Asset declaration of senior officials of Ukraine is public. Although the war is not over yet, it is still worthwhile to be active in the field of reconstruction and agriculture in the Ukrainian public administration. As long as the Western press mentions corruption, the Ukrainian ministers thank you and are doing well.
According to a report by Interfax-Ukraine, all members of the government will submit electronic returns for the years 2021-2022 by January 31, 2024. The analysis of the statements reveals that the usual official annual income of the heads of government is a "modest" 1-2 million hryvnias (24-48 thousand euros), reports V4na.com.
Three government representatives have come to light who have officially declared significant wealth
Among the ministers and deputy prime ministers, the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Mykola Solskij is in charge.
His two-year income is 51.8 million hryvnias (1.3 million euros).
The minister declared an income of 36.6 million hryvnias for 2021 and 15.2 million hryvnias for 2022. In the country that constantly pumps the West and where the minimum wage as of January 1 of this year is 7,100 hryvnias, i.e. 175 euros.
Oleksandr Kubrakov , the deputy prime minister responsible for the reconstruction of Ukraine, the minister responsible for community development, territories and infrastructure, was not shy either.
His income is 23.6 million Ukrainian hryvnias (approx. 580 thousand euros) in two years.
Kurbakov reported an income of UAH 12.1 million for 2021 and UAH 11.5 million for 2022.
Among the richest Ukrainian politicians is Oleksandr Kamyshyn, the minister responsible for strategic industries. He started working later than the other heads of the Cabinet of Ministers, so he only submitted a statement for 2022, but
in the first year of the war, he still drew 19.3 million hryvnias, i.e. about 447,000 euros, from the state,
while thousands of young Ukrainian and Transcarpathian Hungarian men died at the front.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov indicated an income of 14 million 712 thousand 47 hryvnias in the electronic statement of assets and income for the year 2023. The defense industry must pay well, because Umerov is a real Krözus.
In 2023, Umerov's salary was 573,873 hryvnias, his income from the sale of securities was 5 million hryvnias, and the dividend payment on his shares was 9,138,174 Ukrainian hryvnias, but even his wife declared an additional income of nearly one and a half million hryvnias.
Umerov's statement also includes 18.2 thousand dollars in untimed creditor claims, 180.5 thousand and 9.1 thousand hryvnias in cash, in addition, he has 3.8 million and 1800 hryvnias in his bank accounts, and his wife has 1.1 thousand hryvnias in cash and 8 ,6 thousand in a bank account. It's almost impossible to follow.
According to the statement, the minister rented two apartments (80.6 and 128.8 square meters) in Kyiv, he is also registered for a 95-square-meter apartment in Kyiv, and his mother has a nearly 200-square-meter house in Crimea, but his wife also rents a 137-square-meter apartment in in the United States.
Poor are rich
The leaders of the Ministry of Education, Economy and Health are the poorest. They "only" make approx. they admitted a salary of one million hryvnias, i.e. more than 24 thousand euros.
Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lesovoj declared an income of 856,000 hryvnias for 2021 and 853,000 hryvnias for 2022. The head of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Viktor Lyasko, 1.7 million hryvnias for two years: 764 thousand hryvnias for 2021 and 983 thousand hryvnias for 2022.
In his tax return, Prime Minister Denisz Smihal stated an income of 697.8 thousand hryvnias for 2021, and in his declaration for 2022 it was already 901 thousand hryvnias.
In one year from 2021, the income of Ruszlan Sztrelet, Minister of Environment Protection and Natural Resources, has also doubled. He reported an income of 675,000 hryvnias in the year before the war, and 1.1 million hryvnias in 2022. But this wealth increase is also true for Minister of Justice Denis Maljuska and Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko.
Corruption everywhere
It is known: the British newspaper Guardian already in 2021 revealed the strange business dealings of the Ukrainian president, who is said to be anti-corruption and anti-oligarch, based on the data leaked in the Pandora Papers offshore scandal. In his campaign, the Ukrainian president also promised to clean up Ukraine's economic and social system dominated by oligarchs and also promised to reveal off-shore assets.
On the other hand, corruption scandals in Ukraine have continued since then. The Ministry of Defense has been up to its neck in the most suspicious cases since the beginning of the war, and Western weapons sent to Ukraine often turn up on the black markets in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the Zelensky family is swimming in money.
In 2022, he rented out his 15-room villa with a swimming pool in Tuscany to Russian oligarchs, and his mother-in-law has a luxury villa in Egypt worth 4.8 million dollars. And his wife lives the life of Western billionaires and spends her easy fortune in expensive luxury stores, in contrast to the miserable everyday life of the Ukrainian people.
Last fall, a Ukrainian public opinion survey found that 78 percent of the Ukrainian population blames President Volodymyr Zelensky for the corruption gnawing at the country, and many believe that widespread state corruption is hindering the country's economic development more than the war with Russia. Although the left-liberal press tries in vain to defend the Ukrainian president's public affairs, the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians believe that Zelenskyi and his system are corrupt to the core, which is now being seen by more and more people in Europe as well.
Cover image: Pixabay
