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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
While martial law and travel restrictions abroad are in effect in Ukraine, some high-ranking officials spend dozens of days on international business trips.
During the full-scale war, Ukrainian officials continue to undertake international trips, attending conferences, training programs, and meetings with foreign partners. At the same time, the duration of certain trips and their costs have drawn the attention of journalists.
According to OBOZ.UA in its exclusive material, the editors studied official overseas trips of representatives of various state bodies in 2026 year. Journalists analyzed orders on foreign travel obtained in response to information requests.
Nearly 60 days abroad: trip of the head of the NACP.
One of the officials who most often traveled abroad turned out to be Viktor Pavlushchyk, head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention.
According to journalists’ calculations, by the end of September 2026 year he spent about 60 days on international business trips. This is roughly every third working day during the respective period.
During the year, the head of the NACP visited France, Austria, the United States, Lithuania, Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Portugal.
The longest trip for Pavlushchyk lasted nine days. In March he went to Paris, where he represented Ukraine in the GRECO of the Council of Europe against corruption. The route also included a stay in Warsaw.
Journalists noted that the orders for the head’s own business trips were signed personally by him, leaving him in control of their execution.
Over 174 thousand hryvnias on overseas trips of the head of the Accounting Chamber.
Journalists also drew attention to the international trips of Olha Pishchanska, head of the Accounting Chamber.
In particular, from 19 to 22 May, the official was in Brussels for the annual meeting of the International Council of Auditors NATO. The very next day she went to Rome, where until 27 May she took part in the meeting of the governing board of EUROSAI. The foreign trip lasted from 19 to 27 May.
In September Pishchanska also visited Romania, where she participated in a conference dedicated to transparency and accountability of defense expenditures.
According to OBOZ.UA, total state budget expenditures on the head of the Accounting Chamber’s travels amounted to 174,7 thousand hryvnias.
Another representative of the institution, Yelyzaveta Pushko-Tsybyliak, was in Rome from 22 to 27 May. Her trip cost 92,8 thousand hryvnias.
Meanwhile, journalists note that the official meeting of EUROSAI’s governing board took place 25–26 May. Additional time could be related to the travel.
Cyprus, Italy and education abroad.
Among representatives of the National Police, the director of the Department of International Police Cooperation, Zurab Adeishvili, stood out for frequent international business trips.
During 2026 year he visited the Netherlands, Spain, France, Belgium, and the United States. At the same time, international cooperation directly falls within his official duties.
Another official of the National Police, the head of the Department of Main Inspection and Human Rights Compliance Ruslan Horyachenko, had two overseas trips.
One of them took place from 19 to 25 April in Limassol, Cyprus. The official purpose of the trip was participation in the congress of EuroCOP, the European Police Confederation.
Journalists paid particular attention to the head of the State Labor Service of Ukraine, Ihor Degneri.
The official spent the year abroad twice for training.
First he visited Slovakia, where during a seven-day trip he underwent training in OSINT — analysis and use of open-source information.
Later, from 19 to 28 June, Degner was in Turin, Italy. There he participated in a training program dedicated to digital transformation of labor inspectorates and compliance with labor standards.
The Verkhovna Rada refused to disclose information.
Another problem revealed by OBOZ.UA journalists was the Parliamentary Apparatus’s refusal to provide documents on MPs’ official trips.
Most state bodies contacted by the editors provided the relevant orders and information about officials’ overseas trips.
In turn, in the Verkhovna Rada they initially explained that they did not have a pre-prepared list of such trips.
After a repeated request asking for copies of the orders, the parliamentary apparatus again refused.
This time the reason given was martial law and classifying information about MPs’ official trips as confidential.
Journalists did not agree with this justification and decided to appeal the denial.
OBOZ.UA reported filing a lawsuit with the Kyiv Administrative Court of Appeal, demanding that the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada disclose the relevant data.
It is worth noting that the mere fact of a long overseas trip does not indicate a violation of the law. International meetings, negotiations, and training programs can be part of officials’ official duties.
At the same time, questions of the transparency of such trips, the justification of costs, and public access to the corresponding information remain relevant, especially under martial law.
OBOZ.UA journalists announced the continuation of the series of exclusive publications about Ukrainians’ overseas trips. In particular, the editors plan to separately study officials’ trips to Cyprus and Greece.
As a reminder: in the year of 2024, judge Stanyk listed only an apartment and a parking space, but investigators found in Kozin, Kyiv region, a presumably undeclared house worth $7 million.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Італія, Франція, Кіпр і США: які закордонні відрядження оформлюють українські посадовці, - OBOZ". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: StopKor.
