The scheme to privatize official housing in Ukraine has turned out to be surprisingly simple and effective — for those who know how to use it. An investigation by Bihus.Info revealed how judges, police officers, and other officials receive expensive apartments in prestigious residential complexes at the state's expense, and then quickly privatize them.
How the scheme works
- Concealment of real estate. Officials do not declare the housing they or their relatives have, receiving the right to an official apartment.
- Privatization. After receiving official housing, they later privatize it, formally complying with the law.
- Covering up the tracks. Real estate they already owned is transferred to relatives or removed from the declaration.
Examples from the investigation
- Lyudmila Gubska , a former judge of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal, received a three-room apartment in the Comfort Town residential complex (worth about $115,000) in 2019. In 2023, she privatized it and left. During this time, the Gubska family managed to purchase several more apartments and cars worth about $400,000.
- Yuriy Pidchenko , a judge of the Commercial Court of Kyiv, privatized a three-room apartment in the Motorny residential complex. Pidchenko's declarations mysteriously "lost" information about his wife's real estate, which was transferred to her mother before receiving the official apartment.
- Serhiy Boychuk , head of the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, privatized an official apartment in the residential complex "Crystal Springs", although he had previously declared a two-room apartment in Poznyaki.
- Dmytro Sokolov and Artem Rodygin , high-ranking officials of the National Police, received elite official housing in the residential complex “Slavutych”. Sokolov has already privatized his apartment, while Rodygin’s apartment has already been excluded from official status — the first step towards privatization.
What's the problem?
The scheme remains legal for now, allowing officials to use it with impunity. However, it calls into question the fairness of the distribution of state property: instead of providing for those truly in need, elite apartments are being given to wealthy families of judges, officials, and police officers.
The investigation raises the question of the need to reform the system of distributing official housing and introduce strict controls over its use. Without these changes, the scheme will remain an ideal tool for enriching officials at the state expense.
