Mom's apartments in a protected forest and a business on the roads. A road official amassed millions on his parents' pension

If you lack motivation for personal growth, take a lesson from Cherkasy road municipal workers: here the ordinary concept of “humanity” is monetized far better than any crypto startup. Former co‑founder of modest firms Hryhoriy Zaichko managed a remarkable path from handing over a luxury Mercedes for the mayor Bondarenko’s free use to the chair of the city’s chief manager of road millions. And while the NACP spent years puzzling over how, having earned 300 thousand hryvnias in two decades, one could own estates and premium car fleets, the answer turns out to be touchingly simple — it’s all the fruit of boundless generosity from grateful friends and the unwavering financial might of an elderly mother from a district town.

Lysianka is a town that has already become a symbol, since many people connected to the regional center’s power come from here. For example, Cherkasy mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko. The one who “will resist”, whose assets in the declaration are listed under his wife each year, and who has many friends ready to park either a Mercedes or a Lexus in the mayor’s garage.

One such friend is the director of the municipal enterprise CHELUASH, Hryhoriy Zaichko, who is also from Lysianka. More than one piece has been written about him by “18000.” They dealt with “gifted hryvnias,” cases of embezzlement of budget funds on equipment purchases, expensive cars registered to his mother, and so on.

Last year the official’s mother also bought expensive apartments in one of the residential complexes in Cherkasy’s Sosnivka, which was built by the mayor’s brother Mykola Bondarenko with partners. However, the woman continues to live in Lysianka, while her son — Hryhoriy Zaichko — can be seen in the residential complex.

In a new investigation, Cherkasy outlet “18000” journalist Iryna Malyukova tells the story of Hryhoriy Zaichko’s rise to the position of director of the municipal enterprise CHELUASH and the assets that far exceed his salary and are registered to his mother.

Hryhoriy Zaichko’s career: about the notorious company, free land and the “Merc” given for use to the mayor

In 2016, a year after Anatoliy Bondarenko first became mayor, Hryhoriy Zaichko co‑founded the company Prombud‑Industry. The company, which worked on installing water supply networks, cleaning and small construction jobs, began winning contracts and tenders within six months.

The company began receiving contracts and winning tenders for substantial sums in a short time

The firm started with a number of small public contracts from budgetary institutions for 60–150 thousand and within a few weeks moved on to multi‑million ones. Literally within five months the company received about 18 million hryvnias from the city budget. This happened while Zaichko was a co‑founder of the company and the director was the godson of the secretary of the Cherkasy City Council, Yuriy Trenkyn — Yevheniy Shcherbyna.

Hryhoriy Zaichko, and also Yuriy Trenkyn with Yevheniy Shcherbyna

A case was opened regarding Prombud‑Industry, and Trenkyn has been tried together with his godson for seven years over a tax evasion scheme. Although no materials since 2019 have been added to the registry.

That same 2016 year the city granted Zaichko nearly 10 sotkas of land in the protected Sosnivka for free. That land was almost immediately sold to the mayor’s own brother, who resold it later at a higher price.

Zaichko not only helped with the company and the land, but also gave the mayor a luxury Mercedes‑S class for use. In 2019 he provided him, for free use, a MERCEDES‑BENZ S 350 CDI, which at the time cost from 50 to 70 thousand dollars, depending on configuration. It was this car Bondarenko drove almost until the start of the full‑scale invasion.

Hryhoriy Zaichko “gifted” the mayor of Cherkasy an expensive Mercedes

At the same time, the mayor’s family car fleet then included a Mazda 3 and the wife’s Lexus, the mother’s Lexus, a Mercedes that Bondarenko borrowed from his brother, and the aforementioned Mercedes from Zaichko.

That same year Zaichko himself had a 12‑year‑old Toyota Auris and an eight‑year‑old Toyota Camry. If you add those two cars together, they amount to almost half of the Mercedes he gave to the mayor for use.

The car fleets of Hryhoriy Zaichko and Anatoliy Bondarenko

In 2022 Zaichko obtained a bureaucratic seat and became deputy director of the municipal enterprise CHELUASH. The enterprise handles road repairs and maintenance and therefore manages budget funds related to those matters. For example, in 2025 the municipal enterprise held tenders worth 120 million hryvnias. As for Zaichko, already in 2023 he was appointed director of this enterprise without competition, without public posts and without any explanations.

Investigative journalist Iryna Malyukova of “18000” sought comment from Cherkasy mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko to learn more about Zaichko’s appointment as head of the municipal enterprise.

Iryna Malyukova requested comment from Anatoliy Bondarenko

— How close are your friendly ties with him? What kind of ties are these, that a person first lent you his car for use, and then was appointed without competition? — asks Iryna Malyukova of Bondarenko.

— Well, how close are our friendly ties? He’s a good acquaintance. I actually know his father better.

— I understand you also know his mother?

— I also know Larysa Hryhorivna.

— Where did she get so much money to buy two cars for her son?

— You can ask her or other people. I don’t comment on wealth and it’s not my question.

Audi from the mother and a hundred thousand dollars: what is known about Zaichko’s car fleet

In his first declaration in 2021, Hryhoriy Zaichko reported a house of 180 square meters near Kyiv, three cars (two Toyotas and the Mercedes he gave to the mayor), 36 thousand hryvnias of income and a large amount of cash, which in dollars amounts to approximately 383 thousand.

Monetary assets of Hryhoriy Zaichko. Screenshot from the NACP registry

Over 22 years of life, Hryhoriy Zaichko officially earned 300 thousand hryvnias. You can’t save much from that even if you ate instant noodles every day. So the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption asked where the official got all these benefits in the form of a car fleet and other savings. During the first full check of Zaichko’s declaration the agency found false information amounting to 14 million hryvnias.

