The media periodically post news about suspiciously cheap cars, declared by Ukrainian officials, politicians, or law enforcement officers. For instance, recently, the journalists of “Rivne Media” have found a Volvo XC90 made in 2016, bought for a mere UAH 20 thousand, in the income statement of Oleh Stratiuk, a deputy of the Rivne regional council. The deputy has explained this low cost by the fact that he bought a damaged car from the USA. Despite this fact, he has listed this car for sale at the price of USD 30 thousand.
A similar case was revealed by the journalists of “Slidstvo.Info” – Arshak Mahalov, the Deputy Director General of “ Kyivzelenbud”, bought an Audi A4 for a mere UAH 5,000, although the average price for such a car made in 2016 is USD 15–20 thousand.
NGL.media decided to investigate this topic further and find out how widespread the cases of understating the cost of cars are. We found hundreds of such cases in the income statements of officials, law enforcement officers, mayors, and people’s deputies. Below you can find the entire list of these people.
These investigations are possible thanks to the financial support of the participants of the NGL.media community too, who have access to special content and possibilities.
Cars with symbolic prices
There are two main reasons to declare cars. The first and the main one is when a car is acquired by the income statement filers or their close relatives. The second reason is obtaining the right to use a car, owned by someone else.
Of course, the number of people who have become owners of abnormally cheap cars is much higher.
Mykhailo Sokolov, the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada
For instance, Mykhailo Sokolov, the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada people’s deputy of Batkivshchyna party in 2007–2012, in December 2023, he became the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada again, taking the place of Vitalii Danylov, who stepped down from his position prematurely , who bought a Toyota Highlander Hybrid of 2022 for a mere UAH 10 thousand in October 2022 – this is about 200 times lower than the actual price, according to the statistics of AUTO.RIA for that period.
Mykhailo Sokolov told NGL.media that he had bought a car “with considerable damage” but refused to specify the nature of the mentioned defect.
Some “slightly beaten” car was described to NGL.media by Viktoria Nehoda, the head of the land resources and ecology department of Prystolychna rural territorial community near Kyiv. In October 2023, she seemed to have bought a Hyundai Tucson of 2022 for UAH 100 thousand, although the market price of such a car was at least ten times higher.
As for the right to exploit the car, the situation is more complicated. While investigating the register of income statements, NGL.media found more than a thousand filers who just didn’t specify the cost of the vehicle.
As Oleksii Boiko, the lawyer of the Anti-Corruption Centre (ACC), explains, in cases, when the filer doesn’t know the cost of the car, he has a right not to specify it. However, if the cost is specified, the NACP can ask for confirmation documents.
Serhii Nadal, the mayor of Ternopil
Yet, some officials do specify the cost of the cars they use but don’t officially own in their income statements. For instance, Serhii Nadal, the mayor of Ternopil, has specified in his income statement that he uses an Audi Q7 of 2024, worth UAH 750 thousand, which officially belongs to Bohdan Verbovyi, his father-in-law.
In addition to the fact that Nadal hasn’t indicated in his income statement that he actually uses a more expensive sports version, Audi SQ7, the specified cost is understated by over five times. NGL.media found out that Bohdan Verbovyi bought this car from the automobile dealership, when it was new, last May, and recently, it has been sold for UAH 4.7 million.
Serhii Nadal refused to explain the reason for such a cheap cost of the car, noting only that he indicated its worth “according to the official documents”.
Former people’s deputy Iryna Kormyshkina
Now former people’s deputy, Iryna Kormyshkina elected in 2019 from “Sluha narodu” [“Servant of the People”] party, in February 2025, she voluntarily stepped down indicated in her recent income statement that she drives a luxurious sedan, Mercedes-Maybach S580 of 2022, which belongs to her husband, Yurii Kormyshkin. Kormyshkina estimated the cost of this car at UAH 350 thousand, though its official cost starts at UAH 12 million. By the way, every year the owners of such a car should pay “a luxury tax” of UAH 25 thousand.
Iryna Kormyshkina refused to talk to NGL.media about her Mercedes-Maybach S580. It should be noted that this March, she and her husband have already been declared guilty of false declaration and illegal enrichment. Both have been sentenced to five years of imprisonment, but the actual prison term was replaced by two years of probation.
An interesting story has happened to Orest Kavetskyi, the head of Zolochiv district council. In his income statement, he declared that his wife, Khrystyna Kavetska, drove a BMW X6 of 2022, registered with her mother, Maria Karvatska. At the same time, the cost of BMW X6 is stated as only UAH 100 thousand, which is at least 20 times cheaper than the lowest offer in the market. In the conversation with NGL.media, Orest Kavetskyi claimed that he indicated the cost as per his wife’s wordsw.
What is the sense of understating the cost of cars?
It is the opinion of Oleksii Boiko, the lawyer of the ACC, that the understated cost of the property may be a sign of hiding someone’s assets or a bribe.
“Today, he is sold a car for UAH 10 thousand hryvna, and then he is asked to do something,” he explains. Sometimes, a car is declared as a gift, and its cost is specified as determined by the person presenting it. In such cases, it is necessary to find out whether the presenter could afford such a gift.
Almost all cases of understating the cost of property in income statements originate from the absence of official income to procure such property.
Oleksii Boiko believes that the understating of the cost of the property (depending on the circumstances and amount) may be incriminated as illegal enrichment Art. 368-5 CC, which is punished by a prison sentence for 5–10 years , false declaration Art. 366-2 CC, punished by a fine of UAH 51–85 thousand or imprisonment for up to 2 years , violation of financial control requirements Art. 172-6 CUoAO, a fine of UAH 17–42.5 thousand , no substantiation for the assets Art. 290 CPC, recovery of assets for the benefit of the state pursuant to the court order or violation of the legislation while receiving a gift Art. 172-5 CUoAO, a fine of 1.7–3.4 thousand with the confiscation of the gift .
Who checks the property of the filers and how?
The assets in the income statements are checked by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP). In response to the NGL.media inquiry, it was specified that the correspondence to the actual cost of the property is evaluated during the complete inspection of the income statements. If the understating is revealed, this information is transferred to the law enforcement officers, and in case of finding the features of tax evasion, the tax service is informed.
In addition, the NACP provided NGL.media with several examples of evaluating the understating of the vehicles, which demonstrate that if required, the NACP casts doubts on the reliability of prices, specified in the sale and purchase agreement, and defines the actual prices using online advertisements as well.
For instance, while checking Oleksandr Baloha, the cyberpolice inspector, the NACP found out that he bought a Harley-Davidson motorcycle for a mere UAH 50 thousand. During the inspection, the NACP specialists determined that, in reality, this motorcycle was sold in AUTO.RIA for UAH 658 thousand. As a result, the NACP determined that Baloha entered false data about the amount of UAH 658 thousand (the violation according to part 4 of Art. 172-6 CUoAO).
However, there was a similar case, in which the NACP applied no sanctions. It was about the inspection of Oleksandr Valuiskyi, the head of the department of strategic investigations of the National Police, who declared Hyundai Tucson of his wife for UAH 500 thousand, although the previous owners sold this car at the at least twice higher price, and he himself listed it for sale for UAH 1.46 million.
Author Maksym Piho, editor Oleh Onysko, data analysis Nazar Tuziak, translation Nelya Plakhota, illustration Marta Kharkovets