Public officials declare cash gifts exceeding UAH 3.4 billion annually. Such data was obtained by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) after analyzing information from the Unified State Register of Declarations of Persons Authorized to Perform the Functions of the State or Local Self-Government (Register of Declarations).
In recent years, the practice of declaring significant amounts of cash gifts has remained stable. For example, in the submitted declarations:
- 2021 – 24.2 thousand declarations indicated cash gifts totaling UAH 3.48 billion;
- 2022 – 20.3 thousand declarations – UAH 3.92 billion;
- 2023 – 24.2 thousand declarations – UAH 3.52 billion;
- 2024 – 25.4 thousand declarations – UAH 4.39 billion.
As a reminder, cash gifts must be declared if their total value from one person (or group of persons) during the year exceeds five subsistence minimums (currently UAH 15,140).
Of course, public officials, like anyone else, may have wealthy and generous relatives or other close persons. However, some unscrupulous officials declare supposedly gifted money to legalize illicit assets.
During full audits of declarations, NACP detects violations in declaring income in the form of gifts. Declarants may fail to provide supporting documents confirming the receipt of such gifts, or the NACP may establish that the gifted funds exceed the lawful income of the donors themselves.
Examples:
Gifted cash
In the 2022 declaration, the head of the Ochakiv City Council of Mykolaiv Oblast indicated receiving a gift from his mother exceeding UAH 9.1 million, based on a notarized gift agreement. During the full check, it was established that the gift amount significantly exceeded the mother's income. Signs of illicit enrichment under Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine were found. The National Police of Ukraine (NPU) is conducting a pre-trial investigation.
In the 2023 declaration, the head of the Artsyz State Notary Office in Odesa Oblast indicated receiving a cash gift from her mother exceeding UAH 18.28 million, under a notarized gift agreement. However, the full audit did not confirm the parents' financial capacity to provide such a gift. The NPU is conducting a pre-trial investigation under Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Gifted cash as a source of funds for acquiring assets or savings
During full audits of declaration, NACP records numerous cases where declarants cite supposed gifts from close relatives - parents, grandparents, siblings, godparents, etc.- as the source of funds specified in Section 12 “Cash Assets” of the declaration.
For example, a court session secretary of the Uzhhorod City District Court of Zakarpattia Oblast declared over UAH 8 million in cash in her 2023 declaration, stating that the source was a gift from her godparents. However, the full audit did not establish circumstances confirming such a gift. The NPU is conducting a pre-trial investigation.
A similar situation was found during the full audit of the declaration of a deputy of the Zakarpattia Oblast Council, who indicated a significant amount of savings in Section 12 “Cash Assets” of his 2023 declaration, citing a cash gift from his parents as the source. No supporting documents confirming the parents’ financial capacity to provide such a gift were submitted or established during the audit. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) is conducting a pre-trial investigation.
These examples illustrate typical cases of declaring significant income based on gifts from relatives without confirming the sources of funds.
Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court’s guilty verdict.
More results of full audits of declaration and related reports can be found in the “NACP Activity Results” section.