“The declarant explained that the foreign currency funds were received by him before his appointment and therefore cannot be the subject of a full check. His acquaintances and friends gifted him large amounts of money as a sign of gratitude for his humanity. He also borrowed part of the money at interest, it was returned to him, and he accumulated everything he earned,” the NACP explanation says.

For context — if in 2022 Zaichko’s salary was 172 thousand hryvnias per year, then with his appointment as director of CHELUASH it increased sevenfold. In 2023 he received 1,2 million and a bit more thereafter.

How Hryhoriy Zaichko’s salary grew

By that time he had sold his old Toyota and his mother gave him a new luxury Audi S6 worth almost three million, which he still uses. And his mother gave Zaichko another Audi SQ7 in 2024. During this period 263 thousand dollars disappeared from his declaration, but they reappeared the following year.

And that is despite the fact that in the same 2025 year Zaichko bought three plots in Sokyrna of Cherkasy district, obtained rights to another, and declared an unfinished dacha of 221 square meters. All — next to the mayor’s estate.

In that same declaration he stated that his mother sold the Audi SQ7. About half a year after that the official committed a traffic violation while driving a similar Audi. During a more thorough check it was not possible to establish that it was the same car, but Zaichko’s answer about the fine was more interesting because the official himself became confused about who owns which property:

How Hryhoriy Zaichko comments on the situation

— You sold it last year, and this year in June..., — the journalist Iryna Malyukova asks Hryhoriy Zaichko.

— My mother sold it, first of all, right? — Zaichko interrupts Iryna.

— But you have a fine this June for this car?

— I don’t know, maybe there’s a new owner now.

— The police stopped you for crossing a solid line?

— I don’t remember.

— In Obukhiv district?

— It could be. I don’t remember exactly. I might have driven that car.

— But it was already sold.

— Yes, yes. There the car actually belongs to my sister; it was just registered to my mother.

Also read: Which cars does the secretary of Cherkasy City Council drive? New investigation by “18000.”

“Mom should explain”: Zaichko and apartments for 161 thousand dollars

Journalist Iryna Malyukova went to Lysianka to see what the home of the woman listed as owner of such a quantity of movable and immovable property worth millions of hryvnias looks like.

It is unlikely the official’s mother initiated any such schemes, so the journalist approached her with a “cover story” about selling the car. The ad for the Audi S6 she saw on Auto Ria. Since the car is registered to the woman, questions would concern the condition of the vehicle that the mother would supposedly drive a few times.

Iryna Malyukova visited Zaichko’s mother to ask about the expensive car

— What ad? — Zaichko’s mother asks Iryna Malyukova.

— “Audi S6” up to 70 thousand dollars now, — the journalist answers her.

— So it’s the son who’s selling it, he lives in Cherkasy. And he is registered here.

— It just shows you as the owner, you looked it up online.

— I’m listed as the owner, but it’s my son who’s selling it. I can give you his phone. The car is good.

— But did you drive it if you are the owner?

— No, he just bought it and registered it to me, I can’t drive the car, it’s brand‑new, beautiful, good.

In fact, to see the owner of the luxury Audi you would have to go not to Lysianka but to Cherkasy’s Sosnivka. According to the documents, the woman last year bought apartments with a forest view in Cherkasy. The very ones built by the mayor’s brother on land once allocated for free in what used to be a protected area. The purchased property contains 143 square meters, what realtors call “premium comfort,” and also two parking spaces, each of which costs approximately 16 thousand dollars.

Zaichko’s mother bought apartments for a hundred thousand dollars

Two parking spaces — that’s already 32 thousand dollars. A square meter cost 900 dollars at the time of sale. According to calculations by “18000,” for the forest view in that apartment and the parking spaces Zaichko’s mother paid almost 162 thousand dollars. Only in the evenings, through the panoramic windows, we saw not the owner but her son.

Hryhoriy Zaichko in the apartments his mother bought

Journalist Iryna Malyukova went to Zaichko’s workplace to ask where his mother got the money for such apartments:

— Can you explain where your mother got 161 thousand dollars for the apartments on Dahnivska?

— Mom should explain where she got them.

— I’m asking you as an official, in the declaration...

— I repeat to you.

— Your mother worked in a hospital, she hardly could have saved such an amount.

— Which amount?

— 161 thousand dollars. For the apartments and two parking spaces.

— I don’t know.

— So who lives there now?

— Do you hear me or not? Ask my mother. What questions do you have for me now?

Hryhoriy Zaichko drives out of the apartments registered to his mother

An act that amounts to a case of unjustified assets

There are actually many questions for Hryhoriy Zaichko. First, where did all this money come from? Second, where are law enforcement agencies looking? Third, why do grown men constantly involve their mothers in such stories?

Why do officials involve their mothers in such schemes?

— We went into my mother’s yard, we saw everything ourselves. Think a little, — Hryhoriy Zaichko tells journalist Iryna Malyukova.

— And when you registered the car to her, what were you thinking?

— Well, okay, let me tell you one more thing. Look.

— You understand that today I asked her about the car, and tomorrow law enforcement might come to ask about the apartments, — says Iryna Malyukova.

— If they ask, we will provide all explanations.

What is known about the NACP checks?

A few days ago the NACP’s check of the official’s declaration concluded. It was the third. The report on the third check states that this time false information was found for 16,1 million hryvnias and a substantiated conclusion was sent under the article concerning signs of false information. Although, in our view, it was already apparent from the first check that the mileage was “tampered.” If it were a car, NACP and SAP employees would hardly have bought it?

Watch the investigation about Hryhoriy Zaichko on the YouTube channel “18000”.