“Ah, the Mykhaloikos? There, at the beginning of the street, the nicest house,” an elderly man points towards a high fence, above which the top of the house is barely seen. Here, in Mostyska, a town in the Lviv region near the state border, is where the family of Volodymyr Mykhaloiko, a 38-year-old deputy head of the Rava-Ruska border checkpoint of the Lviv customs house, lives.
A few weeks ago, during the routine inspection of income statements, submitted by Ukrainian customs officials, NGL.media paid attention to Mykhaloiko because he stated the acquisition of two parking places in one of the Lviv residential complexes, although he seems not to own any real estate there. We considered it rather strange.
This story may be perceived as an illustration of an ordinary situation, at least for the west of Ukraine, when customs officials often turn out to be the main buyers of elite real estate and vehicles despite their modest official income.
A customs official from Krysovychi
Volodymyr Mykhaloiko, born in the village of Krysovychi, located five kilometres from Mostyska, has been working at the Lviv customs house only since 2022. Yet, he made an unsuccessful attempt to secure employment there in 2020, aiming for the position of head of the customs clearance department at the Smilnytsia border checkpoint. At that time, if his income statement is to be trusted, Volodymyr Mykhaloiko didn’t have any official employment, at least his entire annual income consisted of UAH 20.5 thousand, presented to him by his father, a school director in Krysovychi, and less than UAH 2,000 was received by him from the lease of a little shop.
Krysovychi is also the place of birth of his wife, Halyna Mykhaloiko, and her father, Roman Shkulskyi, is the headman of this and neighbouring villages. As for Halyna Mykhaloiko, she was the adviser of Serhii Storozhuk, the then head of the Mostyska district council, till 2020.
Both Volodymyr and Halyna lead extremely non-public life, consistently avoiding social networks, so NGL.media haven’t managed to find their pictures. The Lviv customs house also refused to provide us with their employee’s biography.
When Volodymyr Mykhaloiko succeeded in getting the position of the deputy head of the Department of administrative and economic activity of the Lviv customs house in 2022 the deputy director of the Department – the head of the division of warehouse accounting, storing, evaluation of seized property and its disposal of the Department of administrative and economic activity of the Lviv customs house , he declared a lot of property, belonging to the family at the time – in particular, a house, an apartment, land plots and non-residential premises in Mostyska and Horodok, as well as vehicles, Mercedes-Benz GLE 350D and Audi Q7, registered with his mother and father-in-law.
The house of Volodymyr Mykhaloiko’s family in Mostyska (a photo by NGL.media)
That’s when Volodymyr Mykhaloiko reported to the NACP that he had received a gift of EUR 110 thousand and USD 60 thousand from his father. Unexpected amounts for the director of a village school who has never been a businessman or a sole entrepreneur.
Petro Mykhaloiko died in 2020. His widow, Liubov Mykhaloiko, a school teacher, told NGL.media that her husband had received this money as a gift from his daughter, who works abroad. And in his turn, he presented it to his son.
Yet, suppose this statement is to be trusted, the presence of a sister abroad can hardly serve as an explanation for all the subsequent changes in property in Volodymyr Mykhaloiko’s life.
The basic set of real estate
In October 2023, Volodymyr Mykhaloiko submitted the first income statement for 2022 as a customs house employee After the introduction of martial law in February 2022, the obligatory declaration of income was suspended; it was renewed on October 12, 2023 . That year was successful in more than a professional aspect. Mykhaloiko acquired two parking spaces in the “Hyacinth-Lux” residential complex near Stryiskyi park in Lviv, though he declared them almost three years later. Soon, Mykhaloiko’s wife bought an apartment with an area of 57.6 sq.m. in the same residential complex. Volodymyr Mykhaloiko has not yet declared this apartment, likely due to the fact that his wife registered the ownership right for this property not long ago, in the summer of 2025. Previously, another apartment with an area of 92.1 sq.m. in the “Hyacinth-Lux” was acquired by Volodymyr Mykhaloiko’s mother, a teacher of a village school in Krysovychi.
