Mykolaiv Starosta Fined ₴68K and Banned from Office for False Declaration

The court punished a starosta from Mykolaiv region who failed to indicate expensive real estate in her declaration. She was fined and banned from holding senior positions in local government for a year.

This is evidenced by the ruling of the Voznesensk City District Court of Mykolaiv Oblast.

The court found the starosta of the village of Trykraty, Voznesensk district, guilty of entering false information in the declaration for 2022. The woman failed to declare property worth more than UAH 5.9 million, violating the requirements of anti-corruption legislation.

According to the verdict, the starosta deliberately submitted knowingly false information in the declaration she filled out on March 30, 2023, on the NACP website. In the document, she did not indicate a significant list of real estate:

• a parking space worth almost 55 thousand hryvnias, purchased in September 2021;
• two apartments worth about UAH 2.9 and 2.75 million;
• a residential building with an area of 63.9 square meters for UAH 28.5 thousand;
• a land plot of 0.2 hectares, which became her property together with the house;
• another apartment purchased in 2009 with a market value of over UAH 128 thousand.

All of this real estate already belonged to the starosta at the time of filling out the declaration, but it was not mentioned in the document. As a result, as stated in the verdict, the data submitted by her differ from the reliable ones by UAH 5 million 940 thousand 386. This exceeds 2,000 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons, the threshold for criminal liability for false declaration under Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In court, the woman pleaded guilty in full. She explained that she filled out a new declaration based on the previous one and did not have time to supplement it with relevant data in time. Her defense counsel asked the court to take this into account and impose a minimum sentence.

The court took into account the positive characteristics of the accused, the absence of convictions, her health, financial situation, family circumstances, and sincere remorse. However, the court found the starosta's actions to be intentional and falling under Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. As a result, the court fined her 68 thousand hryvnias and banned her from holding positions related to local government functions for a period of one year.

In January, law enforcement officers arrested a former deputy of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, Yuriy Kormyshkin. The court imposed a bail of UAH 15 million on him. He is suspected of trying to legalize property belonging to his wife.

In early 2025, the NABU and the SAPO served a new suspicion on Iryna Kormyshkina, a current MP. She was accused of entering false information in her electronic declaration. In addition, the MP is involved in a case of illegal enrichment. According to the investigation, in 2021-2022, she acquired assets worth more than UAH 20 million.

Анна Бальчінос