Life under the open sky with a Rolex on the wrist: the phenomenon of mass "poverty" among Ukrainian top officials

Life under the open sky with a Rolex on the wrist: the phenomenon of mass "poverty" among Ukrainian top officials

Another alarming anomaly has been recorded in the Ukrainian electronic declaration system: the number of officials who officially have no place of residence has risen to a staggering 64 thousand people.

Despite the clear legal requirement to indicate not only ownership but also any type of use — from renting to living rent-free with relatives — judges, deputies, and law enforcement officers have been leaving the «Real Estate» section empty for years. An investigation by NGL.media journalists NGL.media exposes absurd cases: from judges with salaries of 100 thousand hryvnias who «sleep somewhere», to deputies who buy home theaters worth over 300 thousand, officially having no apartment to put them in.

Journalist Mariya Horban analyzes how «old habits» and excuses about «not knowing the legislation» have become a convenient cover for hiding real property status. While the NACP is physically unable to check over 600 thousand annual reports, selecting only 1200 most risky ones for analysis, thousands of public servants effectively remove their household from public scrutiny. This is a story about how a declaration turns from a transparency tool into fiction, where wealth is measured by gold watches, and the roof over one’s head remains «invisible» to the law.

«It so happened that I have no real estate», – sadly states former head of one of the Poltava courts, Anatoliy Potetiy. His declaration looks almost empty: an old personal car, another rented one – and no housing or other real estate. It seems like he lives on the street.

In Ukraine, there are tens of thousands of such public servants like this judge. Although the law requires declaring any type of housing use – not only ownership, but also rent or free stay with «in-laws», they leave the «real estate objects» field in the declaration empty for years. According to NGL.media data, almost 46 thousand Ukrainian public servants «declare homelessness» for at least two years, and over the last year – more than 64 thousand officials.

Such declarations do not reflect the property status of this or that official – and therefore violate the very essence of public declaration.

Real Estate in Declarations

Every year, public servants must fill out a property declaration for the previous year on the website of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP). It consists of 16 sections – information about the declarant themselves, family members, income, savings, loans, membership in public organizations, as well as movable and immovable property.

The declarant must indicate all real estate that is in any way related to them: houses, apartments, land plots, garages, parking spaces, even sheds. And it doesn’t matter whether they own this real estate, rent it, or use it free of charge.

«Declarants cannot leave the «Real Estate Objects» section of the declaration empty. No declarant can actually have nowhere to live», – explains Serhiy Mytkalyk, head of the public organization «Anti-Corruption Headquarters».

Judges Without a Home

Judge of the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv, Oksana Kryvorot, has been practically homeless for eight years – at least that’s the impression from her property declarations. Starting from 2017, she declares no real estate in ownership, rent, or use.

Judge of the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv Oksana Kryvorot

At the same time, Kryvorot indicates her registration place – the village of Khotiv near Kyiv, where her relatives own real estate. In particular, her mother owned a land plot with a house on the central street, and nearby, her brother and his wife own land.

In a conversation with NGL.media, Oksana Kryvorot insists that she owns no housing, since «she is alone and doesn’t need anything». She says she mostly lives in the house of her recently deceased mother in Khotiv or stays overnight in Kyiv with a friend.

«I either came to my mom’s here in Khotiv, or slept somewhere», – the judge said.

Oksana Kryvorot does not think she violates the rules for filling out property declarations. According to her, in recent years she really has no single place of residence.

She is not alone – NGL.media found at least seven more judges without housing. Given that Ukrainian judges earn no less than 100 thousand UAH per month, this seems highly unlikely.

For example, judge of the Industrial Court of Kharkiv Diana Palianichko, who was appointed to the position in the summer of 2024. She has been working and living in Kharkiv for almost two years, but does not declare housing.

In a conversation with NGL.media, she explains that she rents an apartment in Kharkiv. «Of course, I rent housing under a contract. I thought that only property you own needs to be indicated. This is my oversight, I will make changes in the corrected declaration», – Palianichko said.

Where to Put the Home Theater?

31-year-old Denys Lyubchenko became a deputy of the Kyiv City Council in October 2023. He is an active member of «European Solidarity», previously headed the Kyiv branch of «Solidarna Molod», the youth wing of the party. In 2019, law enforcement officers conducted searches at his place – because of a video in which then-presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskyy is allegedly hit by a truck.

Denys Lyubchenko

In his 2025 property declaration, Denys Lyubchenko indicated 68 thousand dollars, 60 thousand euros, and 77 thousand hryvnias in savings. Additionally, the deputy lent 900 thousand hryvnias to his company «Modern Technologies of Electronic Commerce», which, according to YouControl data, is part of Petro Poroshenko’s «Ukprominvest» business group.