The Mykhaloikos own two apartments and parking spaces in the Lviv residential complex, the “Hiacynth-Lux” (a photo by NGL.media)
According to the LUN catalogue of newly built houses, as of 2022, the cost of a one-room apartment in the “Hyacinth-Lux” residential complex started at USD 132 thousand, and that of a two-room apartment – at USD 135 thousand. At the same time, the savings of the Mykhaloikos didn’t diminish, and their income would not have allowed them to invest in such real estate – in 2022, Volodymyr and Halyna Mykhaloiko earned a total of UAH 119.5 thousand.
However, Volodymyr Mykhaloiko’s mother insists that some money for the purchase of an apartment in Lviv has been given by her daughter, who lives abroad, again. “I went abroad [to work]… I have a daughter abroad, we sold a house [in the village],” Liubov Mykhaloiko told NGL.media.
The social network account of the daughter who lives in Italy does not demonstrate her capability to present hundreds of thousands of euros to her brother. Moreover, if the sister’s role were so significant, Volodymyr Mykhaloiko would have to declare her financial assistance to him.
In addition to acquiring real estate in Lviv, in 2022, Liubov Mykhaloiko changed Audi Q7 of 2014 for a newer model of 2018 for her son.
That same year, his wife, Halyna Mykhaloiko, became the owner of securities worth more than one million hryvnia and opened two accounts at the Polish bank, Pekao, for EUR 20,114 and USD 19,964. Taking into account the fact that the couple has almost had no official income, and their expenses have been increasing, it is not clear which finances a family with two minor daughters has been using to live.
Volodymyr and Halyna Mykhaloiko also own a number of shop premises in Mostyska, Horodok, and Lviv. For instance, they are the owners of “Kapitoshka”, a shop of children’s clothes and toys near the bus station in Mostyska. This business is dealt with by Tetiana Mazur, Volodymyr Mykhaloiko’s sister-in-law. She is registered as a sole entrepreneur, accordingly, although when clients want to buy some toys via Instagram, they are suggested to transfer the money to Tetiana Mazur’s personal card, not the entrepreneurial account.
The Mykhaloikos own several shops near the bus station in Mostyska (a photo by NGL.media)
By the way, Tetiana Mazur doesn’t just deal with the Mykhaloikos’ family business; one of the cars, driven by the customs official, is also registered in her name. In 2023, she became the owner of an electrocar, Jaguar I-Pace of 2020, which was transferred to Volodymyr Mykhaloiko for his personal use. At the same time, Audi Q7 and Mercedes-Benz GLE 350D, registered in the parents’ name, are still in the family car park.
The Mykhaloikos don’t declare the income from the business of their shops. The only income, regularly stated by Volodymyr Mykhaloiko, is the trifling profit (less than UAH 2,000 a year) from leasing one of the shops to the Volyntabak company.
New position – new possibilities
In 2024, Volodymyr Mykhaloiko was appointed to a new position as the deputy head of the Rava-Ruska border checkpoint The deputy head of the customs clearance department 1 of the Rava-Ruska border checkpoint of the Lviv customs house . Last year, his official income was under UAH 500 thousand, and almost UAH 100 thousand was earned by his wife, who works in a fitness centre now. This is the highest official income of the couple for the last few years, though it is objectively hard to provide for the family with this amount after paying taxes. It concerns not only basic needs, but the maintenance of a large house, two apartments, three cars, and other property.
Another thing is that Volodymyr Mykhaloiko is known for his charitable activity, highlighted in the publications in the local newspaper. “He is a patriot, he has been helping us both materially and financially since 2014,” Vasyl Isanskyi, the head of the local NGO “Volonterskyi rukh Mostyshchyny” [Volunteer Movement of Mostyska Area], told NGL.media, refusing to specify the scope of the assistance.
By the way, in 2024, the official savings of the couple decreased by EUR 40 thousand. This is approximately the amount that Halyna Mykhaloiko invested in securities last year.
In June 2025, Halyna Mykhaloiko received the ownership rights for an apartment in the “Hyacinth-Lux” residential complex in Lviv. So, in the following income statement, her husband will have to specify it and, ideally, explain the source of the money.
Volodymyr and Halyna Mykhaloiko ignored all the attempts of NGL.media to obtain their comments on the discovered facts.
The author Kateryna Rodak, the editor Oleh Onysko, the translation Nelya Plakhota, and the cover Marta Kharkovets