During the full-scale war with Russia, Ukrainians have repeatedly witnessed the authorities’ thoughtless decisions to spend budget funds: on tiles in dozens of rear cities and asphalt in frontline cities, multi-billion dollar road junctions in the capital and tens to hundreds of millions on roads throughout Ukraine, as well as TV shows, drums, vegetable cutters…
Another multimillion-dollar expense from the budget is compensation for renting housing in Kyiv for MPs. Between March 2022 and April 2024, UAH 64.5 million has already been spent on this. During this time, 160 MPs, which is 40% of the entire parliamentary corps, have exercised their right to compensation.
Slidstvo.Info journalists analysed MPs’ declarations and found that some of them buy Rolexes and real estate abroad while simultaneously receiving compensation for renting housing in the capital. Moreover, a number of MPs rent housing for more than UAH 60,000 per month, which is more than their salary.
This is described in the publication by Slidstvo.Info. The video has English subtitles.
A PRIVILEGE FOR THE RICHEST
According to the declarations of MPs, the richest among those seeking compensation from the state are several representatives of the Restoration of Ukraine group.
MP Oleh Voronko took UAH 237,000 from the budget in 2022. In his last declaration, the MP indicated almost 1.5 million dollars, more than 1 million euros, as well as hundreds of thousands in other currencies.
Oleh Voronko
Yevhen Yakovenko has received more than half a million hryvnias in compensation for more than 2 years of full-scale invasion. At the same time, the MP has 950,000 dollars, 830,000 euros, and almost 2 million hryvnias in personal savings. His wife also has tidy sums in dollars, euros, and hryvnias.
Yevhen Yakovenko
Valeriy Hnatenko received UAH 434 thousand in compensation in 2022-2023. At the same time, he and his wife have more than UAH 3 million in savings, and last year she earned more than UAH 4 million.
Valeriy Hnatenko
The journalists of Slidstvo.Info tried to talk to the representatives of Restoration of Ukraine, but the deputies did not respond to calls and messages.
AN APARTMENT IN SPAIN, AN INVESTMENT IN POLISH PROPERTY AND A NEW AUDI
One of the most illustrative was the story of Yevhen Petruniak, a Servant of the People. During the full-scale war, the MP received UAH 486,000 in compensation, though he forgot to indicate his rented accommodation in his declaration.
Yevhen Petruniak
In September 2022, Petruniak’s wife bought a 130-square-metre apartment in Spain and invested more than PLN 1 million in two Polish developers.
At the end of April this year, the MP purchased an AUDI S7 2023 and indicated a price half the market price.
Slidstvo.Info journalists called Petruniak and asked him about his declarations. The MP asked them to send him a written request, assuring them that he would answer all the questions.
The journalists sent the request and reminded him of it several times during the week. Later, Slidstvo.Info tried to talk to the MP again by phone, but Petruniak blocked the contact and ignored phone calls from other numbers. In conclusion, Yevhen Petruniak did not respond to the request.
‘CALLING TO PROVOKE’?
Another Servant of the People, Vladlen Nekliudov, was outraged by the journalist’s question and said that he had no accommodation, so he had the right to rent and receive compensation.
Vladlen Nekliudov
The MP rents a 116-square-metre apartment in Novopecherski Lypky, one of the most prestigious residential complexes in the centre of Kyiv. The cost of an apartment of similar size in the neighbourhood of the MP starts at UAH 65,000. At the same time, the MP’s monthly salary does not even reach UAH 57,000.
MP Ihor Nehulevskyi of the Servant of the People party calls questions about renting an apartment for which he receives compensation from the state ‘personal’ and refuses to talk about it.
Ihor Nehulevskyi
Instead, in the ads at the address where Nehulevskyi rents an apartment, journalists found offers for apartments of a similar size — from UAH 60,000 per month. This is more than the MP’s monthly salary.
