Slidstvo.Info journalists have come across a curious scheme: how officials who love the luxury life can avoid giving it up but also avoid disclosing the purchase of expensive items in their declarations. In autumn 2023, a Brovary company that, among other things, repairs local elevators, purchased two brand new cars and leased them for ridiculously low prices. The company leased a 2023 Range Rover Sport to the wife of the mayor of Brovary for UAH 10,000, and a 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid to an employee of the Pension Fund for UAH 4,000.
This is revealed in a new investigation by Slidstvo.Info. The video has English subtitles.
MADAME BROVARY
Maryna Sapozhko is the wife of Brovary Mayor Ihor Sapozhko and a member of the Kyiv Regional Council.
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- Maryna Sapozhko
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- Ihor Sapozhko
Mrs Sapozhko owns several expensive cars, as can be seen from her and her husband’s official declarations. Sapozhko’s declaration for 2023 lists three cars: a free use of a 2019 Range Rover Sport owned by her mother-in-law; a 2021 Toyota Land Cruiser rented by her husband from the security company Komkon; and a brand new 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 purchased by Ihor Sapozhko.
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However, as Slidstvo.Info has learned, these three cars are not the entire fleet of the Sapozhko family. According to the information provided to journalists by experts from the Anti-Corruption Headquarters, Maryna Sapozhko drives a brand new Range Rover Sport 2023, the price of which on the official distributor’s website varies from UAH 4.5 to almost 10 million. According to the photos found by Slidstvo.Info in the media, this is the car Maryna Sapozhko is using.
Maryna Sapozhko at the wheel / Source: Antikor
‘This is definitely a premium car. Range Rover is about style, it’s British style. People appreciate what you see in front of you and pay money for it. High-quality materials, laconic design, air suspension, high-end climate system — everything here is at a high level. You immediately realise that this is a Range Rover,’ Yaroslav Mintus, an Infocar presenter, describes the car during a short test drive for Slidstvo.Info.
The fact that Ms Sapozhko used this car was confirmed by the National Agency for Corruption Prevention. They also provided the cost of renting the premium car, which looks clearly understated. The NACP reported that, according to a specialised company, the minimum market value for renting a Range Rover Sport 2023 is just over a million hryvnias during September 2023 — July 2024.
NACP response to the NGO Anti-Corruption Headquarters
SEARCH FOR A RANGE ROVER SPORT FOR RENT
It is not easy to rent such a car: journalists did not find a 2023 model either at an official dealer or in rental services.
During a telephone conversation with the official distributor of JLR in Ukraine, the representative said that this particular model was not available for rent. She also confirmed that a day’s rental of such a car used to cost 15,000 hryvnias.
Another rental service also assured that the 2023 Range Rover Sport model is not available. However, the same 2018 model is available, and the cost of a rental day varies depending on the duration of use: 1-3 days will cost $280 per day, 30 days and more — $150 per day.
‘Let’s say this car costs $140,000, then a month’s rent, I think, will cost around $3-3.5 thousand. You won’t be able to rent a Peugeot 301 for 10 thousand hryvnias a month to work as a taxi driver. What kind of Range Rover are we talking about,’ analyses Yaroslav Mintus, host of Infocar.
So, as follows from the NACP’s response and attempts to rent a car similar to the Range Rover used by Maryna Sapozhko, UAH 10,000 per month is clearly a low price. Renting such a car costs at least UAH 90,000 per month. Or, as the car expert says, about UAH 130,000.
A MAINTENANCE COMPANY FOR ELEVATORS
Maryna Sapozhko rents this luxury car from Ukrgefest, a private multidisciplinary company that, among other things, maintains elevators.
The journalists analysed Ukrgefest‘s participation in public procurement. Over the past seven years, this company has won 225 lots worth almost UAH 48 million. The most frequent organisers of these tenders were the municipal enterprises of Brovary City Council and the Executive Committee of Brovary City Council.
The place of registration of Ukrgefest was an ordinary apartment building, where journalists went to find out how it happened that a Brovary company that regularly wins city council tenders decided to buy a brand new Range Rover and lease it to the mayor’s wife for a pittance. In the end, no one opened the door.
By the way, an interesting fact: Just before registering a 2023 Range Rover Sport, Ukrgefest added a new activity code (KVED) for ‘Car and Light Vehicle Rental’ to its business activities. This happened on September 1, 2023, and on September 2, the company registered the vehicle. Starting from September 5, Maryna Sapozhko, the wife of Brovary’s mayor, began driving it.
Slidstvo.Info journalists tried several times to talk to Mrs Sapozhko by phone, but her response was limited to a short one: ‘I’m sorry, I can’t talk’.
In its response, the NACP informed the Anti-Corruption Headquarters that it had established the fact that the mayor of Brovary, Ihor Sapozhko, was using a 2023 Range Rover Sport, which is rented by his wife.
‘An official has no right to rent cars at low prices, buy any property, or use anything for free. The head of the territorial community should not act in the interests of any company to which he or she may have a connection or private interest,’ comments Serhii Mytkalyk, Chairman of the Board of the NGO Anti-Corruption Headquarters.
Serhii Mytkalyk
PENSION FUND OFFICIAL
Moreover, during the research of Ukrgefest, journalists found that in addition to the luxury Range Rover Sport 2023, the company also owns a Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid 2023. On the official dealer’s website, the price of a similar car, but a slightly newer one, this year, starts at UAH 1.5 million.
From the NACP’s response to a journalistic inquiry, Slidstvo.Info learned that the Toyota in question is used by Natalia Popelukha, a Brovary official. She is the chief specialist of the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Kyiv region. She is paying 4000 hryvnias per month for the car.
The journalists managed to talk to Natalia near her workplace. The woman confirmed the use of this car, but could not provide any explanation. In particular, she said that she did not know that she had to declare the car she was renting.
From the official distributor, Slidstvo.Info journalists learned that a day’s rental of a car like Natalia’s costs UAH 1600, or UAH 48,000 per month. Provided that you leave your car at a Toyota service centre.
‘This woman is subject to anti-corruption legislation, just like the mayor. Accordingly, we should raise the question of the possibility of drawing up protocols on violations of receiving illegal gifts. First of all, civil servants or local government officials should be held accountable, because they are the ones who agree to these discounts and free gifts,’ explains Serhii Mytkalyk, chairman of the board of the NGO Anti-Corruption Headquarters.
THE ANSWER TO THE REQUEST IS ‘NEVER’
For several weeks, the Slidstvo.Info journalists kept trying to talk to representatives of Ukrgefest. Neither the final beneficiary, Maryna Holiana, nor the head of the private multidisciplinary enterprise Ukrgefest, Mykhailo Lemeshko, wanted to answer the journalists’ questions. During a telephone conversation, a representative of Ukrgefest, when asked by a journalist when she would receive a response to the request, said ‘never’.
Among the lots received by Ukrgefest, journalists saw a lot for the maintenance of elevators, which was signed by the mayor of Brovary, Ihor Sapozhko. The anti-corruption expert sees a connection between such actions of the Brovary mayor and the brand new Range Rover rented by his wife.
‘There is a direct legal connection between Sapozhko and this company through the lease of the car at a reduced price. This makes it possible to assume that there are signs of a conflict of interest. This is a corrupt administrative offence for which the National Police should hold accountable,” comments Serhiy Mytkalyk, head of the NGO Anti-Corruption Headquarters.
Slidstvo.Info tried to ask Ihor Sapozhko questions when it arrived at the Brovary City Council. However, the journalists were not allowed to see the mayor. The official did not respond to the request about his wife’s undeclared car, which she rents at a non-market price and which, according to the NACP, he himself is using.
