A judge in Odesa who was implicated in a scandal involving financial disclosure statements has resigned

On July 30, the High Council of Justice adopted a decision to accept the resignation of Anna Smelyanets, a judge of the Odesa Regional Commercial Court.

The decision was made in response to her submitted resignation request.

In addition to Anna Smelyanets, the High Council of Justice also accepted the resignation of Hennadiy Kravchuk, a judge of the Northern Commercial Court of Appeals.

Anna Smelyanets had served as a judge of the Odesa Regional Commercial Court since 2008, and in 2013 she was appointed to this position for an indefinite term.

She first gained widespread attention in 2016 following a journalistic investigation that uncovered unusual discrepancies in the financial disclosures of the judge and her husband—Viktor Smelyanets, then-head of the “Odesa-Airport” customs post of the Odesa Customs Office of the State Fiscal Service, Viktor Smelyanets. Journalists noted that in the 2014 and 2015 declarations, the couple had effectively “swapped” their incomes: the husband’s and wife’s documents listed identical amounts, but attributed to different individuals. Because of this, the declarations were described as having been filled out “carbon-copy style.”

According to her latest annual tax return for 2025, the judge reported 1.56 million hryvnias in salary, 8,000 U.S. dollars in cash, and over 36,000 hryvnias in a bank account.

The judge’s husband, Viktor Smelyanets, declared 2.81 million hryvnias in income from business activities, another 480,000 hryvnias from the sale of real estate, as well as a 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 purchased in May 2024 for 1 million hryvnias.

Regarding real estate, the family listed the right to use two apartments in Odesa, measuring 21 and 111 square meters, which are owned by other individuals. No real estate is listed as belonging to the judge herself.

By a decision of the High Council of Justice, Hanna Smelyanets was officially dismissed from her position as a judge of the Odesa Regional Commercial Court due to her retirement.

Андрій Колісніченко