The prosecutor’s trinity: how Fedyuk, Antoshchuk, Kostenko "earn" millions during the war

Meet the newly minted "golden" millionaires during the war: Oleksiy Fedyuk, deputy head of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office; Yevhen Antoshchuk, a prosecutor from Odesa Oblast; and Serhiy Kostenko, head of the Bilyayiv District Prosecutor’s Office in Odesa Oblast.

Despite the fact that this trio belongs to “untouchable” prosecutorial positions, they have common interests, since they are connected with the Deputy Prosecutor General’s Office. So, war is war, but we get rich all the same. Why, despite all the fears, troubles and hardships of ordinary Ukrainians, do officials not shy away from raiding and crime? Maybe because a certain branch of government has turned into a corrupt community that, no matter what, is trying to take advantage of ordinary Ukrainians?

Thus, the corruption component of the above-mentioned anti-heroes is the management of grain flows in the Odesa region. For example, the deputy head of the Odesa regional prosecutor’s office, Oleksiy Fedyuk, is holding on to the opportunity to profit from the export of "Ukrainian gold". And to prevent his corrupt manipulations from irritating other stakeholders, as well as to shield himself from the eyes of anti-corruption activists, Mr Fedyuk is a frequent visitor to the Prosecutor General’s Office. Of course, he doesn’t just stay there for the sake of it, he brings some gifts and a lot of money.

Another one of our anti-heroes, prosecutor from Odesa region Yevhen Antoshchuk, casts a shadow over Fedyuk’s corruption. It should be noted that, according to journalists, Mr Antoshchuk’s patron is the deputy head of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Oleksiy Fedyuk. And all actions on the part of Antoshchuk are carried out under Fedyuk’s "roof" and under his strict control, as he is known for being the "curator" of the local police.

And Antoshchuk’s cases are simpler than Fedyuk’s, but no less criminal and corrupt. It is worth reminding that Mr Antoshchuk is a public official who, bypassing the current Ukrainian legislation, is engaged in advocacy. In other words, as a prosecutor, he "protects" interests based on his own benefit. For example, the criminal negligence of a prosecutor who deliberately failed to enter information into the Unified State Register of Real Estate, in accordance with a court decision to seize real estate, led to the fact that 12 properties were simply "raided".

When the owner of the property found out about this, he filed a petition with the Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa and received a ruling of 31 May 2024, which cancelled the seizure of 12 properties as unlawful. In this ruling, the court cited the legality of the acquisition of the property and numerous court decisions (which the parties had received over 5 years) as evidence of bona fide acquisition of ownership.

The investigation is being conducted by the Main Department of the National Police in Odesa Oblast, meaning that all investigative actions should be conducted in the Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa, as was the case before the above-mentioned ruling to cancel the seizure of the property.

Realising that the Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa would refuse to conduct the searches, the prosecutor of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office Antoshchuk filed a motion to conduct searches with the Suvorovskyi District Court of Odesa, which granted such permission. Thus, on 11 June 2024, searches were conducted at 12 properties.

And of course, all these and other illegal schemes are covered up by Mr Fedyuk, who, in turn, has close ties with another equally influential and corrupt person - the head of the Bilyaevsky District Prosecutor’s Office in Odesa region, Serhiy Kostenko. It was to this person that Mr Fedyuk once turned to for support and protection during the felling of grain flows in Odesa region. And this is understandable, as Mr Kostenko previously held the positions of Deputy Prosecutor of Odesa, Prosecutor of Kiliya District of Odesa Region, Prosecutor of Kyiv District of Odesa, and twice was Deputy Prosecutor of Odesa Region. He was also a member of the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors.

These three individuals are also interesting because their lifestyles are at odds with their wealth and property. For example, according to his 2023 declaration, Oleksiy Fedyuk is homeless. He does not own any real estate. His wife owns an 80 sq m apartment in Odesa for UAH 650 thousand and a 20 thousand sq m land plot in Novoselivka village, Odesa region. Also, the prosecutor’s wife owns 50% of a 13,000 sq m land plot in Molodizhne village, Odesa region. A 600 sq.m. land plot and a residential house of more than 238 sq.m. in Odesa are registered in the name of the prosecutor’s mother.

