Ukrainian MP Oleh Meidych, representing the Batkivshchyna party, is under investigation for allegedly using official trips as a cover for personal vacations to Italy, according to Slidstvo.Info, citing court records and its sources. While Meidych was supposed to be on official business in Belgium and Lithuania, he instead visited Italy with his wife.
Oleh Meidych, 53, serves as a Ukrainian MP from Batkivshchyna and the first deputy chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy. In the spring and summer of 2023, Meidych received official permission from the Verkhovna Rada to travel abroad for work. However, it appears he may have used these opportunities to vacation.
Oleh Meidych
The details of these trips were uncovered during a pre-trial investigation conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Meidych is suspected of possibly falsifying official documents related to these trips.
According to the investigation, Meidych left Ukraine twice: from April 27 to May 5, 2023, and again from July 17 to July 27, 2023. Both times, his travel was authorized by the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, but he reportedly exceeded the duration of his official assignments.
Based on the order of the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk dated April 19, 2023, No. 395 “On the Business Trip of MP Oleksandr Meidych to the Kingdom of Belgium”, the latter was supposed to return to Ukraine on May 1 but returned on May 5, 2023. MP Meidych was authorized to visit Brussels as part of a project on institutional and political reforms for small-scale agriculture.
In addition, MP Meidych traveled abroad in July 2023. Although the business trip was supposed to last five days, the lawmaker was abroad for ten days. The speaker of the Verkhovna Rada sent his subordinate to Lithuania, where he was supposed to meet with members of the Seimas and high-ranking officials of the Republic of Lithuania.
According to documents reviewed by Slidstvo.Info, Meidych did not visit either Belgium or Lithuania as scheduled. Instead, he was in Italy. Sources informed Slidstvo.Info that Meidych landed in Bologna on April 28, 2023, and departed from Milan on May 5, 2023.
Meidych’s wife, Tetiana, reportedly accompanied him on both trips. She also arrived in Bologna on April 28 and left the country on May 5, but separately from her husband – through Bergamo Orio Al Serio airport, which is located near Milan. During the legislator’s second business trip, on July 26, 2023, Tetiana Meidych departed from the aforementioned Bergamo Orio Al Serio.
Slidstvo.info journalists called Meidych to ask him about the details of his business trips abroad, which seem to have turned into vacations. A man answering his phone claimed to be the lawmaker’s assistant. He promised to relay the message but hung up. However, according to a specialized caller ID app, the number dialed by Slidstvo.Info was listed as belonging to Oleh Meidych. Subsequent messages from journalists were ignored.
Tetiana Meidych, who, according to the information received, was traveling with her husband, declined to speak and hung up.
Tetiana Meidych
In response to queries from Slidstvo.Info, the Ukrainian parliament did not clarify whether Meidych had traveled abroad for official business in May and July 2023. They confirmed that Meidych took leave on May 2-5 and July 24-27, dates that match the periods he overstayed his official trips abroad.
Oleh Meidych and Tetiana Meidych
“Parliamentarians find a way out of any situation. Interestingly, quite often all these ‘business trips’ are to countries with access to the sea or ocean,” said Oleksandr Salizhenko, editor-in-chief of the Chesno Movement, an organization that monitors the work of Ukrainian lawmakers. Salizhenko noted that such behavior damages the reputation of Ukraine’s legislature, particularly during wartime.
Other MPs have been involved in similar scandals. Yuriy Aristov was found vacationing in the Maldives while on an official trip, and Mykola Tyshchenko traveled to Thailand under the same pretext.
“According to Presidential Decree No. 27, government officials, including MPs, are prohibited from traveling abroad for leisure during martial law, only for official duties,” explained media lawyer Oksana Maksymeniuk. “Such actions mislead the public, especially when most citizens are restricted from traveling abroad. Lawmakers are accountable to their voters, and this kind of misuse of privileges undermines public trust.”
On March 12, 2024, Slidstvo.Info filed a lawsuit against the Verkhovna Rada’s Secretariat for refusing to provide public information in response to a journalistic inquiry. Journalists have repeatedly requested information about legislators’ official trips abroad since the full-scale invasion began.
As in the request for MP Meidych’s business trip, and in previous requests from journalists, the Verkhovna Rada’s Secretariat refers to the fact that the dissemination of information about the activities of the Ukrainian parliament, its bodies, and lawmakers under martial law is limited, adding that foreign visits by MPs have taken on significant importance.
