Kherson Officials Received Up to ₴230K in Bonuses Amid Conflict

The Center for Public Investigations analyzed which officials of the Kherson MVA received the most additional payments to their salaries - tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of hryvnias from the budget.

The material notes that these payments were made as "financial assistance for health improvement" and "assistance for solving social and domestic issues." In some cases, the bonuses amounted to up to a quarter of the annual income.

The largest bonuses in 2024 went to Mykola Yakovliev, deputy head of the Kherson City Military Administration. In June, he received 115.3 thousand hryvnias for health improvement, and in December - another 115.5 thousand for living expenses. In total, 230.8 thousand hryvnias of "financial aid" was paid out of one million hryvnias of annual income. Yakovlev's declaration shows 484 thousand hryvnias and 60 thousand US dollars in savings. He resigned from the administration in November 2024.

Natalia Chekhuta, the first deputy head of the MBA , is in second place in terms of additional payments. In May, she received UAH 101.9 thousand for health improvement, and in November, another UAH 119.6 thousand for living expenses. In total, she received 221.6 thousand hryvnias in additional payments to her salary, which amounted to 1.5 million for the year. In early 2025, Natalia Chekhuta and her husband Oleh bought a house for UAH 890,700.

Anton Yefanov, another deputy head of the MBA, received UAH 96.6 thousand for health improvement and UAH 118.7 thousand for living expenses, for a total of UAH 215.4 thousand in addition. His official salary for the year was 1.2 million hryvnias. His declaration shows only 50 thousand hryvnias in savings.

Dmytro Shport, deputy mayor of Ihor Kolikhayev, received UAH 95 thousand for health improvement in May and UAH 113 thousand for living expenses in November. In total, he received UAH 208 thousand in bonuses. His total income for the year was UAH 1.2 million. The declaration shows half a million hryvnias, 30 thousand US dollars in cash and 65 thousand hryvnias in bank accounts.

Another deputy mayor , Vitaliy Belobrov, received UAH 87,000 for health improvement in August and UAH 95,700 for living expenses in November. The additional payment amounted to UAH 182.7 thousand. The total income is 1.1 million.

In 2024,Serhii Orekhov worked first at the MBA and then at the city council. Both organizations paid him an allowance: 86.9 thousand hryvnias in March for health improvement, and 114.4 thousand in November for living expenses. The total amount was 201.3 thousand hryvnias out of a total annual income of 1.4 million hryvnias.

The CPR emphasizes that it is impossible to analyze the salaries of some officials. For example, Kherson Mayor Ihor Kolikhayev has been in captivity since 2022. His powers were subsequently exercised first by the secretary of the city council, Halyna Luhova, and then by the head of the MVA, Roman Mrochko. Mrochko himself, according to his declaration, received UAH 1.1 million in salary in 2024, but he was paid as a military officer - from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Thus, financial assistance for health improvement and living expenses in Kherson has become a permanent part of the salary policy - even in years when explosions are heard in the city every day.

Ірина Глухова