The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has uncovered false information totaling 8.81 million UAH in the asset declaration of Roman Zolotukhin, a former administrator of the MoI Territorial Service Center №6341 in Kharkiv. The former official attempted to justify hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash as an inheritance from his late father, but an official audit completely debunked the claim. The watchdog stated that the former civil servant’s actions carry signs of a criminal offense.
During a comprehensive audit of the financial statements, the NACP identified a series of undeclared properties. Specifically, the former service center official failed to report two land plots in Kharkiv, measuring 1,000 m² and 150 m², which are jointly owned by his family and other citizens. Notably, the residential building located on these very plots was included in the document, while the land beneath it was omitted.
Additionally, the former administrator failed to report a non-residential storage space owned by his wife between building floors, as well as a custom-built utility trailer. Discrepancies were also found in property valuations: the value of a land plot in the village of Borova was significantly understated, and the total area of his daughter’s Kharkiv apartment was listed incorrectly.
The audit also revealed inaccuracies regarding vehicles. Zolotukhin declared that he used a 2022 Lexus NX 250 owned by his sister, listing its value at 1.66 million UAH. However, according to the official state register, the actual price of the vehicle at the time of acquisition was 2 million UAH—the former official had simply omitted the VAT.
The most substantial discrepancies involved the former official’s cash assets, as he declared $300,000 in cash. The NACP conducted a thorough financial analysis of the subject’s official income and expenses spanning two decades (from 2004 to 2024).
Taking into account all verified legal sources—including salary, property and vehicle sales, pensions, and gifts—Zolotukhin’s legitimate net savings should have amounted to just over $90,000. The mathematical gap between his declared cash and legal income stood at nearly $210,000.
Official NACP Statement: «The declarant’s explanation regarding the origin of the funds coming from a $350,000 inheritance from his father was not confirmed.»
The Kharkiv State Notary Office reported that the only inheritance Zolotukhin received from his father was a bank account at JSC «AKB Bazys» with a remaining balance of 970.4 UAH. Furthermore, according to State Tax Service data, over a five-year period (1998–2003), the father’s sole official income from legal sources was a mere 91.15 UAH from the Regional Clinical Hospital. Accumulating hundreds of thousands of dollars was physically impossible.
Based on the findings of the investigation, the NACP concluded that the former official knowingly entered false data into the state registry. Incidents like this highlight ongoing corruption risks within regional service centers and underscore the critical need for rigorous financial monitoring.
Currently, Roman Zolotukhin’s actions have been found to violate Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (declaration of knowingly false information on a major scale). The sanctions for this offense range from hefty fines to community service, or imprisonment for up to two years, along with a ban on holding certain public offices.