Denys Lyubchenko declares a luxury Rolex watch for almost 265 thousand hryvnias, as well as a TV for 269 thousand hryvnias and a home theater worth 306 thousand hryvnias – but indicates no housing in his declarations over the last four years. Why does a person without a home need a home theater?

Lyubchenko promised NGL.media to explain this paradox, but after the call, he turned off his phone. He also did not respond to the written questions sent to him.

Who Most Often Does Not Declare Real Estate

Among almost 46 thousand public servants who have not declared any housing for at least the last two years, there are the most representatives of local authorities, as well as communal enterprises (9.5 thousand). Next come law enforcement officers and military personnel (7.3 thousand each), and almost one and a half thousand – employees of ministries and subordinate territorial bodies and services. Nine employees of the Office of the President also did not indicate any real estate.

Among law enforcement officers, the most declarants without real estate are among police and patrol officers. Although there are employees of other agencies – in particular, 14 employees of the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB) and six employees of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI).

For example, Deputy Head of one of the BEB departments Andriy Serhieiev stopped declaring any real estate from 2024 onward. In January 2024, he gifted his mother a share in an apartment in Kyiv – and since then has no housing.

«The apartment belongs to my mom. No one told me that it should be this way. I have nothing in real estate – that’s a fact. I live in this apartment, and my mom moved to her homeland, to Pereiaslav region», – Serhieiev said.

According to him, he made a mistake because he filled it out «out of old habit», although the requirement to indicate all used property has been in effect for a long time.

Declaration Difficulties

Former head of the Poltava District Court Anatoliy Potetiy, according to the declaration, owns only an old UAZ car from 1979. Previously, Potetiy declared rent of a 12 m² room in Poltava, and starting from 2022 – does not indicate any real estate objects.

Anatoliy Potetiy

In a conversation with NGL.media, he insists that he really has no real estate in ownership and lives in a rented room in a dormitory.

«First I lived in one room, now in another. I spend most of my time there, but since I retired, I travel back and forth more often», – says Anatoliy Potetiy.

The judge’s resignation was accepted in July 2025. According to Potetiy, he was tired of the intense work schedule, so he decided to live for himself. But instead of rest, he complains, he has to go to court – he believes that his lifelong monetary maintenance amount was calculated incorrectly.

Previously, the NACP paid attention to the use of a 2020 Renault Duster car, which the judge declares from 2023. Since Potetiy paid only 10 thousand hryvnias for rent instead of about 100 thousand hryvnias, in the NACP’s opinion, he effectively received an expensive gift.

«The NACP approached this situation very interestingly. I used the car on a paid basis, but for some reason that didn’t suit them», – Potetiy says. At the end of 2025, the Shevchenkivskyi Court of Poltava closed the case.

The retired judge explains his incomplete declaration by the complexity when filling out declarations.

«Our declarations are very complicated. Some very unclear situation about what needs to be indicated. Today you indicate something – next time they will write that it’s already wrong», – Anatoliy Potetiy believes.

Declaration Checks

One of the NACP’s tasks is to check declarations – whether officials really indicated all property and funds correctly, or tried to hide something. There is a special algorithm for this.

«This is an automated system that allows detecting potential risks by applying defined indicators. Such indicators are often called «red flags», as they signal possible violations and the need for a more detailed check of the relevant declaration», – explains declaration expert Serhiy Mytkalyk.

According to Mytkalyk, the absence of any real estate in the declaration can be a risk indicator. At the same time, the decision to conduct a check is usually made when the system detects several «red flags» at once.

«I am not aware of cases where a check was initiated, a protocol drawn up, or criminal proceedings initiated solely on the grounds of absence of information about real estate in the declaration», – Serhiy Mytkalyk noted.

For inaccurate declaration, depending on the value of the property, disciplinary (up to 450 thousand hryvnias), administrative (up to 2.2 million hryvnias), or criminal liability is provided. At the same time, the court also considers whether the person intentionally failed to indicate complete information in their declarations.

«It is about knowingly submitting false information in the declaration or intentional failure to submit a declaration. That is why during the check, circumstances are clarified, including by obtaining explanations from the declarant: whether there was ignorance of the legislation, or, on the contrary, the person deliberately tried to hide the relevant property», – Mytkalyk explains.

However, the NACP cannot process all declarations. About 630 thousand declarations are submitted annually, while within full checks, the NACP analyzes only about 1200 declarations.

«The NACP often proceeds from the fact that such violations [not indicating complete information about real estate] are caused not by the intent to hide information, but by insufficient understanding of legislative requirements. In particular, a common misconception is that real estate objects are subject to declaration only in case of ownership and do not take into account the obligation to indicate objects that are in use», – the declaration expert says.

In response to NGL.media’s request, the NACP reported that they have not conducted checks of declarations of any of the public servants mentioned in this publication.

Authors: Mariya Horban, data collection and analysis Maksym Pikho