Roman Hovda: how a prosecutor became a "fixer"

Roman Hovda – a man who upgraded from a child’s bicycle to a foreign car, and from a university desk to a prosecutor’s chair.

The capital’s prosecutor Hovda feels comfortable and well-fed under any regime. Neither “Maidans” nor lustration scare him, because Roman is just an ordinary pawn, a servant, an executor, a “lackey.” It doesn’t matter what we call prosecutor Hovda; his essence remains unchanged. Regimes change, but Hovda does not.

Say a word about the young prosecutor

At the age of 36, Roman Hovda is a State Counselor of Justice of the 3rd class, equivalent to the rank of Major General. Roman received this title from the hands of Petro Poroshenko (reference about him: Petro Poroshenko: biography and the whole truth about Ukraine’s “chocolate king”). Also, for his diligent attitude toward performing official duties, initiative, and efficiency at work, Hovda was awarded badges: “Gratitude for Conscientious Service in Prosecutorial Bodies” of the III degree and “For Impeccable Service in Prosecutorial Bodies.”

But how did a guy with greasy hair, who until recently wore unpretentious wide shorts, earn so many merits and honors in such a short time? SKELET-info decided to investigate. As it turned out, Hovda has been valued and continues to be valued under any regime. At various times, his career was advanced by Viktor Pshonka, Oleh Makhnitskyi, Vitaliy Yarema, Viktor Shokin, and Yuriy Lutsenko.

The early years of prosecutor Hovda

Hovda himself has never been of particular value, wasn’t a prodigy or a talented lawyer, but he has always been an excellent servant. And he remains one to this day.

Roman Mykhailovych was born on December 10, 1980, in the town of Novoyavorivsk, Yavoriv district, Lviv region. Almost from the cradle, Hovda landed in a prosecutor’s chair. This is hardly surprising, as his parents worked in sulfur mining production, meaning the family always had enough “cabbage” (money). Hovda’s father was a section chief, and his mother was a surveyor. In his hometown, people say that a position in the prosecutor’s office was simply bought for the university graduate.

After graduating from Ivan Franko Lviv State University in 2003, Roman took the position of assistant prosecutor in the Korolivsky district of Zhytomyr. By the way, on his page on “Odnoklassniki,” Hovda indicated that he also studied at Voronezh State University of Engineering Technologies. However, this fact is absent from his official biography.

Less than two years later, in April 2005, Hovda abruptly moved to the position of head of the department for overseeing compliance with laws by internal affairs bodies during operational and search activities, inquiries, and pre-trial investigations in the department for oversight of law compliance by bodies conducting operational and search activities, inquiries, and pre-trial investigations in the Zhytomyr region prosecutor’s office.

He held this position until December 2010, and as soon as Viktor Pshonka took over the General Prosecutor’s Office (GPO), Hovda immediately relocated to Kyiv. But why did the “blue-and-white” regime need an unremarkable assistant prosecutor from Zhytomyr in the GPO? (By the way, working in such an important structure under Yanukovych did not affect Hovda’s career; lustration passed him by.)

Viktor Shokin and Roman Hovda

Journalists learned that under Yanukovych, Yuriy Sevruk, the former First Deputy Head of the GPO, helped Hovda secure a lucrative position. From December 2012 to July 2014, while serving as deputy head of the department for overseeing compliance with laws by internal affairs bodies at the General Prosecutor’s Office, Sevruk pushed Hovda into the position of head of the department for overseeing compliance with laws during operational and search activities. And from there, as they say, things took off.

Until November 2012, Hovda held the position of prosecutor and deputy head of the department for overseeing compliance with laws during operational and search activities in the department for oversight of law compliance by internal affairs bodies of the Main Department for Oversight of Law Compliance during Operational and Search Activities, Inquiries, and Pre-Trial Investigations at the GPO.

The events on Maidan led to another rise for Hovda. In July 2014, Roman became the First Deputy Head of the Department for Oversight of Law Compliance by Internal Affairs Bodies of the Main Department for Oversight of Law Compliance in Criminal Proceedings of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine.

He was demoted in April 2015, just as lustrators began their ritual dances around the GPO apparatus. To save Hovda from complete “destruction,” the prosecutor was sent to the Black Sea, tasked with taking control of the Southern Palmyra (Odessa).

