"King of corruption" Mykhailo Burdeinyi amassed property worth 600 thousand dollars

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A few weeks ago, the entire Ukraine was shaken by the news of the arrest of the head of the customs clearance department No. 2 of the "Yahodyn" customs post, Mykhailo Burdeinyi. During a search, employees of the State Bureau of Investigations found USD 704,300 in cash in the trunk of the car used by Burdeinyi.

These questions were addressed by the investigative journalism center "Syla Pravdy".

On June 4, the SBI reported a corruption scheme organized by the officials of the Volyn Customs. According to the investigation, senior employees received bribes for the unhindered transportation of goods across the border without paying customs duties. According to the investigation’s version, Burdeinyi systematically collected money and distributed some of it among other law enforcement agencies. According to official declarations, the customs officer does not own any property or a vehicle. However, in recent years, his family has acquired property and cars worth approximately $600,000. Among these purchases are a house in a closed elite cottage settlement near Lviv, an apartment in a new building, a garage, parking spaces, and a new "Lexus".

Most of this property is officially recorded in the name of the customs officer’s parents, although, by all accounts, it is directly used by Burdeinyi’s family. But can a customs officer with a salary of 20,000 UAH a month and a wife who has been on maternity leave for the last three years afford such property? Where did the customs officer’s family get the money for expensive housing and transportation?

Mykhailo Burdeinyi began working at the Volyn Customs in 2015. In six years, he has managed to progress from an inspector to the head of a customs post.

According to the Volyn Customs Department of the State Customs Service, provided to "Syla Pravdy", Burdeinyi’s career started as a chief state inspector of the "Ustyluh" customs post in February 2015. In a few months, in August, he was already holding the position of head of customs clearance department No. 1 at the same post. Later, in February 2016, Burdeinyi was transferred to the customs post "Volodymyr-Volynskyi", where he became the chief inspector in customs clearance department No. 1. In May 2016, he returned to the "Ustyluh" post and worked as a chief state inspector until April 2017. Later, he was entrusted with customs clearance department No. 2, and in October 2017, he became the head of customs clearance department No. 3 at the "Yahodyn" customs post.

In 2019, Burdeinyi moved to customs clearance department No. 2 at the "Yahodyn" post, where from December 2019 to March 2020, he served as the acting deputy head of the "Pischa" post. Since March 2020, he has again held the position of head of customs clearance department No. 2 at "Yahodyn" and continues to work there to this day.

In April of this year, Mykhailo Burdeinyi, along with a hundred other customs employees, was temporarily suspended from his duties, as the State Customs Service of Ukraine announced the possible involvement of these officials in smuggling and corruption schemes. However, after the suspension period ended, Burdeinyi returned to his job. Moreover, he participated in the competition for the position of the head of the Volyn Customs, successfully passing testing and solving situational tasks. But at the stage of an interview with the integrity commission, his candidacy was rejected.

Soon, on June 4, the SBI conducted a search in the car used by Burdeinyi and at his place of residence. In the trunk of the car, law enforcement officers found more than 700,000 dollars in cash.

Throughout six years as a customs officer, Mykhailo Burdeinyi did not declare any personal house or car, raising questions about his actual place of residence. According to his declarations, Burdeinyi is officially registered in the settlement of Kelmentsi in the Chernivtsi region, where his wife Iryna Burdeinyi’s apartment and a house belonging to his parents are also registered. However, there is no housing in Volyn, where he actually works, in the latest declarations.

Burdeinyi’s salary typically seems quite modest. For example, in the first half of 2021, he received 70,254 UAH, which averages about 14,000 UAH per month. In 2020, his annual income amounted to almost 300,000 UAH, or about 25,000 UAH per month, and after tax deductions - approximately 20,000. Additionally, his wife received about two thousand UAH in monthly child benefits.

The previous years did not bring significant income growth. In 2019, Mykhailo earned about 260,000 UAH, which is about 22,000 per month, and Iryna Burdeina received 12,000 UAH per month as child support. In 2018, Burdeinyi declared an income of 183,700 UAH (about 15,000 per month), and his wife - 26,000. Notably, during this period, Iryna owned a 2013 Opel Corsa, which disappeared from subsequent declarations without indicating proceeds from its sale.

In 2017, the customs officer’s income was 185,600 UAH, or about 15,500 per month, and at the same time, he owned a 2008 Toyota Camry, which also disappeared from declarations in subsequent years without any explanation. In 2016, his annual income was significantly less, amounting to 70,500 UAH, or about 6,000 per month, while in 2015, he earned 42,000 UAH, equaling approximately 3,800 per month.

None of the customs officer’s declarations showed any savings; however, this did not prevent his wife, Iryna Burdeina, from purchasing and maintaining a luxury "Lexus" car and further investing in a cottage in Chernivtsi.

