Ex-Vice Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba is being tipped for a post in the NSDC amid a SAPO lawsuit over property worth 5 million hryvnias

Personnel reshuffles continue in Ukraine, which began after the resignation of Yuliya Svyrydenko’s government and were intensified by protests following the dismissal of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. The result has been quite strange decisions, such as the appointment of Rustem Umerov as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

This is reported by the portal “Comments”.

Another manifestation of this personnel crisis could be the possible entry into the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine of former Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction Oleksiy Kuleba.

From a utilities official to deputy prime minister

Kyiv native Oleksiy Kuleba had an unremarkable biography until the age of 36, which included studies, teaching and public activities, and a very small business. In 2019, he became director of the Department of Urban Improvement of the Kyiv City State Administration, although his entire experience in the utilities sector was limited to the position of advisor to the director of the municipal enterprise “Pleso.” A year later, Kuleba took the post of first deputy mayor of the capital Vitali Klitschko on issues of local self-government. In 2022–2023, he twice headed the Kyiv Regional Administration — first the state administration and later the military administration.

Oleksiy Kuleba moved to a new level of power in January 2023, becoming deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, from where in September 2024 he moved to the position of Deputy Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine — Minister for the Development of Communities and Territories. As part of the Cabinet of Ministers under two prime ministers, he lasted 22 months, but the renewed Cabinet no longer had a place for him.

However, at the beginning of August, information appeared about his possible appointment to the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, reported by two sources at once. According to “Ukrainska Pravda” and MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, Kuleba’s presence at the presentation of the new NSDC secretary Ihor Klymenko was not accidental. The deputy prime minister was allegedly offered the position of deputy secretary of the National Security and Defence Council.

He did not make it into the new Cabinet and may not make it into the NSDC because of corruption worth 5 million hryvnias

However, a trail of corruption that not only follows the former official but has actually led to him being taken to court since June could undermine Oleksiy Kuleba’s possible appointment. It is likely that the criminal case prevented him from joining the third consecutive composition of the government.

On June 17, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office announced that it was asking the court to declare assets acquired by Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine — Minister for the Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Kuleba — unjustified.

Thus, the SAPO prosecutor, based on NABU materials, filed a lawsuit with the High Anti-Corruption Court to declare unjustified and recover for the state assets worth almost 5 million hryvnias acquired by Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine — Minister for the Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Kuleba (position at the time the lawsuit was filed). The lawsuit is motivated by the fact that in 2021, while serving as First Deputy Head of the Kyiv City Administration, the official, through his sister, concluded preliminary purchase and sale agreements for an apartment and a parking space in Kyiv. In 2023, while serving as Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the official concluded purchase and sale agreements for the specified properties, their state registration, as well as contracts for services for the apartment and parking space, involving his driver in the process.

“An analysis of the official income and expenses of A. Kuleba and his family established that they did not have sufficient legal income to purchase these assets. In view of the above, the prosecutor filed a lawsuit to declare the assets unjustified and to recover them from the nominal owner, whose legality of origin raises reasonable doubts, in favor of the state,” the press service of the SAPO of Ukraine reported.

The official himself stated in a comment to “Suspilne”: “throughout my entire public activity, I have acted openly, did not conceal my income, property, or other information subject to declaration, and all necessary information was reflected in declarations in accordance with the procedure established by law and is publicly available.”

As a result, on June 17 the High Anti-Corruption Court accepted the SAPO’s arguments and imposed an arrest on an apartment with an area of 109.9 square meters (value 4 million 407 thousand hryvnias) and a parking space with an area of 14.4 square meters (value 520 thousand hryvnias).

According to the SAPO, Oleksiy Kuleba concluded a preliminary agreement to purchase the apartment (presumably at the construction stage of a residential building) and the parking space in May 2021, and the final agreement was executed in October 2023. The official used his sister as a trusted person and acted through trusted persons — his driver and wife.

According to SAPO calculations, Oleksiy Kuleba and his wife Halyna Dmytrychenko-Kuleba earned 764,247.66 hryvnias in 2021, while the difference between this amount and the value of the assets amounted to 4 million 926,990 hryvnias. Thus, this falls under the definition of illicit enrichment.

It should be noted that both real estate properties are listed in the deputy prime minister’s own declaration. When reporting on his financial situation for 2025, the deputy prime minister indicated the apartment and parking space as belonging to Nadiya Andrianova, which he and his family had the right to use. Nadiya Andrianova is likely the official’s sister, at least she appears in this capacity in court documents.

