Position: Head of the Housing and Communal Services Department of the Chernihiv City Council.
Sphere of corruption: local government.
Region of corruption activity: Chernihiv region.
Qualification: under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: at large.
Case story: Yaroslav Kuts was suspected of official negligence by law enforcement officers on February 14, 2023. The case concerns losses to the budget of almost 7.9 million hryvnias. The case concerns the purchase of Belarusian-made equipment by the municipal enterprise "ATP-2528" in the summer of 2022 at inflated prices. On February 16, the court chose Kuts as a preventive measure in the form of night house arrest and suspended the head of the city housing and communal services department from his position for a period of two months.
Kutz himself said at the meeting that he considers the suspicion unfounded, because his job description does not stipulate that he should control the activities of an enterprise that has its own manager.
It's hard for me to say where this logic came from. It turns out that any violation committed by any utility company is automatically my fault. I cannot be held responsible for the actions of an official. I did not instigate him, I did not tell him. In what way did I perform my work unsatisfactory? Especially since they announced a tender, it's transparent
According to Prosecutor Volodymyr Koval, Yaroslav Kuts' responsibilities include ensuring the effective and targeted use of budget funds:
Kutz is suspected of not checking information about the technical characteristics of vehicles that were planned to be purchased by the controlled enterprise with budget funds, not setting the price of similar vehicles on the market, and not organizing work in such a way that subordinate employees checked this information
On April 26, the Chernihiv Court of Appeal granted the appeal of lawyer Yaroslav Kuts and overturned the previous decision to remove him from office.
Later, the Chernihiv Court of Appeal granted the appeal of lawyer Yaroslav Kuts and overturned the previous decision to remove him from office.
Subsequently, the Desnyanskyi District Court of Chernihiv released Kuts on personal recognizance. He was given the following obligations: to appear at every procedurally motivated request; not to leave the city of Chernihiv, Chernihiv region without permission; to report any change in his place of residence and place of work; to refrain from communicating with witnesses in this criminal proceeding; and to hand over his foreign passports for safekeeping.
In February 2026, it became known that the High Anti-Corruption Court extended until April 13 the investigation into the case of suspected abuse of power by the head of the housing and communal services department of the Chernihiv City Council, Yaroslav Kuts.
The petition is partially granted. The term of the pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings is extended to 8 months, that is, until April 13, 2026
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: in addition to Kuts, suspicion was also placed on officials of the utility company, whose actions show signs of embezzlement of property through abuse of official position (Part 5, Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Assets: Yaroslav Kuts' declaration states that he, his wife Maryna Taranova, as well as Valentina Taranova and Yulia Taranova have in common ownership an apartment in Chernihiv with an area of 67.3 sq. m. The date of acquisition of the right to this object is not indicated in the declaration, nor is its value indicated. In addition, the declarant's wife has the right to use an apartment in Chernihiv with an area of 100 sq. m., which has been owned by Valentina Taranova since May 1, 2019. Maryna Taranova is also the owner of two non-residential premises in Chernihiv, the acquisition of the right to which is dated February 25, 2021. The area of one of them is 152.4 sq. m., the value on the date of acquisition of the right is UAH 582,045. The area of the second premises is 120.4 sq. m., the value is UAH 459,830.
It is also stated that his wife Marina Taranova has the right to use a 2022 HONDA CRV passenger car. The right to use was acquired on March 25, 2023. The owner of the car is Vyacheslav Taranov. The cost of the vehicle is not indicated in the declaration.
In addition, the wife of Marina Taranova owns corporate rights in LLC "Medical Center "Axioma". She is the owner of 100% of the authorized capital of the company, and the value of the share in monetary terms is 300 thousand UAH. The right was acquired on July 29, 2021. The declaration also indicates that these corporate rights were not transferred to management.
During the reporting period, he received UAH 920,160 in wages from the Housing and Communal Services Department of the Chernihiv City Council. His wife, Maryna Taranova, declared UAH 399,651 in wages from Axioma Medical Center LLC, UAH 781,260 in income from entrepreneurial activity, and UAH 500,000 in dividends from the same company.
The family's cash savings amount to 75 thousand US dollars. Of this, 25 thousand US dollars belong to the declarant himself, and another 50 thousand US dollars belong to his wife, Marina Taranova.
Persons who should have reacted: in the case of Kuts, law enforcement officers reacted in a timely manner.
Scandals: There is no information in open sources about other scandals in which Kutz would appear.
Sources:
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/ef1f576b-389e-40d8-b9a2-91ad273df3df