ROLEXES, AN ELITE FLEET OF CARS AND COMPENSATION FOR A HOTEL
During the first year and a half of the full-scale invasion, MP Serhiy Labaziuk from For the Future received UAH 316,500 in compensation for accommodation at the Kyiv Hotel.
Serhiy Labasiuk
While the MP was being compensated for his accommodation from the budget, Labasiuk bought a luxury Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust watch for almost UAH 400,000. In the same year, 2022, the Labasiuk family’s car fleet was replenished with new cars. The MP uses two 2019 Porsche Cayenne, one 2017 Land Rover Range Rover and a 2021 Mercedes-Benz S 400. The MP’s wife, Violeta Labaziuk, is the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council and uses a brand new Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 2023 under a contract. The car costs between UAH 7.5 million and 15 million, depending on the equipment.
Last summer, the Labaziuks finally bought a property in Pechersk, Kyiv, and stopped taking rent money from the state.
THEY ONLY RESPOND IN WRITING
Several MPs agreed to provide written answers to the questions of Slidstvo.Info. MP Andrii Zhupanyn got married in September. His wife has an apartment in Kyiv, but the MP said that he does not live with her because of her mother.
‘My wife’s mother lives in my wife’s apartment. She moved to Kyiv from Kryvyi Rih because it is safer and more peaceful for her to live in Kyiv. Given that my wife’s apartment is 43 square metres, it would be difficult for three adults to live in it.’
Andrii Zhupanyn
The MP did not specify the cost of rent, explaining that it was confidential information that could only be disclosed with the consent of the landlord.
On classifieds in the Pechersk residential complex, the cost of apartments with an identical size to the MP’s starts at UAH 60,000. The monthly salary of an MP is UAH 51,500.
Out of a dozen MPs, only two were able to provide answers about the cost of renting an apartment in Kyiv. Thus, MP Maksym Pashkovskyi indicated that the cost of renting his apartment, also in the Pechersk district, is UAH 37,000.
‘I am partially compensated for this amount in accordance with the procedure established by the current legislation of Ukraine, and I cover the remaining rent from my own funds,’ Pashkovskyi said.
Maksym Pashkovskyi
The MP also added that he supports amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Status of People’s Deputy of Ukraine’.
‘If the society initiates changes to this law, then there is no doubt that I will comply with the law without any ‘buts’. Do I support changes to Ukrainian legislation in this regard? Yes, it would be fair. I can say that even without changing the law, any wealthy MP who declares tens or hundreds of millions of hryvnias in income can refuse compensation at will,’ said Pashkovsky.
IS THERE A SOLUTION?
MP Yuriy Kamelchuk says that 40 thousand hryvnias of his MP salary is spent completely.
‘I don’t have a home either in Lviv or Kyiv, so I have to rent. Our salary level is 40-45 thousand hryvnias, which is enough to rent an apartment and buy some food. Rent plus utilities, plus transport. That is, UAH 40,000 is needed to break even,’ Kamelchuk says.
Yuriy Kamelchuk
The MP also adds that he does not understand the expensive purchases of his colleagues and points to the moral and ethical side of the problem.
The editor-in-chief of the CHESNO Movement, Oleksandr Salizhenko, who assesses the lifestyle of MPs, is convinced that a solution to the rent compensation can be found in such a way that the interests of those who really need it are taken into account.
‘Undoubtedly, this process can be regulated even more precisely. On the one hand, this should be done by the Verkhovna Rada Secretariat and the Regulatory Committee. And it is within the NACP’s competence to compare the lifestyle of this MP in reality, either in relation to his declaration and his compensation, or for housing or transport. So if there was a will, everything can be settled. Let’s hope that in the next convocation there will be some changes in this regard,’ said the expert of the CHESNO Movement.
In addition to millions for housing rental compensation, the state pays for MPs’ business trips, trips within Ukraine and abroad, and pays salaries to their assistants. Millions of hryvnias are spent annually from the budget for these purposes.
Slidstvo.Info will continue to investigate whether all MPs who receive compensation are entitled to it, and whether the financial situation of the MPs really justifies such a ‘need’.
