Judge Yaroslav Holovachov bypassed the law and became a millionaire: the story of a judicial empire

Judge Yaroslav Holovachov bypassed the law and became a millionaire: the story of a judicial empire

Yaroslav Holovachov "hacked" legislation and became a millionaire.

"French Quarter" is one of the most elite and expensive residential complexes in Kyiv. It was here in 2020, right after finishing school, that Myron Holovachov acquired a 100 square meter apartment. Such an apartment costs at least 300,000 dollars, and Myron’s grandfather gifted it to him. Why does this interest us? It’s simple: Myron is the son of the head of the Kyiv Court of Appeal. And this is where our journey through the numerous properties of the Holovachov family begins, because this apartment is the least of what we managed to find, writes Hromadske.

Eternal Judge

For almost 10 years, the Kyiv Court of Appeal, one of the most important judicial institutions in the capital, has been led by the same person — Yaroslav Holovachov. Only Ruslan Kozlov, the head of the infamous Pechersk court, can boast of a similar long-standing employment success.

According to the law, one cannot lead a court of the first or second instance for more than six years, that is, two terms of three years each. However, various tricks allow these two years to circumvent the norms of the law, which they theoretically should defend.

The last of the two possible terms of holding the position of the head of the Court of Appeal for Yaroslav Holovachov ended back in 2021. However, the man was not even going to leave his post. On September 6, 2024, Holovachov’s third term ended, which is not provided for by law. Now the fourth term is ongoing. Out of the possible two.

"This is the standard scheme for the heads of the courts and generally the judges of the old judicial corporation. What is called the judicial mafia. Eternity of court heads in positions. This is power, it’s money, it’s influence, it’s also the court’s connection with political power, and it’s a political channel through which power most often commands the judges. There are several schemes: either just completely ignore the law (this happens less often), or it often happens that a judge voluntarily retires from the position of the court head a month before the end of the term, then someone else fulfills the duties, or even his assistants… Then after a month, the powers are removed, and this judge becomes the head of the court again. This is widespread throughout the country. This is an unethical practice, an obvious violation of the law," explains Mykhailo Zhernakov, the chairman of the DEJURE Foundation.

Meanwhile, during his fourth term as head, Holovachov actively continues his activities. In October 2024, he blocks the consideration of the Higher Anti-Corruption Court’s appeal regarding the review of the preventive measure of the notorious head of the Khmelnytskyi MSEC Tetyana Krupa, who is suspected of illegal enrichment. In November, he travels on working visits to Germany. In December, he participates in events of the High Council of Justice on the efficiency of justice.

One might assume that Holovachov is truly an indispensable manager, but no. In 2020, the Audit Office conducted an audit in the Court of Appeal. They analyzed the court’s work for 2018-2019. And they revealed a number of serious violations and shortcomings in the financial and economic activities of the court. In particular, the inefficient use of almost 2 million hryvnias to purchase tools that were not put into service for a long time, and problems with bookkeeping. Also, the court planned over 11 million hryvnias in unreasonable expenses.

Furthermore, over 6 million hryvnias were spent on repairs and maintenance of premises that were not even on the institution’s balance sheet and lacked necessary documentation. The report separately mentioned that the court’s premises do not meet the basic requirements of legislation and national construction standards. In particular, this concerns the arrangement of courtrooms, deliberation rooms, premises for participants of the process, and witnesses.

Despite the fact that not everything is smooth in the court, nobody wants to leave their favorite work. Especially when, over 25 years in various court positions with state salaries, one has acquired an entire empire of real estate.

Million-dollar Gifts and Mysterious Wealth

March 2024. Petropavlivska Borshchahivka. 10 acres of valuable land near the capital become the property of Anastasiya Holovachova — the wife of the court head. The land was gifted to her by her mother. According to the registry, the plot is valued at 16 million 300 thousand hryvnias. Anastasiya has no business currently. The notary’s certificate, under which she supposedly worked, has been invalid since March 2021.

In his 2023 declaration, the court head indicated almost one and a half million hryvnias and another 120 thousand dollars in family savings. If all this money were converted into hryvnias at the exchange rate at the time, it would amount to just over 6 million hryvnias. The salary of the court head is also quite decent — over 3 million UAH per year. There are also revenues from securities and property transactions.

Aside from this, the Holovachov family has a number of plots scattered around the outskirts of Kyiv: 45 acres in the village of Buky for farming, 10 acres in Shevchenkove for construction. Another 8 acres — in Hnidyn for gardening. And these are only in the wife’s ownership. Yaroslav himself has another plot of 8 acres in Gnidyn and another 25 acres in the village of Fenyvychi for development.

