A significant financial discrepancy was found in the declaration of Vitaliy Sautyonkov, a deputy of the Odessa City Council from the banned OPZZH party. According to published data, the couple declared over UAH 52.5 million in cash, while their total official income for the relevant period allowed them to accumulate only about UAH 11.3 million.
The difference is approximately UAH 41 million and has no confirmed source of origin. This is precisely cash that is physically stored outside the banking system, and not non-cash assets or proceeds from the sale of property. In the absence of a transparent financial history, the question arises as to where tens of millions of UAH in cash came from.
The incompleteness of the information in the declaration is particularly noteworthy. The document lacks information about the foreign passports of the deputy's family members, as well as about real estate abroad, where the family lived after leaving Ukraine in February 2022. If such property or the right to use it existed, its failure to reflect it may indicate a violation of financial control requirements.
The situation is complicated by the fact that criminal proceedings are underway in parallel in the case of the theft of 32 barges worth almost 83 million UAH. Sautyonkov and his associate Baransky are involved in this case. Both have left the territory of Ukraine and are wanted.
Thus, it is not just about the arithmetic difference in the declaration, but about a complex of circumstances: UAH 41 million of unexplained origin, possible incomplete declaration of assets, and appearance in a criminal case about multi-million losses. The question is whether a full check of the sources of funds will be conducted and whether these facts will receive a proper legal assessment by law enforcement agencies.