After completing the assignment, in September 2015, Hovda was appointed Deputy General Prosecutor of Ukraine. It is known that in October-November 2015, Hovda attempted to head the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and participated in the announced competition. He was even considered a favorite in the anti-corruption race, but the commission did not support his candidacy, and he remained a deputy under Shokin. GPO veterans had high hopes that Hovda would be appointed head, but with the help of prosecutors dependent on the US, including Georgians and Vitaliy Kasko, Hovda lost. However, this did not particularly upset the prosecutor, as he was already well-fed. Ultimately, Hovda carried out the authorities’ orders, organized harassment of “undesirables,” initiated criminal cases, and in return received accolades and “ate from the hand” of Shokin himself.

But Hovda’s calm life was suddenly disrupted by his boss’s resignation. After the president’s crony was “removed,” Hovda had to adjust to a new curator. If previously Roman served the president, he unexpectedly switched allegiance to Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. This is evidenced by Hovda’s participation in a conspiracy against Yuriy Lutsenko. Recall that after the news broke that Yuriy Vitaliyovych would replace Shokin, the deputy general prosecutors rebelled against the likely new boss.

In the spring of 2016, they even wrote an open letter to President Petro Poroshenko requesting not to appoint someone from outside the system as head of the supervisory body. The letter was signed by all deputy general prosecutors, except for the head of the SAPO, Nazar Kholodnytskyi, and the chief military prosecutor, Anatoliy Matios. Ultimately, upon arriving at the GPO, Lutsenko conducted personnel purges, threatening to remove Yury Sevruk, Roman Hovda, and Oleh Zalisko. Despite Hovda openly opposing Lutsenko, the latter eventually placed him in a lucrative position. However, this was not at Poroshenko’s behest. The fact is that the “People’s Front” intervened on Hovda’s behalf.

Interestingly, on May 31, Hovda himself wrote a resignation letter, and no offers to move to another position within the General Prosecutor’s Office were made to him at that time. However, before his appointment as the capital’s prosecutor, he was not unemployed; he was listed as deputy head of the Department for Supporting the Activities of the GPO Leadership.

Roman Hovda and Yuriy Lutsenko

After that, Hovda headed the Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office. “I think Roman Hovda got caught in the whirlpool of political confrontation between the Sakvarelidze-Kasko team and the old GPO team. He is a young, very intelligent worker with good professional experience. I believe he can handle the serious challenges in the capital’s prosecutor’s office. I spoke with anti-corruption activists, and they have no specific accusations against him,” Lutsenko said about Hovda’s appointment.

However, SKELET-info knows otherwise: the appointment of Roman Hovda as Kyiv’s prosecutor was handled by “frontline” figures Serhiy Pashynsky and Andriy Ivanchuk. Roman Mykhailovych fell into the quota of dividing spheres of influence between representatives of the “People’s Front” and the “Petro Poroshenko Bloc.”

Don’t poke your nose into someone else’s business

Special attention should be paid to Hovda’s prosecutorial work in Odesa. Without experience or notable achievements, Roman Mykhailovych, sent to Odesa, caused outrage among the local prosecutorial elite and system veterans.

Former Odesa Regional Prosecutor Mykola Stoyanov, commenting on Hovda’s appointment, noted: “This is just another Kyivan who came to Odessa to resolve financial issues: his own and those of the people who approved his appointment.”

In response to this remark, Hovda countered: “And how much experience is needed to head a regional prosecutor’s office? The thing is, previously, older people were appointed… Stereotypes and common practices can change. Why me specifically? You’d probably need to ask the General Prosecutor and my colleagues. My candidacy was proposed by Viktor Shokin, and his deputies approved it. After passing the interviews, I was entrusted with this area of work.” By saying this, he essentially admitted that he was sent to Southern Palmyra directly by Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko. By the way, initially, they wanted to send Prosecutor Anatoliy Matios to Odesa. But he managed to stay in the capital, so Hovda was sent to handle the affairs of the “BPP family.”

Six months in the Odesa region were not easy for Hovda, as he had to clash with the head of the Regional State Administration, Mikheil Saakashvili, who, while seemingly the president’s man, was already “cooking his own broth” at that time.