It is interesting that in the YouControl analytical service, Nadiya Andrianova is engaged in business, registered as an individual entrepreneur in the field of “advertising agencies.” However, the sister of Oleksiy Kuleba became an entrepreneur only on November 30, 2023 — that is, five weeks after the purchase of the apartment and two and a half years after the preliminary purchase agreement for the housing. In other words, it is completely unclear where Nadiya Andrianova got 5 million hryvnias in 2021–2023 to buy real estate.

It should be noted that it was probably the scandal that erupted in June around these assets of Oleksiy Kuleba that prevented him from remaining in the government after the resignation of Yuliya Svyrydenko’s Cabinet. At the same time, the opportunity to become deputy secretary of the NSDC may serve as an indulgence from possible criminal prosecution.

However, in addition to the case of “Oleksiy Kuleba’s sister” and assets worth 5 million hryvnias, a case involving “Oleksiy Kuleba’s mother” and an apartment worth 8 million hryvnias may also hit the former deputy prime minister.

A gift from mom — an elite studio apartment worth 8 million in the Pechersk district

It is interesting that on May 15, 2025, Oleksiy Kuleba submitted a declaration of significant changes in property status, in which he indicated a non-monetary gift worth almost 8 million hryvnias from Iryna Kuleba. It concerned an apartment in Kyiv with an area of almost 65 square meters, which he received on May 8.

It should be noted that, according to “Comments” interlocutors among Kyiv realtors, such an apartment is an example of elite housing for the capital, but inexpensive.

“65 square meters for 8 million is definitely elite housing, most likely a studio apartment, although it is a two-room one, and it may depend on the specific project. In the elite housing segment, this is inexpensive now. The housing itself may be located in Podil, Obolon, near parks, along Beresteiskyi Avenue,” the “Comments” interlocutors explained.

It should be noted that almost 8 million hryvnias for an apartment with an area of 65 square meters means a price per square meter of 123 thousand hryvnias or approximately 2,750 dollars today. Judging by the data from the real estate portal Dom.ria, the housing donated by the mother of the former deputy prime minister of Ukraine is most likely located in the Pechersk district of the capital, where the average price per square meter of housing is about 3,100 dollars.

For example, in the same Pechersk district, for 7.9 million hryvnias one can buy a two-room apartment of 63.5 square meters on the 5th floor on Kniaziv Ostrovskykh Street, albeit in an old building. Slightly more expensive — 8.5 million hryvnias — will be newer but one-room apartments in the residential complexes “Alter Ego” and “Aristocrat.”

All this raises questions — where exactly did the official’s mother get the money for such expensive purchases and gifts to her son, and is this not explained by the same scheme of buying housing for another relative, now the mother rather than the sister, and its subsequent legalization through a gift agreement?

It should be noted that officially Oleksiy Kuleba’s condition is quite modest. Thus, out of 10 real estate properties, he personally owns 393 square meters of land, 50% of the same apartment from his mother worth 8 million hryvnias (the remaining 50% belongs to his wife Halyna Dmytrychenko-Kuleba) and 25% of an apartment of 87.7 square meters. His wife Halyna owns 1,520 square meters of land, a garage, a residential house of 376.5 square meters and 25% shares in two more apartments. The official’s daughters — Maryana and Khrystyna — also have their shares.

In 2025, Oleksiy Kuleba earned 1 million 482 thousand hryvnias in salary, while his wife earned about 4.2 million hryvnias, of which 2 million 981 thousand came from income from her individual entrepreneur in the field of law and 63,730 hryvnias from the sale of electricity from her solar power plant. It should be noted that the wife of the former official started her business only in October 2023. The minister also personally owns 17,900 dollars, 14,700 euros and 474 thousand hryvnias. His wife has 20,000 dollars, 3,496 euros and 224 thousand hryvnias.

It should be noted that even to purchase a MAZDA SG-60 car worth 1 million 918 thousand hryvnias in May 2025, the minister’s wife took out a loan of 1 million 93 thousand hryvnias, of which she repaid 421,765 hryvnias. Halyna Dmytrychenko-Kuleba is building apartments of 40 square meters in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

If Oleksiy Kuleba fails to prove that he is an important and necessary part of the power vertical, at least in the NSDC or any other state authority, he may face the fate of former ambassador to the United States Olha Stefanishyna. Immediately after her dismissal, NABU took up her case, bringing charges of illicit enrichment and inaccurate declaration of property. The case immediately went to court with arrest or bail.