The Mayor of Varash, Oleksandr Menzul, has released his financial disclosure for the year 2025, revealing a combined family income of over 2.5 million UAH alongside new additions to their real estate portfolio. According to the official document, the city head and his wife acquired two sizable plots of land in the Volyn and Odesa regions over the past two years. However, the complete absence of bank accounts in the disclosure has already raised questions among financial analysts and anti-corruption watchdogs.
The assets disclosed by the Varash Mayor and his immediate family include an apartment, a garage, two large land parcels, and one vehicle.
Since 2007, Oleksandr Menzul has held 100% ownership of a 115 m² apartment in Varash, with an estimated market value of $40,000–$60,000 at the time of purchase. His wife, Valentyna Hryhorieva, owns a 27 m² garage in Varash, acquired in 2017.
The family’s property map expanded significantly over the last two years:
September 2023: Oleksandr Menzul registered ownership of an 1,167 m² (11.67 hundred square meters) land plot in the village of Zmiyinets, Volyn Oblast. Its market value at the time is estimated between $12,000 and $23,000.
May 2024: Valentyna Hryhorieva acquired a 2,500 m² (25 hundred square meters) land plot in the village of Stara Nekrasivка, Odesa Oblast, with an estimated value ranging from $8,000 to $20,000.
Additionally, in November 2022, a 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan was registered under the name of the mayor’s son, Maksym Menzul. At the time of acquisition, similar models on the Ukrainian market were valued at approximately $14,000–$18,000.
The family’s income for the year 2025 safely crossed the 2.5 million UAH threshold. Oleksandr Menzul reported 1.24 million UAH in salary from the Varash City Council, supplemented by 104,000 UAH in travel expense compensations from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
His wife, an employee at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), contributed 1.15 million UAH in wages and 214,000 UAH in pension payments to the household budget. In terms of liquid savings, the mayor declared only $7,000 in cash.
«Despite a combined annual family income exceeding 2.5 million UAH, the official document indicates a total absence of declared funds across any banking institutions.»
While the core figures are out in the open, the submitted declaration contains several blind spots that journalists and anti-corruption agencies may need to review.
First, the exact source of funding for the purchase of the two land plots, totaling over 36 hundred square meters between 2023 and 2024, remains unclear. The mandatory «Expenditures and Transactions» section of the declaration currently holds no records regarding these acquisitions. Second, independent analysts point out a glaring imbalance between the couple’s high annual earnings and the complete lack of active bank deposits or accumulated savings.