They say Saakashvili “harassed” Hovda because he wanted to see former Georgian General Prosecutor Zurab Adeishvili in the regional prosecutor’s chair. In simpler terms, Hovda got involved in a scheme of redistributing spheres of influence just when Saakashvili had practically taken control of everything.

That’s why Saakashvili loudly accused employees of the prosecutor’s office led by Hovda of banditry and racketeering (although this was true, no one besides the Georgian had dared to voice it before). In response, Hovda stated that the head of the Regional State Administration “just didn’t understand” the circumstances. But this did not calm Saakashvili, and he accused Hovda’s subordinates of “covering up” illegal gravel mining in the Odesa region. But these were already personal disputes…

What was Hovda actually doing in Odesa? Together with Shokin’s daughter, Tetiana Hornostayeva, he took over a previously established scheme of “covering up” corruption in Odesa. The prosecutors profited from extorting businessmen involved in export and import. To fully control this corruption scheme, the new prosecutor even got rid of a representative of the old system—his deputy Mykola Klyantsko. The ambitions and authority of his subordinate were not to the liking of the newly appointed boss. “I submitted a request to the General Prosecutor to dismiss only one deputy—Mykola Klyantsko. There were questions about the effectiveness of his work in this position,” Hovda said at the time. But the matter was entirely different. It is known that Klyantsko was the main “fixer” at the Illichivsk Sea Trade Port, and Hovda aimed for his spot.

Hovda’s own words also indicate that he was sent to deal with the port: “There are indeed violations at the port that point to the embezzlement of state property. There are a number of criminal cases under investigation by us. In particular, these are well-known facts of purchasing fuel at inflated prices. Soon, we will provide answers about who was involved and implicated in these matters. We will evaluate not only the phenomenon but also the individuals.”

And so, while Hovda and Saakashvili managed to “seize” the Odesa Port Plant from representatives of the old system and, in fact, from Ihor Kolomoisky, and the conflict between the head of the Regional State Administration and the prosecutor reached its peak, the servant Roman Mykhailovych was recalled to Kyiv, rewarded with a promotion.

Who is Roma Hovda really: a prosecutor or a “fixer”?

As Viktor Shokin’s deputy, Hovda had broad powers and enjoyed the trust not only of the General Prosecutor but of the entire “family.” Therefore, Roman was boldly entrusted with strategic directions. Trust in Hovda did not wane under the new authorities either; for example, according to General Prosecutor’s Order No. 213 dated September 15, 2015, Hovda was entrusted with the regular duties of overseeing the Department of Information Technology and the Department of Organizational Support for the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations and Information-Analytical Work. And at the end of the year, Poroshenko even awarded Hovda several new titles. It’s not hard to guess why. The loyal executor began his work… As soon as Hovda took over the capital’s office, the detention of Deputy Minister of Health and former chief physician of Oleksandrivska Hospital, Roman Vasylyshyn, made headlines—a man long targeted by certain representatives of the current authorities and coalition.

But the authorities always have a grudge against Hovda as well, so accusations—99% of them deserved—regularly rain down on him. For instance, in August 2016, a video was published on YouTube in which an Odesan and public activist, Oleksandr Balahura, claimed to have suffered from police lawlessness and openly threatened to deal with Odesa Regional Prosecutor Hovda. The Odesan assured that the regional prosecutor had obstructed a criminal case against an Interior Ministry employee who wronged him. Ultimately, Balahura succeeded in opening a criminal case for inaction against both Hovda himself and Ukraine’s General Prosecutor Shokin. But the result was zero.

Besides Saakashvili, another US “protégé,” Vitaliy Kasko, also fought against Hovda. In February 2016, he accused Hovda of delaying cases against former high-ranking officials and failing in efforts to recover corrupt funds misappropriated by the previous regime.

“At the level of deputy general prosecutors, Stolyarchuk is responsible for investigations, Hovda for procedural oversight. And, ultimately, the General Prosecutor is, of course, responsible for all the work of the General Prosecutor’s Office,” Kasko stated.

Kasko was also displeased with the news of Hovda’s potential appointment to head the capital’s office.

