According to the anti-fraud project "190", which analyzed declarations and open registers, the head of the Main Department of the State Health Service in the Odessa region, Olena Pogrebnyak, appears in several episodes that raise questions about the origin of property and the legality of certain decisions.
In 2019, the State Bureau of Investigation reported suspicions of Pogrebnyak and her first deputy Ivan Bezkischenko in embezzling almost UAH 1 million: the investigation found that the officials allegedly colluded with contractors and entered false information in documents regarding the completed repair work, according to which funds were transferred from the budget. Despite the risks of criminal liability and possible financial sanctions, the case, according to the investigation, was “quickly” forgotten, and Pogrebnyak remained in her position; Bezkischenko was fired at the end of 2024.
Subsequent publications and investigations, which have now been partially removed from some publications, state that the official has been registering real estate for years for her sons from a previous marriage — Ivan and Danylo — and using this property. In particular, in Odessa, the declarations record a house with an area of about 161 sq. m (acquired in 2016), where Pogrebnyak and her husband Oleksiy Ponomarchuk are registered, as well as a land plot of 330 sq. m (acquired in 2010) with a declared value of 485 UAH — an amount that looks abnormally low for land prices in Odessa. The official’s husband also has a plot near Kyiv (1,200 sq. m in the village of Kozyntsi), indicated as acquired in 2013.
In the work with motor vehicles, the investigation indicates that Pogrebnyak and Ponomarchuk do not have their own cars in their names, but use vehicles registered to third parties. Among those mentioned is a 2012 BMW X1 registered to a relative, Kateryna Roseeva (now Kolesnikova), which is used by both the official and her husband. The materials also mention a 2011 FORD FIESTA registered to Iryna Romanchenko, which is actually used by Ponomarchuk; the circumstances of such use have not been clarified.
Regarding income and social benefits: for 2024, Pogrebnyak declared salary income from the State Medical Insurance Company (approximately UAH 708,000), as well as remuneration from the Odessa State University of Internal Affairs and the International Humanitarian University. At the same time, the declarations include alimony from her ex-husband in the amount of about UAH 44,000 - while there are inaccuracies in reflecting the status of paternity and adoptions, which raise additional questions. The materials state that Ponomarchuk officially adopted Ivan and Danylo in 2023, and in 2023–2024 the couple had children together - facts that researchers associate with the practice of registering a family in order to obtain grounds for deferment from mobilization. Investigators note that some social benefits for children are not reflected in full or differently in different years, and the couple does not declare cash savings, although they have bank accounts - this also raises questions about the transparency of their financial situation.
It is worth noting that some of the publications about Pogrebnyak's property were reportedly removed from media platforms - investigators suggest that this may have been due to administrative resource or financial pressure on the media. Such facts highlight the problem of public access to information and raise questions about pressure on journalism in the region.
