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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The family of the new head of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs Vitaliy Kim may have access to a number of assets that are missing from his declarations. This includes a new apartment and a parking space in the expensive residential complex “Novopecherski Lipki,” a Porsche, and 18 thousand hectares of hunting grounds in Cherkasy region.
This is described in a Bihus.Info investigation.
Vitaliy Kim entered politics from business, notably development. In 2019 year he worked on the campaign HQ of “Servant of the People” in Mykolaiv region, and in November 2020 he became head of the Mykolaiv regional state administration. He gained popularity at the start of the full-scale invasion due to defending Mykolaiv region and daily addresses that began with the well-known phrase “Good evening, we are from Ukraine.” This July Kim became Minister of Veterans Affairs. Journalists then decided to check the lifestyle of the new cabinet member.
Vitaliy Kim, Minister of Veterans Affairs
Interestingly, the most expensive assets found by journalists are absent from the politician's declaration. For example, back in summer 2025 year, the wife of Vitaliy Kim, Media Group, bought a large apartment of more than one hundred square meters in the Novopecherski Lipky residential complex in Kyiv. At that time the firm also bought a parking space there. By journalists’ calculations, an apartment without renovation and a parking space at that time could have cost about 350 thousand dollars. However, according to the public financial reporting of the firm in YouControl, it had been zero or entirely absent for years.
Yuliya and Vitaliy Kim
Journalists found that Kim and family members could have used housing in the mentioned complex. At the end of August, in the Novopecherski Lipky parking lot, Bihus.Info spotted a Volkswagen Touareg with concealed plates, similar to the one the minister rents. A few days later the same car drove out of the complex, and in the passenger seat sat a man who looked like the head of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs.
a man who looked like Vitaliy Kim, near the Lipky in a Volkswagen Touareg
Along with this, on the parking space belonging to Yuliya Kim’s company, at the Novopecherski Lipky, journalists also noticed a Porsche Macan, for which a woman had already received a fine in 2024 year. The car is absent from Kim’s declarations and is registered to the construction company “S-Develop” of Roman Serbenov. Journalists previously reported how this developer abandoned construction of a residential complex in Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia and moved to Poland. According to Kim, Serbenov worked as a director in his construction companies in Ukraine. They also jointly led the Mykolaiv basketball club.
Porsche Macan used by Yuliya Kim
In a comment to Bihus.Info Kim stated that he does not use either the apartment or the parking space in the Novopecherski Lipky. He said that the apartment is registered to his wife’s company. The firm allegedly took it on credit. When journalists asked about the company’s “zero” financial reporting and its ability to repay the loan, Kim replied that “the financial reporting is with Yuliya’s sole proprietor, and the money was in the declaration.”
Meanwhile, according to journalists, in Kim’s declaration for 2025 year the savings did not decrease; on the contrary, they increased by about 6,5 million hryvnias compared with 2024. At the same time, the official annual income of the official’s family for 2025 year was almost 7 million hryvnias before taxes, meaning they managed to save nearly the entire yearly family income. There is no expenditure on housing acquisition in the declaration.
Regarding the car, the official states that his wife rented the car for less than 180 days, so the vehicle should not have appeared in the declaration upon leaving the regional military administration. He also added that the rental was not in constant use, but “occasional.” At the same time, Serbenov himself told journalists that his firm bought Porsche in 2022 year and leased it to Kim’s wife.
“180 days” Vitaliy Kim explained the appearance near “Novopecherski Lipki” of another car — a second VW Touareg, which belongs to Kim’s ex-wife Olga. Kim previously rented this car from a Mykolaiv firm, and then it became the property of his ex-wife. In recent months the Touareg has accrued fines and appeared near the capital’s residential complex. This may further corroborate Kim family residence in Lipky at least at the time the car was observed. But the official insists that his former wife is outside Ukraine and that he does not use the car.
Volkswagen Touareg of Kim’s ex-wife near Lipky
A curious situation also surrounds another asset. It concerns the Kaniv Left-Bank Hunting Estate in Cherkasy region, with 18 thousand hectares of hunting grounds under its use. Last summer two new owners appeared in the company, who journalists believe may be formal. The issue is that Vitaliy Kim told various media that hunting is his hobby. In summer 2025 the Kaniv Left-Bank Hunting Estate changed ownership. In particular, a stake here was bought by Oleksandr Stepanov — a longtime business partner of Kim, who also for years appeared in joint firms with both the former and current wife of the new minister. Stepanov told journalists that he does not like hunting, “has never even been to this hunting base,” and does not know his new business partner Andriy Halkin. A person with the same full name was an assistant to MP Roman Ivanisov.
discussion with Oleksandr Stepanov
Meanwhile, Kim told Bihus.Info that he met Roman Ivanisov back in 2020 year — and that meeting happened while hunting. Also, according to the official, he visited the mentioned hunting base for hunting several times — supposedly “at the invitation of friends.” At the same time, Stepanov added that Kim may not inform him about his visits to the base, since he could come with people “he would not want to publicize.” Journalists’ information suggests Kim may have been accompanied here by parliamentary party leader Davyd Arakhamia. At the same time, the situation around the hunting estate hints that Stepanov and Halkin may be only formal owners of the asset purchased for the benefit of third parties.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Апартаменти на Печерську, Porsche польського утікача та 18 тисяч гектарів землі: що виявили у міністра Віталія Кіма". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Rozsliduvach.
