Wives of Kherson City Council deputies earned more than their elected representatives (Anti-corruption)

Members of the Kherson City Council declared almost UAH 33 million in income and over UAH 52 million in savings, mostly in cash. Some of the deputies significantly increased their wealth during the war, while others became millionaires without official income.

The Centerfor Public Investigations, together with Intent, analyzed the declarations of Kherson City Council members for 2025. Out of 53 elected officials, 22 current and 9 former deputies have declarations in the NACP register.

The total declared income of 22 current deputies of the Kherson Regional Council in 2025 amounted to UAH 32.9 million. Of this amount, UAH 24.3 million is directly attributable to the deputies themselves, and another UAH 8.6 million is the income of their family members.

The leader in terms of family income is the MP from the Servant of the People party, rector of the Kherson State Maritime Academy Yuriy Kyrylov. His family declared UAH 6.75 million in income. At the same time, the MP's personal income amounted to only UAH 890 thousand, while his wife earned the bulk of it - UAH 5.86 million. Compared to 2024, the family income increased by about 5%.

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One of the most notable increases was declared by Yurii Stelmashenko, a member of the now-banned OPFL party. While in 2024 his income amounted to UAH 780 thousand, in 2025 it was UAH 2.12 million. Thus, the increase exceeded 170%, and for the first time, the MP himself became one of the richest MPs in terms of income.

Halyna Luhova, the former secretary of Kherson City Council and now a representative of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, also significantly increased her income. Her annual income increased from UAH 1.15 million to UAH 2.13 million. This increase is likely due to the increase in state salaries during the war period.

The financial situation of Dmytro Poddubnyi, a member of the We Live Here party and entrepreneur, has also changed significantly. In his declaration for 2024, he reported zero income, but in 2025 he declared UAH 2.35 million in business income.

At the same time, three MPs did not show any official income at all. We are talking about entrepreneur Ilya Karamalikov, as well as MPs from the Servant of the People party, Andriy Medvedev and Yevhen Plyas. Despite the lack of income, it is Plyas who has been topping the savings rating among MPs for three years in a row.

In total, MPs declared UAH 52 million in savings. Almost all of the funds are kept in cash - UAH 50.3 million. MPs keep only about UAH 560 thousand in bank accounts. Another UAH 1.7 million was lent to third parties.

The absolute leader in terms of savings is Yevhen Plyas. In his declaration, he indicated UAH 14.43 million in cash and did not declare any income for the year. Compared to the previous year, his wealth remained almost unchanged: in 2024, he had UAH 14.49 million.

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Yuriy Kirilov's family showed the highest growth rate in savings. While in 2024, the MP's family had UAH 2.1 million in savings, in 2025 it already had UAH 4.74 million. Most of these funds are also registered to his wife - UAH 2.52 million.

Several MPs have their main financial assets registered to family members. For example, in Kirillov 's declaration, his wife accounts for most of his savings. The situation is similar for MPs Demchuk, Kharchenko, and Lozhychev, where their wives or relatives have accumulated more money than the MPs themselves.

Halyna Luhova's declaration is particularly noteworthy. Despite her annual income of over UAH 2 million, she did not indicate any savings in the document.

There are also MPs who declared minimal income. In particular, Oleksii Zabolotnyi and Yurii Poputko reported less than UAH 200 thousand of annual income.

At the same time, members of the Kherson Regional Council live in several parallel realities. Some are on the front line or evacuated, their declarations are closed for security reasons. Others are in the temporarily occupied territory, some of them registering businesses under Russian law or obtaining Russian passports.

Анна Бальчінос