According to the declarations, Mykhailo Burdeinyi’s wife, Iryna, has owned an apartment in Kelmentsi (Chernivtsi region) with an area of 67.2 sq.m since 2006. In addition, for several years, the spouses have declared an unfinished house in Chernivtsi with an area of 225 sq.m. As "Syla Pravdy" found out, this house is located in the cottage town "Videnska Brama". The developer states that the house was commissioned back in 2018, although currently, the cottage owned by the customs officer’s wife is up for sale.

In 2015, the cost per square meter in this cottage town was 27,000 UAH, according to "Chernivtsi Info". Three years later, they were already trying to sell a similar-sized cottage here for 95,000 U.S. dollars (about 2.5 million UAH). In addition to the mentioned property, Iryna Burdeina is a co-owner of her parental house, with an area of 133.83 sq.m in the village of Rososhany in Bukovyna, near the border with Moldova.

However, judging by social media posts, the Burdeinyi’s family does not live in Bukovyna. Most of the photos of the customs officer’s elder daughter, Darya, on social media are taken in Lviv. In particular, on her Instagram page, you can find photos from the courtyard of the "Dobra Oselya" residential complex at 100 Kniahynia Olha Street. It is known that it is in this complex that there is an apartment registered in the name of Mykhailo Burdeinyi’s mother, Halyna Burdeina.

It turned out that Darya Burdeina studies at the Lviv private educational institution "Ekoland" and even participated in shooting its promotional video. Tuition at this institution costs from 76,500 to 103,500 UAH per year, depending on the package of services chosen, and this amount does not include food costs. Therefore, the monthly tuition fee ranges from 8,500 to 11,500 UAH, considering only nine academic months.

It should be noted that the second institution of the "Ekoland" chain opened in 2017, and at the start, tuition there was 4,000 UAH per month, which is significantly lower compared to current prices.

Information that the Burdeinyi’s family resides in Lviv is also confirmed by the decision of the Frankivsk District Court in Lviv from July 2020. According to the decision, Iryna Burdeina was fined 340 UAH for violating traffic rules: she failed to give way to another vehicle, causing a collision. At the time of the accident, Iryna was driving her 2018 Lexus NX 300, which the couple purchased new. However, the car’s value is not specified in her husband’s declaration.

According to the information on the official "Lexus" store website in Ukraine, the price of such a car starts at 1.42 million UAH (or about 52,000 U.S. dollars), depending on the chosen configuration.

Interestingly, it was in this "Lexus NX 300" that law enforcement officers detained Mykhailo Burdeinyi with more than 700,000 U.S. dollars. While the customs officer himself does not own any house or vehicle, his relatives acquire new property annually. Most recently, 62-year-old Halyna Burdeina, Mykhailo’s mother, made the most purchases.

One of her most expensive purchases was a house in the closed cottage town "Panska Hora", located in the village of Sokilnyky, near Lviv. According to the State Register of Property Rights to Real Estate, Halyna formalized the ownership of this house and a land plot of 9.14 acres in October 2018.

From the Facebook page of the cottage town, it is known that 50 houses are located on this territory, and the overall area of the town is 7 hectares. The cottages are situated on a closed territory, surrounded by a high fence, a barrier, and a checkpoint with private security. There is also a playground on the territory, making it difficult for outsiders to enter.

"Syla Pravdy" managed to find and photograph the customs officer’s mother’s house, which has a total area of 248.1 sq.m. It consists of two floors, a balcony, an attic, and a terrace, with a gazebo nearby. The owners of the house could not be found — only workers carrying out repair works were on site. Neighbors living across the road from the cottages reported not having seen the owners, and based on observations, no one currently resides there.

According to a real estate site real-estate, a square meter in such houses costs from 1,000 to 1,200 U.S. dollars. Thus, the total cost of the house is approximately 250,000 to 300,000 dollars (from 6.7 to 8.1 million UAH). According to Andriy Borysov, head of the Lviv regional branch of the Association of Real Estate Specialists (realtors) of Ukraine, such a cottage could be purchased for approximately 200,000 U.S. dollars (5.4 million UAH).

Additionally, in March 2017, Mykhailo Burdeinyi’s mother became the owner of an apartment of 91.5 sq.m and a garage of 43.3 sq.m in Lviv at 100I Kniahynia Olha Street. This large residential complex "Dobra Oselya" has a playground equipped with surveillance cameras. The elder daughter of Mykhailo Burdeinyi, Darya, frequently posts photos taken in this courtyard on social media.

According to Andriy Borysov, the apartment can be assessed at approximately 75,000 dollars (2 million UAH), while the garage might have cost 12,000 U.S. dollars (324,000 UAH).

Realtor Oleksandr Milkovych notes that currently, such an apartment in this area costs around 90,000 dollars (2.4 million UAH). If it was bought earlier, the custom officer’s mother might have paid 700 U.S. dollars per square meter. He says that a garage here costs about 25,000 dollars (675,000 UAH). However, if the garage was bought at the construction stage, its price could have been significantly lower — around 15,000 U.S. dollars (about 400,000 UAH).

