Position: deputy of the Odessa Regional Council from the "Servant of the People" party, since December 5, 2020, heads the Odessa Regional Council.
Sphere of corruption: false declaration.
Region of corruption activity: Odessa.
Qualification: Part 2, Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: at large.
Case story: People's Deputy from the Servant of the People party Yulia Didenko and her husband Hryhoriy, who heads the Odessa Regional Council, are suspected of false declarations. The couple did not declare property worth more than UAH 8 million. The Anti-Corruption Center reported this on Monday, October 20. Detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) established that the couple did not include information about property worth more than UAH 8 million in their declarations for 2021-2023.
In addition, the SAPO prosecutor filed a lawsuit with the court to declare the assets of the Didenkos' spouses worth almost UAH 5 million unfounded and to recover them as state revenue.
It turned out that in 2021-2024, the couple purchased property worth almost UAH 5 million, including apartments and two Audi SQ8 cars (2021 and 2024 models). According to the investigation, there was no legal income for the purchase of this property. The panel of judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine has already seized the apartment and non-residential premises owned by Hryhoriy Didenko. In the declaration for 2024, Hryhoriy Didenko, in particular, included: four apartments in Kyiv, Odessa and Donetsk, non-residential premises in Truskavets, an Audi SQ8 car, Swiss watches, jewelry and expensive clothes.
The actions of the suspects were qualified under Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The investigation is ongoing.
Hryhoriy Didenko was elected a deputy of the Odessa Regional Council from the Servant of the People party in October 2020. Since December 5, 2020, he has been the head of the Odessa Regional Council.
In December 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded Didenko the Order of Merit of the 3rd degree.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes:
People's Deputy from the Servant of the People party, wife of Hryhoriy Didenko — Yulia Didenko
It turned out that in 2021-2024, the couple purchased property worth almost UAH 5 million, including apartments and two Audi SQ8 cars (2021 and 2024 models). According to the investigation, there was no legal income for the purchase of this property. The panel of judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine has already seized the apartment and non-residential premises owned by Hryhoriy Didenko. In the declaration for 2024, Hryhoriy Didenko, in particular, included: four apartments in Kyiv, Odessa and Donetsk, non-residential premises in Truskavets, an Audi SQ8 car, Swiss watches, jewelry and expensive clothes.
The actions of the suspects were qualified under Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The investigation is ongoing.
Assets: the family did not make any real estate purchases in 2024. The wife, as before, owns a non-residential premises with an area of almost 40 square meters in Truskavets, almost 14 hundred square meters of land in Hungary, a third of an apartment with an area of 67 square meters in Donetsk (joint ownership with the Sedykh family), an apartment of 32 sq. m in Kyiv. The registered couple was in the Odessa 42-meter apartment of the deputy director of the KU "Catering Plant" and councilor of Hryhoriy Didenko Liliya Tomashevskaya (who, according to our sources, actually manages the assembly apparatus).
In 2024, the People's Deputy refused to rent an apartment with an area of 53.4 sq. m in Odessa and 51 sq. m in Kyiv. But the Didenkos are still renting out their huge 164-square-meter apartments in Odessa.
The family has only one car — a 2021 Audi SQ8 SUV, and it's a leased one. A new one sells for 125-130 thousand euros. Only the special anti-shock film that covers the car costs about 3.5 thousand dollars. The license plates there are also not easy — OO 0007 MM. The wife of the assembly leader, a "servant" people's deputy Yulia Didenko, drives the car, and it belongs to her mother, pensioner Lyubov Sirota, born in 1947. Earlier, the media wrote about this woman, who, despite her considerable age, leads a fairly active lifestyle. For example, on March 4, 2023, she became one of the beneficiaries of the Martin Group company, which demolished architectural monuments on Rishelievskaya (the theater of the same name and the Fesenko printing house).
Among her valuables, Yulia Didenko listed jewelry (two sets of rings and pendants with diamonds and pearls), a Rolex watch, and a mink coat with a sable collar. Her husband, Grigory Didenko, listed Glashutte, Breguet, Romain Jerome, and HUBLOT watches (a gift from a certain Raisa Mikhailovna Didenko).
For the year, the head of the regional council earned almost 900 thousand hryvnias, his wife - 682 thousand hryvnias. In addition, the people's deputy earned 140 thousand, renting something to Denis Bilous. Grigory Didenko keeps 209 thousand euros in cash, Yulia Didenko - 170 thousand US dollars. The main "servant" of the region has about 11 thousand hryvnias in bank accounts, the people's deputy - 5,000 hryvnias.
Persons who should have reacted: in the case of Didenko, law enforcement officers reacted in a timely manner.
Scandals: it should be noted that it was the discrepancy between declared income and expenses that became the basis for one of the criminal cases involving the couple. In particular, the matter concerns the fact that in the three years after his election, the head of the regional council became richer by UAH 24 million. Which exceeds his financial capabilities by UAH 17 million.
In addition, anti-corruption officers are interested in the family's real estate. It is known that until December 2023, the Didenkos lived in an elite complex on Lidersovsky Boulevard, while they were registered, as they are today, in a 42-meter apartment belonging to Tomashevskaya.
Didenko made some of his luxury purchases with the help of “donations” from companies that received contracts for the management of property relations of the regional council. This includes, in particular, LLC “DD-stroy”, which belongs to a regional council deputy and Didenko’s fellow party member. Among other things, this company participated in the extremely expensive reconstruction of two storage facilities.
Also in 2023, the prosecutor's office announced the opening of criminal proceedings against the head of the Odessa Regional Council, Hryhoriy Didenko. He allegedly tried to obstruct the work of deputies by hiding documents and refusing to provide copies of the orders of the head of the regional council.
Chukhalo stated that according to the law and regulations, the council chairman must inform the deputies. The lack of access to these documents may hide the facts of spending budget funds, abuse of authority, and abuse of power.
This investigation calls into question the actions and transparency of the leadership of the regional council. In general, the regional prosecutor's office has initiated criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Article 351 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Obstruction of the activities of a deputy). Such actions are punishable by a fine of one to two thousand non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens, or by arrest for a term of up to six months, or by restriction of liberty for a term of up to three years.
We will remind, recently the SSU conducted investigative actions in the Odessa OVA. The visit of the Security Service is connected with the case of purchasing dangerous canned food for residents of the Mykolaiv region. Humanitarian goods were purchased at an inflated price. In addition, after a high-profile corruption scandal and the arrest of the deputy head of the Odessa RMA, Oleg Muratov, it was decided to dismiss him from his post. However, the former employee does not agree with the decision and decided to file a lawsuit to have him reinstated.
Sources:
https://odesa.novyny.live/skandal-v-odeskii-ova-prokuratura-rozsliduie-diyi-didenka-96434.html
https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2025/10/20/8003559/
https://dumskaya.net/news/vsego-15-mln-zarplaty-na-dvoih-i-bez-svoego-avto-187626/ua/
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/68a333e9-f88b-411e-9891-aefd30d87a2b