Oleksiy Kuznietsov, a Ukrainian parliament member who relocated from Luhansk Oblast, has received 1.3 million hryvnias ($31,467) in state subsidies for renting housing in Kyiv since 2019. Meanwhile, his wife, Alina Kuznietsova, who also receives payments as an internally displaced person, purchased a plot of land in Kyiv with an unfinished house in April 2021 for 2.8 million hryvnias ($100,324 at the 2021 exchange rate).
The family has spent the past four years renovating the property, which an expert now estimates to be worth over $400,000. The house, not yet officially registered or occupied, lacks precise specifications or a declared owner, but the head of the local cooperative confirmed to Slidstvo.Info that Alina Kuznietsova frequently visits the site and the family plans to move in soon, according to Slidstvo.Info’s investigation.
Kuznietsov, formerly of the Servant of the People party, declared the land and unfinished house in his financial disclosures. At the same time, for many years now, this displaced parliamentarian from Luhansk Oblast has been receiving compensation from the state for renting accommodation in Kyiv. According to information from Suspilne Donbas, over the last five years he has received 1.3 million hryvnias ($31,467) for this.
Journalists from Slidstvo.Info located the apartment Kuznietsov rents in Kyiv’s upscale Obolonska Naberezhna area. The landlady, Vita Sanytska, told investigative journalists she rents out the 100-square-meter apartment for 20,000 hryvnias ($484) per month, a rate unchanged for a decade.
“I felt sorry for them because they came from Luhansk. They weren’t MPs then, just ordinary people with two small kids. They lost everything, their house in Siverskodonetsk,” Sanytska said, recalling their arrival.
The “garden” house on Alina Kuznietsova’s property has been undergoing renovations in recent years. Journalists inspected the lawmaker’s property and talked to her neighbors. According to them, the renovations are mainly taking place inside the house.
Journalists learned from the head of the cooperative where the house is located that the lawmaker’s family plans to move in soon as almost everything is ready for them to move in. When Slidstvo.Info contacted Alina Kuznietsova to inquire about renovation costs, she responded, “My truth doesn’t interest you anyway,” and stopped answering calls for days.
The investigation revealed that days before purchasing the land, Alina borrowed 3.2 million hryvnias ($117,376 in 2021) from an individual named Mariya Kobets. Kuznietsov’s latest declaration shows only 500,000 hryvnias ($12,103) of the loan repaid.
Previous owners of the property confirmed the land was sold with an unfinished house of at least 350 square meters, without renovations. When asked by the journalist to clarify the size of the house, the man replied: “No less than 350 [square meters], probably no less.”
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Architect Oleh Hrechukh estimated the property’s construction and renovation costs at $400,000 or more, depending on interior finishes. Comparable homes in the same cooperative are listed for $350,000 to $650,000.
Antonina Volkotrub, an analyst at the Anti-Corruption Action Center, questioned the reported purchase price of 2.8 million hryvnias ($100,000), suggesting it may be undervalued.
“To me, this purchase price seems quite low. At that time, it was about $100,000 (2.8 million hryvnias in 2021 – ed.). And if the price is low, it may indicate that not all assets have been declared. Moreover, this could be a way to hide illegal enrichment. You can write an appeal to the NACP so that they can conduct their own investigation,” says the anti-corruption expert.
Considering that the lawmaker’s family paid around $100,000 when they bought the plot four years ago, they had to find several hundred thousand more dollars to finish the house, which now looks completely ready for occupancy.
Journalists from Slidstvo.Info, together with an analyst from the Anti-Corruption Action Center, analyzed the official income of Kuznietsov and his family over the past four years. “Mr. Kuznietsov declared (in his 2019 tax return – ed.) $100,000, which dwindled to $30,000 by the end of 2024. It turns out that $70,000 was spent during this entire period. It seems that they (the Kuznietsovs – ed.) had some funds for all these repairs, but the question is whether they were enough. Considering the official income, this story is quite doubtful that he had enough legal funds for everything,” Antonina Volkotrub concludes.
Recently, NABU and SAPO detained MP Oleksiy Kuznietsov on charges of embezzlement of budget funds. According to the investigation, during 2024-2025, an organized group, which may have included Mr. Kuznietsov, set up a scheme of, in essence, “kickbacks” during the purchase of drones and electronic warfare equipment for the military. Investigators claim that suppliers inflated the cost of the equipment, and the organizers received a 30% kickback from the cost of the equipment. The amount of funds embezzled could reach $80,000. The legislator is currently in pre-trial detention with the possibility of posting bail of 8 million hryvnias ($193,641), which, according to Slidstvo.Info, Kuznietsov has not yet taken advantage of.
After Kuznietsov’s arrest, his membership in the Servant of the People faction, through which he entered parliament in 2019, was suspended. However, he remains a member of parliament.