"Parking lots and garages in this area are expensive because it is a densely populated area with many apartments," the realtor added.

Halyna Burdeina also owns three plots of land in the Hrushivtsi Village Council of the Chernivtsi region. Their areas are 0.87 hectares, 0.24 hectares, and 1.16 hectares, with the latter intended for commodity agricultural production. All three plots were inherited by the woman.

Additionally, she owns a 39.4 square meter residential house in the village of Hrushivtsi, which she also inherited. According to the Main Service Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Halyna Burdeina owns an "Audi Q7" 2011, purchased in 2015. The approximate cost of this car was at least 40,000 U.S. dollars (about 1 million UAH).

The 65-year-old father of the customs officer, Volodymyr Burdeinyi, also has property in Lviv. In April 2021, he formalized two parking spaces in the new buildings of the residential complex "America" at 10B and 10V Volodymyra Velykoho Street. The area of one parking space is 13.4 square meters, and the other is 15.5 square meters. This indicates that the Burdeiny family actively invests in real estate in Lviv.

Realtor Oleksandr Milkovych estimates the parking spaces purchased by Volodymyr Burdeinyi at 8,000 U.S. dollars each (216,000 UAH), while Andriy Borysov suggests a price of 7,000 U.S. dollars (about 190,000 UAH). Currently, on the "OLX" classifieds website, parking spaces in this area are offered for 13,000 U.S. dollars (351,000 UAH).

There are doubts about the likelihood of purchasing parking spaces without nearby residential or commercial property, so Volodymyr Burdeinyi is likely to register something else at the same address soon.

Additionally, he owns two plots of land for personal farming and construction and maintenance of a residential house, with a total area of 11.42 acres and 25 acres in the village of Makarivka in the Chernivtsi region. A 50 square meter house is also located here, which Volodymyr Burdeinyi inherited.

Volodymyr also owns two plots of land for commodity agricultural production: one with an area of 1.21 hectares in the village of Lenkyvtsi and another with an area of 0.111 hectares in the village of Konivka in the Chernivtsi region. The first plot also came to him as an inheritance.

Moreover, Volodymyr Burdeinyi owns a household consisting of two residential houses with a total area of 142.6 square meters in the settlement of Kelmentsi in the Chernivtsi region. In recent years, he has also expanded his car park. In 2014, he registered a 2007 "Toyota Camry", costing approximately 11,000 U.S. dollars (about 300,000 UAH).

In 2019, Volodymyr bought a 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV, estimated at around 7,000 U.S. dollars (nearly 190,000 UAH).

The most luxurious car in his car park became the Audi Q8 2020 with a three-liter engine, costing at least 70,000 U.S. dollars (1.9 million UAH). This indicates that the Burdeiny family does not only possess significant capital but also actively invests in real estate and vehicles.

At least two of the Burdeiny’s vehicles frequently appear in the Ministry of Internal Affairs database of traffic violations. They also have unique combinations of number plates.

In particular, the Audi Q7 driven by Halyna Burdeinyi has the number "1979", which coincides with Mykhailo Burdeinyi’s year of birth. Within not a full year, the car was fined 11 times for speeding. Eight of these violations were registered on roads approaching Kyiv, and three — in the outskirts of Lviv. The vehicle consistently reached speeds of 130-145 km/h.

On one of the photos captured by radar, a male figure is clearly visible, looking similar to the customs officer himself, raising additional questions about adherence to traffic rules and responsibility for actions on the road. This situation underscores certain risks and ethical norms that public officials should uphold, particularly in the context of their role in society.

Iryna’s Lexus, with her birth year in the license plate number, was captured by radars six times in half a year. Five times around Lviv and once — near Kyiv.

Judging by Mykhailo Burdeinyi’s declarations, his official salary would have been enough to pay for the maintenance of his apartment, possibly also for his child’s education and maintenance of his wife’s Lexus. Iryna Burdeina was on maternity leave for several years and officially had a rather modest income, which casts doubt on the possibility of financing an expensive car and investing in construction in Chernivtsi.

It was only in November 2020 that Iryna registered as an individual entrepreneur in the village of Kelmentsi, where her main business is providing services to hairdressing and beauty salons. However, according to the state register, the customs officer’s parents have not run any official business for the past 10-15 years.

Not so long ago, journalist Yevhen Plinskyi published a video of an interview with Mykhailo Burdeinyi as the head of the Volyn Customs. During the interview, he was asked about financing the purchase of a car and construction in Chernivtsi. Answering, Burdeinyi said that he and his wife were financially supported by their parents who live abroad.

"If you follow up, you will see that my parents have been abroad for 20 years. My wife’s parents have been abroad for 21 years. They help us, we bought a Lexus and are building a house in Chernivtsi with their money," the customs officer explained.

Unfortunately, the State Customs Service did not know how much more the Burdeinyi family had to ask about this.

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