In Sumy, the head of the tax office received an apartment in the capital during the war

In Sumy, the head of the tax office received an apartment in the capital during the war

Acting head of the Sumy region Tax Service Administration Olena Khotenko, appointed to the position in the State Fiscal Service in August, has still not submitted a declaration as an official and does not indicate a place of residence in Sumy.

This is stated in the declaration of Khotenko, a deputy of the Rivne City Council from the "Servant of the People" faction for 2023.

The lady deputy has an interesting biography. She is originally from Luhansk region, but has been working in Rivne since the 1990s. Her personal website states that she was initially a shoe manufacturing engineer-technologist, director of a studio, and later an economist in the trade administration of the city executive committee. Since 1999, she worked in the tax service, where in 2015 she was the deputy head of the main department of the State Fiscal Service in the Zaporizhzhya region. However, she officially resigned in 2016, although her website states 2012.

Before her appointment in 2024, she worked as the director of the LLC "IA ’This is Rivne, my friend’". This is where interesting aspects arise after the woman left her position in the State Fiscal Service. In her declaration, she stated that her husband was Andriy Khotenko. And this Mr. Andrii from Rivne only stated that they have an apartment in Feodosia in annexed Crimea. No other information about renting property in Rivne was specified.

Currently, Khotenko no longer lists her husband as a family member. However, she recently transferred the position of director in the LLC "IA ’This is Rivne, my friend’" to him. She re-registered another business to her underage son Mykola, who receives millions in income. This refers to LLC "OUTSTAFF-CONSULT-SERVICE".

Another interesting point in Khotenko’s declaration is the acquisition of property during the war for a small amount. In May 2022, she acquired an apartment in the city (37.7 sq. m) worth 50 thousand UAH, as well as non-residential premises (18.3 sq. m) for 100 thousand UAH. She also declares an apartment in Kyiv for 100 thousand UAH (45.7 sq. m). This was already in July 2023. And this is a house with an area of 491.9 sq. m with land in the village of Boyanivka, Rivne region. Khotenko stated that the cost of this property is only 30 thousand UAH. Any reader can check that houses in this village cost tens of times more.

Khotenko also has non-residential premises in Rivne worth 2.78 million UAH (270.4 sq. m). The deputy has funds for expensive cars. In 2021, she bought a Lexus NX200 for 1.2 million UAH.

For 2023, Khotenko’s income amounted to 2.66 million UAH, and her son’s – 2.94 million UAH. She also often takes loans and credits. In 2018, she took a loan amounting to 2.8 million UAH for her child.

It should be added that Khotenko currently works in Sumy, not in Rivne, but has not submitted a declaration. She did not declare the property she uses in the city where she is the head of the State Fiscal Service administration. This indicates a violation of declaration rules. The editorial board is addressing the National Agency on Corruption Prevention to check Khotenko’s tax reporting.