What property do the new ministers own and what did the old ones manage to earn in the government: mistakes in declarations and huge apartments

On September 5, several new ministers were appointed in Ukraine. The Cabinet of Ministers has been renewed, and among those dismissed are politicians who have been in the government for five years. Read about how the property status of the dismissed ministers has changed and what is known about the wealth of the new government officials in the OBOZ.UA article.

Svitlana Hrynchuk, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources. She lives in her ex-husband's huge apartment

Svitlana Hrynchuk has spent almost her entire professional life building a career in government. Her first public declaration was for 2015. Even then, she was working as the director of the Department for Climate Change and Ozone Protection at the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (the name has changed). In 2021, she became Deputy Minister for European Integration.

In September 2023, she was appointed Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine. Returning to her "home" ministry with a promotion to the post of minister is a logical decision, the Servant of the People party believes.

Hrynchuk's ex-husband Viacheslav, together with her friend Kateryna Pampuriak (judging by their joint photos on social media), created the NGO Office of Independent Environmentalists and founded the specialized environmental publication Greenpost.

According to her declaration, Hrynchuk divorced her husband but continues to live in his apartment. However, the 244.5-square-meter apartment allows them to live comfortably even if they are not married. According to her declaration, Hrynchuk's financial situation has deteriorated over the past few years. She has sold two cars, and her salary (only her earnings as a civil servant are taken into account) has significantly decreased.

Andrii Sybiha, Foreign Minister. A mistake in the declaration and the once-high salary of the ambassador

Andrii Sybiha is a career diplomat. He started working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the late 90s. He served as Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, and in 2021 joined the team of the President's Office. In 2024, he was sent to work in the Foreign Ministry as First Deputy Minister, allegedly to strengthen the team of the then-current Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

While working as an ambassador, Sybiha earned four times more than he did in the Presidential Office. The fact is that an ambassador receives compensation for being constantly on a business trip, which allows for a significant salary increase.

Sybiha probably made a mistake in his declaration. OBOZ.UA studied the documents for several years and found that in 2020 he declared his wife's 60-square-meter apartment, which was bought on November 29, 1999, in Ternopil. The following year, an apartment of the same size and with the same date of purchase was "transferred" from Ternopil to Kyiv. Probably, the diplomat confused the names of the cities when filling out the documents.

The diplomat's salary is probably not enough. Over the past few years, his cash savings have decreased by 16 thousand dollars.

Herman Smetanin, Minister of Strategic Industries. A million in cash and a huge apartment for rent

Herman Smetanin is one of the youngest ministers. He is 31 and younger than 33-year-old Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. Although Smetanin hasn't managed to break the latter's record. When Mykhailo became minister, he was only 28 years old.

Despite his young age, Smetanin managed to build a career in the defense industry. His first declaration in the NACP register dates back to 2016 when Herman Smetanin worked as a chief designer at the Lviv Armored Plant.

In 2023, Smetanin became the CEO of the Ukrainian Defense Industry. Before that, he worked at the Malyshev plant in management positions. A manager's income will decrease significantly after joining the government. Last year, taking into account the salary at the Ukrainian Defense Industry and the Malyshev plant, he received an average of UAH 413.8 thousand. At best, Ukrainian ministers receive about UAH 90 thousand.

Mykola Tochytskyi, Minister of Culture and Information Policy. A career diplomat

Mykola Tochytskyi was delegated to the government from the President's Office. For almost three years, from 2021 to 2024, he worked as deputy foreign minister, and this year he was taken to Bankova Street. However, he may soon be returned to the Cabinet as Minister of Culture and Information Policy. Tochytskyi is a career diplomat. Until 2021, he served as ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg.

Iryna Vereshchuk has resigned from the post of Deputy Prime Minister

Before joining the government, she was an MP, so she filled out declarations until 2021, i.e. before her appointment to the Cabinet. OBOZ.UA's interlocutors in the Servant of the People party say that Vereshchuk is valued in the President's Office: she is highly efficient, a loyal team member, and has never been involved in corruption scandals.

Vereshchuk's husband works in a special unit of the Security Service of Ukraine. His average monthly salary last year in the military unit E6117 was 146 thousand UAH. While working in the government, the Vereshchuk family sold a significant amount of real estate and accumulated significant cash savings.

Denys Maliuska and Dmytro Kuleba

During his tenure as Minister of Justice, Denys Maliuska did not change his car and did not improve his income in line with inflation. In 2022, Maliuska's wife rented an apartment in Germany.

Dmytro Kuleba has considerable experience in the Foreign Ministry. Moreover, in 2018, while working as Ukraine's representative to the Council of Europe, he earned significantly more than when he was the head of the Foreign Ministry. In his last declaration, he also listed his live-in girlfriend Svitlana Paveletska. She is a successful publisher who previously worked for 1+1 Media.

In Ukraine, as OBOZ.UA has repeatedly written, the salaries of ministers are several times lower than those of managers of even state-owned enterprises. The declarations of some new and dismissed ministers also prove that one cannot count on significant earnings while working in the government.