The couple owns two cars - a 2017 Honda CR-V and a 2019 Nissan Leaf. The cost of the vehicles is UAH 450 thousand each. Again, the market value of these cars does not correspond to reality.

Fediuk declares one and a half million of his salary and another million of his wife’s income from entrepreneurial activity, as well as USD 98 thousand in cash. The prosecutor’s family keeps over USD 33 thousand in bank accounts. USD, 250 thousand UAH and 1700 euros.

Thus, Mr Fedyuk is homeless, has "cheap" cars and lives like an "ordinary" citizen.

As for Mr Antoshchuk, his declaration for 2023 is also an example of "honesty". Thus, at that time, he did not have his own home, just like Mr Fedyuk. At the same time, his wife Olha owns an apartment in Odesa worth almost UAH 800 thousand. Mr Antoshchuk’s wife is registered as the owner of a 2011 Mazda CX-7 worth UAH 200,000 and a 2020 Tesla model 3 worth UAH 730,000.

As you can see, the cost of both housing and cars is far from real. Antoshchuk himself, according to the declaration, has an old (both vehicles manufactured in 1975) VAZ 2102 and a Sarepta boat, as well as a Daewoo Matiz car manufactured in 2012 for 80 thousand UAH.

In addition, Antoshchuk declares a salary of just over a million hryvnia and monetary assets of $15 thousand. The spouses also have seven bank accounts, but what exactly and in what monetary equivalent is unknown. Therefore, at least according to the declaration, the former prosecutor and now lawyer Antoshchuk is a rather poor man.

And what about Mr. Kostenko? According to his declaration for last year , almost all of Kostenko’s property is registered in the name of relatives. Thus, the prosecutor himself only owns a garage in Odesa, purchased back in 2008. Kostenko’s wife Natalya owns another garage in Odesa, purchased in 2010. But the owner of a huge house of more than 400 sq.m. in the village of Lymanka, Tairovsky district, Odesa region, Valentyna Kostenko (apparently the mother of the prosecutor) is listed. She also owns a plot of land of 100 sq. m. in the same village.

Valentyna Semenivna also owns an office in Odesa with an area of 80 sq m. Another property is listed in the declaration - an apartment in Odesa with more than one hundred square metres. It was purchased in 2008, and the owner is listed as Kostenko Yelyzaveta, apparently the prosecutor’s daughter. However, the declaration lists only her wife and son as family members.

Vehicles usually do not belong to the declarant either. The 2021 Toyota RAV-4 car for UAH 700 thousand belongs to his wife, and the 2015 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 150 for UAH 600 thousand is most likely owned by his father, Kostenko Kostiantyn Stepanovych. The prices of the cars, as we are used to, are significantly reduced - both Toyotas cost at least twice as much.

Despite all this, the prosecutor also declares his salary and pension - UAH 1,352,067 and UAH 166,401 respectively. His wife’s income from entrepreneurial activities is also over UAH 600 thousand. The spouses keep almost UAH 60 thousand and USD 22 thousand in their bank accounts. USD ON THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS.

Thus, "two homeless people and one garage owner" are rather poor officials. And this is logical, since it is necessary to constantly transfer "suitcases with money" to those who need it to keep corruption schemes in grain flows and raiding going. We hope that in the near future at least this corrupt story will disappear, as the suitcases may quickly run out with the entry into force of Laws No. 3706-IX and No. 3707-IX on combating the export of "black grain". This means that perhaps certain competent authorities will pay attention to these three dealers - Fedyuk, Antoshchuk and Kostenko. And, in the end, these three will get their permanent places of residence in penitentiary institutions.

As reported by Business Censor, according to the Bureau of Economic Security, in January-September 2023 alone, risky enterprises exported grain of unknown origin for UAH 133.9 billion, which is more than 20% of the total. How much does this trio get from these grain flows, living so "poorly"?

And what is the bottom line? The fact that all of the above three are members of the senior prosecutor’s staff and depend on each other: Kostenko once brought Fedyuk to the post of deputy head of the Odesa regional prosecutor’s office, and Antoshchuk, who is engaged in raiding, has Fedyuk as his patron. And all of this is carried out under the supervision of the highest "prosecutor’s supervision".

ord-ua.com