Activists Investigate Funding Sources of Honcharenko Centers in Odesa

The activists were looking into who finances the Goncharenko Centers, a network that was launched in 2019 under the auspices of the NGO VY.MOVA to provide free English language training in remote regions of Odesa Oblast. Over the five years of its operation, the centers have opened 35 branches, and their total annual revenues exceed UAH 20 million.

This is stated in the material of the Chesno Movement.

According to the official website of the Honcharenko Centers, the initiative is supported by both state and foreign donors. However, the Chesno Movement notes that the list of partners varies depending on the language of the website: in the English version, the donors include, for example, the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition, individual branches can raise additional funds from private sources. In particular, the Kyiv branch is patronized by British businessman and former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, Lord Michael Ashcroft.

The movement analyzed the domestic donors listed on the website and found that the Druzhba Narodiv agricultural cooperative is the only one of the three donor companies that has real income to support civic initiatives.

The ultimate beneficiaries of the cooperative are members of the Odesa Regional Council, including Oleksiy Potapsky and Petro Obukhov of the European Solidarity party and Serhiy Parashchenko of the For the Future party. Another donor is the Ukrlandfarming farm, whose debts as of 2022 exceeded $2 billion. The founder of this farm was the scandalous Oleh Bakhmatyuk, who now lives in Vienna. In October 2022, the NABU and the SAPO announced that they had served Roman Nasirov and Oleg Bakhmatyuk with suspicion notices in the case of receiving $5.5 million and more than €21 million in undue benefits for VAT refunds to the companies of the agricultural holding.

Thus, the financial support of the Honcharenko Centers is based on a combination of public funds, foreign grants and private donations.

Last year, Oleksiy Honcharenko, an MP from Odesa , found himself at the epicenter of a scandal due to an unsuccessful advertising campaign.

Ірина Глухова