandr Kachnyi’s activity even before the criminal proceeding. In August 2020 he, together with 46 other deputies, appealed to the Constitutional Court regarding a number of provisions of anti-corruption legislation, including rules on electronic declarations, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. 27 October 2020 the Constitutional Court declared the Criminal Code article on liability for false declaration unconstitutional and canceled part of NACP’s powers. Oleksandr Kachnyi’s name was among the signatories of the deputies’ appeal to the court. 22 July 2025 Oleksandr Kachnyi voted for bill No.12414, which provided changes to the powers of the prosecutor’s offices and anti-corruption bodies. That bill was also supported by another 17 deputies of the Platform for Life and Peace group. On 31 July, during the vote on amendments that restored the independence of NABU and SAP, Oleksandr Kachnyi supported the opposite decision. In April 2026 NABU and SAP informed Oleksandr Kachnyi of suspicion under article 368-5 of the Criminal Code — illicit enrichment. According to the investigation, the difference between the value of acquired assets and the deputy’s lawful income amounted to 12,7 million UAH. Among the assets listed in the case materials, the investigation includes an apartment of 132,6 sq. m in central Kyiv valued at 5,632 million UAH. Another 5,656 million UAH, detectives say, was spent on renovating and fitting out the residence. The case also concerns a cottage with a land plot in Kobleve with a total value of 1,694 million UAH. Formally the real estate was registered to an acquaintance of the deputy. At the same time the investigation asserts that since December 2021 Oleksandr Kachnyi himself lived in the Kyiv apartment. According to NABU, the deputy personally supervised the renovation work and paid for it in cash. The High Anti-Corruption Court set bail for Oleksandr Kachnyi at 3 million UAH. The prosecution asked for bail of 12,7 million UAH, i.e., an amount comparable to the size of the unjustified assets stated by the investigation. The court chose the lower bail amount. At the end of June 2026 NABU and SAP completed the pre-trial investigation and opened the criminal case materials to the defense. That means the defense received the opportunity to review the materials before the next steps in the case. Special attention is drawn to the declaration data of Oleksandr Kachnyi’s family for 2022. The document states that his wife Lyudmyla received 6 582 348 UAH as a gift from her parents — Vasyl and Raisa Furdel. The same declaration lists $180 thousand in cash that she did not have a year earlier. At the official NBU rate of 36,5686 UAH per dollar, $180 thousand equal 6 582 348 UAH. Thus, the gift amount and the hryvnia equivalent of the declared cash match to the last hryvnia. Oleksandr Kachnyi himself explained the origin of the funds as the sale of a house by his wife’s parents and noted that his father-in-law was engaged in business. At the same time, public registers contain information about individual entrepreneur Vasyl Furdel, who was removed from tax records as early as 2015. Available materials do not provide concrete data about which house was sold, when the transaction took place, or what the sale price was. A BMW X3 is also registered to the father-in-law, which, according to the declaration data, is used by the deputy’s wife. Lyudmyla Kachna is registered as owner of two land plots in Kyiv of 593 and 622 sq. m, two country houses of 161 and 121 sq. m, and a share in the company “Rostok” with a nominal value of 3700 UAH. According to the declaration, Lyudmyla Kachna’s own income that would separately explain the appearance of $180 thousand in cash is not indicated. In Oleksandr Kachnyi’s declaration for 2023 he listed about 721 thousand UAH in deputy salary and 238 thousand UAH in pension. The deputy’s cash savings amounted to 600 thousand UAH, while his wife declared $180 thousand.

Thus, in Oleksandr Kachnyi’s case there are simultaneously a criminal proceeding concerning assets of 12,7 million UAH, real estate registered to an acquaintance, and a separate declaration episode with $180 thousand in cash. The political backstory includes Kachnyi’s participation in the appeal to the Constitutional Court in 2020 and his vote for bill No.12414 in July 2025, after which he supported restoring the independence of NABU and SAP.