Odesa regional council deputy fails to explain origin of millions in declaration

The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has conducted a full audit of the declaration of Andriy Babenko, a member of the Odesa Regional Council and founder of the Samson security agency, and found a number of violations and inaccurate information.

According to the NACP, it concerns the financial statements for 2023.

In particular, Babenko indicated more than UAH 17 million in income, but could not confirm where the money came from. He was not officially engaged in entrepreneurial activity, so he could not have earned such amounts.

In addition, he failed to declare expenses of more than UAH 1.8 million - this money was spent on the purchase of a BMW motorcycle and a Renault car, although these transactions are also not listed in the declaration.

In total, the audit revealed inaccurate data worth more than UAH 28 million. Babenko also failed to confirm that in 2014 he sold agricultural products worth UAH 3.6 million and allegedly exchanged them for USD 450 thousand. He did not provide any supporting documents.

In addition, he included in his 2025 declaration the land and property he allegedly owned back in 2014, but did not provide any evidence.

Thus, the NACP concluded that Andrii Babenko, a deputy of the Odesa Regional Council, violated the law by providing false information in his declaration.

Earlier, the NACP reported that it had found UAH 15.1 million worth of inaccuracies in the declaration of Natalia Munyka, head of the tax audit department of the Southern Interregional Department of the State Tax Service for Large Taxpayers.

Meanwhile, experts of the all-Ukrainian public campaign "Certification of Local Council Deputies" analyzed the declarations of the deputies of the Odesa City Council for 2021-2024. According to data from the Unified State Register of Declarations, in 2024, the deputies and their family members declared UAH 1 billion in cash, and another UAH 129.9 million in bank accounts. The total income of the MPs for the year amounted to UAH 349.6 million, and they also own 154 residential properties and 160 hectares of land.

Ірина Глухова