Oleksandr Horbov, Deputy Head of the Poltava Customs Office, has come under journalistic scrutiny following significant discrepancies between the declared and market values of his family’s assets, as well as previously undeclared business activities belonging to his wife.
In total, the official listed 12 real estate properties in his financial statements. Among them is a 40.9-square-meter apartment in Odesa’s SmartApartments complex near the sea, valued in his declaration at a mere 200,000 UAH (and previously listed at 177,000 UAH in 2019 documents). However, the realistic market price for similar properties in the area starts at $30,000 USD.
The ownership trail of the Odesa apartment proved to be intricate: the housing passed between family members over time. As of autumn 2025, usage rights were granted to the customs official’s wife, Olena Horbova, who subsequently received the property as a gift. In a comment to journalists, Horbov stated that the declared sum matches the purchase agreement and added that their eldest son currently resides in the apartment.
Beyond real estate, analysis of past records revealed that the official had previously failed to report his wife’s business—a beauty salon in Mykolaiv. The existence of this enterprise is corroborated by contact lookup services and social media promotional posts. Olena Horbova currently operates as an entrepreneur in Poltava running a fitness center, having received a 270,000 UAH grant under the «eRobota» state program in 2024.
Financial influxes in the form of gifts from senior relatives also raised questions:
In 2021, the official’s wife received 1.7 million UAH from her 67-year-old mother, who had resided in Israel for an extended period.
In 2024, Horbov declared an additional 500,000 UAH gift from his own 78-year-old mother—a former head of a regional tourism center.
The Poltava official explained these amounts by stating that both mothers had sold their own residential properties in Mykolaiv.
«The house in Cyprus, where our family held usage rights in 2022–2023, belongs to my wife’s former father-in-law,» Oleksandr Horbov remarked regarding the foreign real estate in his filings.
Oleksandr Horbov has a long history in customs administration and port infrastructure. He previously headed the Mykolaiv Customs Office, worked at the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (AMPU) and the Chornomorsk Port, managed customs posts at «Kyiv» Airport (Zhulyany) and «Mykolaiv-Sea,» and competed for the leadership position at the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB).