Position: Chairman of the Kivertsivka City Council.
Sphere of corrupt activity: procurement.
Region of corruption activity: Volyn region.
Qualification: the actions are qualified under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement of someone else's property on an especially large scale through abuse of official position, committed by prior conspiracy).
Status: at large.
The plot of the case: in late April 2025, the head of the city council in Volyn and an entrepreneur were caught embezzling 6 million UAH during the purchase of cars for the military. They face up to 12 years in prison for their actions.
In May 2023, the city council in Volyn received a request from the military to purchase two trucks for their needs. The mayor colluded with a businessman he knew and implemented a scheme to purchase vehicles at an inflated price. For 10 million UAH from the community budget, they bought cars whose real cost was more than 6 million UAH less
According to media reports, the suspect is 41-year-old head of the Kivertsiysk City Council, Oleksandr Kovalchuk. Investigators are considering whether to impose a preventive measure on him.
Law enforcement officers reported the official and the businessman to be suspected of committing a crime under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement of someone else's property on an especially large scale through abuse of official position, committed by prior conspiracy). The sanction of the article provides for 7 to 12 years of imprisonment.
Subsequently, the official was given a preventive measure - a bail of 1.3 million hryvnias, and his property was also partially seized, namely bank accounts, which were prohibited from being used. In return, the official's Dacia car and his wife's Mercedes-Benz were also seized with the right to use.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: no information is available from open sources about potential accomplices.
Assets: in the 2024 declaration, no real estate (apartments, houses, land plots) was declared by either Kovalchuk or his family members.
The official's wife declared an elite Mercedes-Benz GLC 250 D (2016) of unknown value, because a family member did not provide the official with information. Kovalchuk himself officially drives a Dacia Logan (2007). Kovalchuk's wife purchased a Mercedes-Benz GLC 250 D in 2023, but the cost is not indicated due to "failure to provide information by a family member." In 2023, the market price of such a car in Ukraine was from 1.2 million UAH.
The official's wife earned 2.17 million hryvnias as an entrepreneur in a year, while the mayor earned only 714 thousand hryvnias. No cash or bank deposits were declared.
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies responded in a timely manner to the criminal activities of the official.
Scandals: This is not the first scandal involving the mayor: he previously initiated a stadium construction project worth UAH 145 million during a full-scale war, and was also spotted driving without a driver's license.
As reported by the media, over the course of several years he was repeatedly fined for violating the Traffic Rules. In total, he was fined almost 75 thousand hryvnias. He allowed himself to drive drunk at least twice and for years he drove a car without a driver's license.
Sources:
https://368.media/2025/04/29/miskij-golova-kivertsiv-ofitsijno-viyavivsya-bezhatkom/
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/975a5385-7ab6-47ed-9f2f-84946d415c6c