After the start of the full-scale war, the electronic declaration system in Ukraine underwent significant changes. The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption closed public access to some property declarations, explaining this by security considerations. First of all, this concerns military personnel and their family members. However, as journalists found out, the list of reasons for classifying declarations turned out to be much wider, and some decisions of the NACP raise serious questions about their validity.
On February 24, 2022, the NACP completely closed its registers, including declarations. Soon after, the Verkhovna Rada allowed officials not to submit declarations until the end of martial law, and checks on documents already submitted were suspended. The agency's then leadership explained this by security concerns and the need to focus on defending the country.
Despite expectations that the war would be short-lived, the public control system was effectively paralyzed for a long time. Only in the fall of 2023 was declarations resumed, obliging officials to submit all missed declarations. At the same time, the law allowed the concealment of declarations of certain categories of persons, in particular if they or their close relatives serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine or other law enforcement agencies.
It is important that declarations are not automatically hidden. To do this, the head of the institution must submit a corresponding application to the NACP, and the agency checks only the formal requirements, without assessing the real validity of the grounds. If the security risks disappear, the declaration can be returned to public access, but only upon a new application. The NACP does not independently track such changes.
NGL.media journalists have established that in 2025 alone, the declarations of 5,352 people who filed a total of 6,836 declarations disappeared from public access. Among them are not only the military, but also judges, customs officers, law enforcement officers, employees of the tax service, the National Bank, the treasury, as well as candidates for positions and former officials. In some cases, these are professions that are unlikely to be associated with increased security risks.
The selective approach is also indicative. For example, the declaration of the head of the Kharkiv Oblast Executive Committee, Oleg Synegubov, is hidden, while the head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ivan Fedorov, did not close his declaration. Journalists often do not receive clear explanations about the reasons for the secrecy of the declarations of individual officials.
Analysis of hidden declarations in a number of cases indicates possible signs of inconsistency of expenses with official income. In particular, the declarations of the new head of the Odessa City Military Administration, Serhiy Lysak, turned out to be hidden. Despite the lack of his own real estate, he rented an expensive house and used several premium cars, while the declared income of the family appears limited.
A significant number of hidden declarations concern law enforcement officers. The list includes employees of the State Bureau of Investigation, the State Anti-Corruption Bureau, the National Police, customs, and even employees of pre-trial detention centers. In some cases, after requests from journalists, the declarations were returned to public access, which only strengthens suspicions about the real motives for their secrecy.
Particular attention is drawn to declarations with a large amount of real estate, cars, and significant savings made out to family members of officials. At the same time, it is known that the NACP does not check whether concealing such declarations is truly justified from a security perspective.
Experts emphasize that temporary restrictions on access to data during wartime may be justified, but the lack of control over decisions to classify declarations creates risks of abuse and undermines trust in the anti-corruption system. In a situation where the war lasts for years, public interest in government transparency does not disappear, but on the contrary, becomes even more critical.