Former Deputy General Prosecutor of Ukraine Davyd Sakvarelidze (read: Saakashvili) also reacted negatively to Roman Hovda’s appointment, stating that the new prosecutor lacked the merits to hold this position. By the way, SKELET-info learned that this promotion was also a reward for Hovda for completing an assigned task—removing Kasko. It’s no secret that Hovda had even previously signed a suspicion notice against him.

And to wrap up, one more interesting fact. In September 2016, Hovda transferred Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office employees to the corporate messenger CommFort.

The developer and owner of the app is Novosibirsk-based LLC “CommFort Software,” founded by nuclear scientists and military specialists from Russia. In essence, Hovda installed Russian spyware on the phones and tablets of his subordinates.

The ascetic lifestyle of the young millionaire prosecutor

Roman Hovda is an extremely modest and practically impoverished prosecutor. Unfortunately, he has not yet published his 2016 declaration, so SKELET-info cannot confidently say whether the prosecutor has gotten richer recently. However, we do know that last year, his unemployed wife bought herself a 2015 TOYOTA RAV4 for 420,000 UAH. By the way, the real value of this used foreign car is much higher. You can’t buy it for less than 650,000 UAH. But Hovda’s wife apparently received a generous discount. Also in 2016, the prosecutor’s wife bought some movable property for 300,000 UAH from Tamara Kozytska. What exactly Hovda’s wife acquired remains unknown. As for Hovda himself, before even taking the position of capital prosecutor, he received an apartment in the capital (60 sq.m.) as an advance last year.

Since we don’t have fresh data on Roman Hovda’s income, SKELET-info decided to analyze his old declarations from 2013 to 2015. Here’s what we found. All three years, Hovda lived solely on his salary. In 2013, it amounted to 290,000 UAH, in 2014—238,000 UAH, and in 2015—375,500 UAH. In 2015, Hovda declared 23,000 USD in cash, and his wife—3,000 EUR. The thing is, 23,000 USD is equivalent to 575,000 UAH, which is essentially Hovda’s entire income for two years. So what does this mean? Does Hovda survive on the Holy Spirit, while his two children and wife eat manna from heaven, and the family converts all their salary into currency and keeps it under the mattress? But then, where does Hovda’s wife get the money to buy cars and property? By the way, in 2015, Hovda also managed to deposit over 60,000 UAH.

Roman Mykhailovych’s wife (who worked at the GPO until 2016) declared no income in 2013, received 176,000 UAH in 2014, of which about 6,000 UAH was alimony, about 150,000 UAH was income from property sales, and 26,500 UAH was other income; in 2015—31,500 UAH, of which about 6,000 UAH was alimony, and 25,500 UAH was social payments.

Among vehicles, Hovda owns a 2011 Renault Megane, which he bought for 172,500 UAH. Roman Hovda owns a land plot of 450 sq.m., purchased by him in 2009. The prosecutor has no other real estate, but it is known that in 2015, he rented an apartment in Kyiv with an area of 35 sq.m.

The situation with his wife’s real estate is more interesting. In 2013, the prosecutor’s wife had a land plot of 300 sq.m. and an apartment of 48 sq.m. By 2014, she sold the apartment, and in 2015, she acquired a new land plot of 311 sq.m. What’s interesting here… in his 2015 declaration, Hovda states that the 300 sq.m. plot was bought in 2014 for 20,511 UAH, and the 311 sq.m. plot was bought in 2015 for 43,353 UAH. Hmm… but Hovda declared the first plot back in 2009. Moreover, in 2014, the prosecutor’s wife somehow acquired a house of 84.3 sq.m. out of nowhere, and in 2015—an unfinished house of 174 sq.m. and an unfinished garage of 26 sq.m.

The metamorphoses in Roman Hovda’s declarations are easily explained. Throughout his prosecutorial career, he has earned a good living by “covering” illegal businesses and engaging in racketeering. He invested all these funds in property, and now Hovda is trying to bring at least some objects out of the shadows, such as the aforementioned house and garage. In reality, the prosecutor has hidden much more than he has shown us.

Roman Hovda is a man of the system. The authorities have never had and will never have any complaints against him, as he unquestioningly and unconditionally carries out all orders, which is why he always stays afloat. But for a good price, Hovda would sell even his own mother, so those who place him in high positions should still be more cautious.

Author: Valeriya Romanova

Based on materials from: Skelet-info.org