From Father-in-law and Mother-in-law for Free and with Love

"Novopecherski Lypky." The Holovachov family has a whole 118 squares here. An apartment of this size without renovation in this building now costs 12.5 million hryvnias — about 300 thousand dollars. The property belongs to Serhiy Rybchenko — Holovachov’s father-in-law. Three rooms purchased in 2013 differed little in dollar value. From $3500 to $4500 per square meter. Another elite residential complex - "Central Park". In it — another apartment of 120 squares, purchased in 2019. An apartment of the same size on a real estate website is offered for 650 thousand dollars, or over 27 million UAH. At the time of purchase without renovation, this apartment cost at least 120 thousand dollars.

But what does the father-in-law have to do with it? It’s simple. It is in this apartment, according to the declaration of the head of the Court of Appeal Holovachov, that his whole family is registered on the terms of free use.

Similarly, they use a parking space there for free. Likewise, the father-in-law provided a car — a 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLS 400 — for free use. The car was purchased in December 2023. And it costs at least 80 thousand dollars.

The father-in-law, by the way, was a deputy of the Kyiv-Sviatoshyn Raion Council, elected in 2015 from "Eurosolidarity." In his last declaration for 2020, he indicated slightly less than a million hryvnias of business income for the year. And another 100 thousand in pension. A lot, but is it enough for all the aforementioned property? But the mother-in-law, Lileya Kernycha, is not sitting idly either. For many years she has had businesses — flower trade and construction, the rest, including an individual entrepreneur, are in one way or another connected with leasing real estate. In the same 2020, the total official income from all businesses amounted to 920 thousand hryvnias. About 70 thousand a month.

Kernycha, just like her husband, willingly gives her assets to the children for use. In the luxurious capital apartments, the judge’s family became cramped, and already in September 2022, the Holovachovs amicably moved into her 220-square-meter mansion with a 12-acre plot in the suburbs of Kyiv, the village of Severynivka. In the sales department, we were told that a bare shell costs there from 80 thousand dollars, but depending on the location and decoration, the price can reach 700 thousand dollars.

Similarly, the Holovachov family uses the mother-in-law’s 47-square-meter apartment for free in the same "French Quarter," where the grandfather on the father’s side gifted the grandson Myron the property, which we mentioned at the beginning of this story. Also, the judge uses a parking space there.

"French Quarter" was not only favored by the father-in-law and mother-in-law. The father of the head of the court simultaneously purchased another apartment and two garages with the in-laws. You ask why a family, where one declared car is listed, which belongs to the grandfather, needs three parking spaces? Because there is also a passion for elite "cars" in Yaroslav’s family.

Car Fleet

For example, the BMW X5. In 2023, it belonged to his wife Anastasiya. In April 2023, she had an accident while driving it. In December, she was selling it for almost 37 thousand dollars. According to registry data, the 70-year-old mother-in-law of the court head now drives a 2019 Audi Q8. Such a car costs on average over 60 thousand dollars. The 73-year-old father-in-law, in addition to the mentioned “Mercedes,” owns a regular Fiat Doblo 2020 model year. The 78-year-old father of Holovachov in 2024 purchased a 2016 Mersedes-Benz Citan for approximately 10 thousand dollars and a 2017 Volkswagen Transporter for 20 thousand dollars. But Yaroslav Holovachov himself does not own any cars.

Of course, we wanted to ask Yaroslav Holovachov himself how he has been managing to circumvent the rules for four years, remaining in position for a decade. However, no one answered any of the phone numbers of the Kyiv Court of Appeal head.

If we calculate all the real estate of the Holovachov family, which, in addition to him, includes his wife Anastasiya, sons Myron and Myroslav, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and the head of the court’s father, they currently own — 6 apartments, 5 garages (all in the central part of the capital, mostly the most expensive Pechersk), 15 land plots scattered around the outskirts of Kyiv, with a total area of almost 2 hectares and another 2 residential houses. According to our most modest calculations, the total value of all non-movable assets as of now is 3 million dollars.

A large part of the entire property empire is in the free use of Holovachov himself or members of his family. As for income, to compare it schematically, let’s take 2020, which was reported by Holovachov himself and his family, as well as his wife’s family. So, in 2020, the incomes of all family members from all activities amounted to about 5.5 million UAH. In 2023, Yaroslav and his family declared about 6 million UAH of income. Yes, these are all very large amounts, but at such a pace, collecting for multi-million dollar fortunes in dollars would probably take years.