The head of the Solomyanskyi District Court failed to declare a building project near Kyiv for four years

The Anti-Corruption Centre has stated that Vitalii Ukraintsev, the president of the Solomyanskyi District Court in Kyiv, failed to declare an unfinished construction project in an upmarket suburb of the capital for four years.

The property in question is a 0.12-hectare plot in the ‘Druzi’ gardening association in the village of Stari Bezradychi, Kozin community, Kyiv region. Since 2021, the judge has declared this land as jointly owned with his wife. According to the data provided, the family purchased it in autumn 2020 for 130,000 hryvnias, which amounted to approximately 4,500 dollars, or 358 dollars per 100 square metres. The Centre for Political and Legal Analysis considers this price to be below market value.

The investigation cites satellite images which, according to the authors, show that in March 2020 the plot was empty, by 2021 a foundation had already been laid, in 2022 – the shell of a two-storey house, and as of March 2026, a cottage that is effectively complete stands on the site.

According to data from the Unified State Electronic System for Construction, the floor area of this house is 194.76 square metres.

The CPC notes that the cost of such construction could be significantly higher than the family’s official financial data suggests. According to estimates by builders interviewed by the authors of the investigation, constructing a house of around 200 square metres on a ‘turnkey’ basis could cost at least $800 per square metre, or approximately $156,000.

Architect Oleg Grechukh estimated the potential cost even higher – at nearly $200,000. According to him, the price is influenced, in particular, by two monolithic floor slabs, a flat roof, an insulated façade and large panoramic windows. He also noted that the land itself in such a location might require additional investment in roads and electrical infrastructure, and its actual value could be significantly higher than the declared one.

The CPC claims that since the property first appeared, Vitalii Ukraintsev has not included it in his declarations. Furthermore, the organisation noted that between 2021 and 2024, the judge’s family saved approximately half of their income each year. According to the authors of the investigation, this casts doubt on the transparency of the sources of funding for such construction. Furthermore, according to their data, the judge’s declarations for this period did not include any expenses related to this property.

Separately, the report notes that the plot of land under the cottage features in criminal case No. 42025112340000284, which has been under investigation by the National Police since 2025. This concerns a case involving the misuse of agricultural land by unidentified individuals. The CPC also recalled that five years ago, the environmental organisation “Ukrainian Environmental Group” reported that this land belonged to the Kozin Forestry.

The investigation also provides information about the judge’s neighbours in the “Friends” gardening association. Among them are named the son of the late mayor of Kharkiv, Hennadiy Kernes, Daniil Privalov, as well as a number of people whom the CPC links to him. Specifically, these include Samvel Akobyan, Yuriy Stasiv, Mykhailo Dumchev, Ihor Kasyanov and Danylo Martynov. According to the CPC, it was the latter who sold the land to the judge at an undervalued price and who is also the head of this association.

A separate section of the investigation concerns the biography of Vitalii Ukraintsev himself. The CPC notes that he is a “Maidan judge”, and the Public Integrity Council had previously pointed to indications of inaccurate information in his integrity declaration and to decisions that were likely politically motivated. At the same time, as noted, the High Council of Justice found no violations in his actions and did not hold him accountable.

The CPC also draws attention to the professional activities of the judge’s wife, Olga Ukraintseva, who is a lawyer. According to the organisation, between 2022 and 2025 she represented in court the interests of a business linked to the Russian defence sector. This refers to the company “AGC Flat Glass Ukraine”, founded by the Belgian firm AGC GLASS EUROPE – a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate AGC. The investigation notes that prior to the full-scale invasion, the main contractor for the Ukrainian company was the Russian entity “AGC Flat Glass Klin”, and one of the group’s associated plants in Russia was subject to sanctions in 2024 as a supplier of armoured glass for Russian armoured vehicle production.

Furthermore, according to the CPC, Olga Ukraintseva worked at “G&K Law Firm” during the period when it was headed by Natalia Gavrilyuk, who is described in the report as Viktor Medvedchuk’s former wife in the early 2000s.

Vitaliy Ukraintsev himself explained in a comment to the CPC that the main construction work was allegedly scheduled for 2025, which is why he planned to include the house and the associated costs in his declaration for 2025. According to the CPC, the judge submitted this declaration three hours after speaking with representatives of the organisation, and it was in this declaration that the unfinished construction project in Stari Bezradychi first appeared.

Regarding the sources of funds for the construction, the judge stated that there were “no hundreds of thousands of dollars” involved, and that, according to him, the work was funded by declared family funds.

When asked about the cost of the land, he denied that it cost more than stated in the documents. The seller of the plot, Danylo Martynov, quoted by the Anti-Corruption Centre, also claimed that he sold the land to friends and “friends of friends”, so the judge allegedly bought it at almost cost price. He also stated, according to the investigation, that the construction of such a house could have cost approximately $100,000.

The Anti-Corruption Centre’s lawyer, Roman Verbovskyi, believes that the judge’s actions may constitute the deliberate inclusion of knowingly false information in his declaration. The Anti-Corruption Centre has stated that it will file a criminal complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) regarding the failure to declare the unfinished construction project for four years.