From their children’s apartments to tens of hectares of land: how court officials in the Kherson region live

Despite the full-scale war and a significant reduction in the number of active courts in the Kherson region, their heads continue to declare residential real estate and land assets. The largest amounts of property are concentrated among the families of the heads of the Velyka Oleksandrivka and Novovorontsov District Courts.

The Center for Public Investigations, in collaboration with Intent, analyzed the asset declarations of court heads in the Kherson region who, as of 2025, continued to administer justice in the region.

Vyacheslav Kanevsky, the head of the Velyka Oleksandrivka District Court, boasts the largest amount of residential real estate. The total area of the housing declared by his family exceeds 260 square meters. The judge owns a house in Novovorontsovka with an area of 98 square meters, while two additional apartments, measuring 80 and 84 square meters, are registered in his children’s names.

The family of Oleksandr Sikora, the head of the Kherson City Court, has declared two apartments in Kherson with a total area of about 130 square meters. In addition, his wife rents a 91-square-meter apartment in Germany.

Dmytro Gontar, the president of the Novovorontsov District Court, holds shares in two apartments measuring 116 and 80 square meters. In contrast, the declaration of Iryna Khomyk, Chair of the Beryslav District Court, lists no real estate in her own name—the house in Velyka Oleksandrivka, where the family lives, is registered in her husband’s name.

The largest land holdings are also concentrated in the family of Dmytro Gontar. His wife owns more than 10.5 hectares of land in Novovoskresenske. Another nearly six hectares in Velyka Oleksandrivka are owned by Iryna Khomyk’s husband.

The only court official who updated his vehicle fleet over the past year was Oleksandr Sikora. After selling a 2013 Ford Focus and a 2015 Jeep Cherokee, his family purchased a 2014 Dodge Durango for 630 thousand hryvnias and a 2016 Mazda CX-5 for 356 thousand hryvnias.

In Dmytro Gontar’s family, the most expensive vehicle remains a 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan worth 712 thousand hryvnias, which belongs to his wife. The family also uses a Nissan Juke and an Audi Q7, neither of which they own.

No significant changes have been recorded in the declarations of other court officials over the past year—their financial status has remained virtually unchanged.

In terms of income, court officials in the Kherson region declared a combined income of approximately 8.5 million hryvnias for 2025. The highest income was declared byOleksandr Sikora, the head of the Velyka Oleksandrivka District Court—3.69 million hryvnias. 

Анна Бальчінос