70 million mansion: journalists expose the wealth of the head of the Energy Customs, the Prime Minister initiates an audit
4 August 2025 18:29
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko has instructed the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Customs Service to check the information published by journalists about the possible illegal wealth of Anatoliy Komar, head of the Energy Customs. She announced this in her Telegram channel, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
Svyrydenko also ordered the agencies to immediately report on the results of the inspection and the measures taken. In response, Finance Minister Sergiy Marchenko instructed the acting head of the State Customs Service to consider removing Komar from office for the period of the internal investigation.
on August 4, the State Customs Service officially announced the opening of disciplinary proceedings against Komar and his temporary suspension from duty. The investigation is being conducted jointly with the Ministry of Finance, the NAPC, and law enforcement agencies.
The State Customs Service said it was acting within its authority, adhering to the principles of legality, integrity, and transparency.
What the journalists found out
An investigation published on August 1 by the Schemes project revealed that in 2021 Anatolii Komar became the owner of an apartment in the Boulevard of Fountains residential complex in downtown Kyiv worth UAH 3.7 million.
The official salary of the official (UAH 90 thousand per month) is not enough for such a purchase. Komar’s declaration states that UAH 2 million was given to his wife by his mother, and another UAH 3 million by his grandmother, who was 91 years old at the time.
However, the family does not live in these apartments, but in another metropolitan complex on the banks of the Dnipro River. The wife’s father, Serhii Hladkov, registered the property there in 2020.
He bought two apartments of 138 m² and two parking spaces, as well as a 20-hectare plot of land in the village of Vyshenky near Kyiv, in the gated cottage community of “Private Gardener.”
According to journalists, it is on this plot that the estate is being built, with an estimated cost of UAH 70 million. The first two stages of construction have already cost 48 million. The “schemes” suggest that the estate is being built for Komar, as the official regularly uses the property registered in his father-in-law’s name.
Coincidence in dates and acquaintances
On the same day and at almost the same time as Komar’s father-in-law, the wife of Mykola Lavrenko, a longtime top manager at VS Energy, bought a plot of land nearby. Both transactions were certified by the same notary 15 minutes apart. Komar once worked as an advisor at VS Energy, and Lavrenko left the company after the National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions in 2023. Despite this, the journalists found out that they still keep in touch.
Lifestyle
Komar drives a 2018 Mercedes S-Class. The declaration states that his wife rents the car from a private company. The cost of renting such a car is about $6 thousand per month. The official refused to disclose the amount the family actually pays.
Daughter’s education abroad
Journalists also discovered that Komar’s minor daughter is studying abroad. In 2023, she graduated from the private school Pascal English School Lefkosia in Cyprus, where the annual tuition and accommodation costs €30 thousand. Later, she probably entered King’s College London, where tuition costs about £26 thousand per year. According to Komar, her godfather pays for her daughter’s education.
