The bribe-taking deputy Domanskyi hid dollars in the toilet

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The 50-year-old deputy of the Lviv Regional Council from "European Solidarity" Volodymyr Domanskyi was never in the spotlight. He belongs to those deputies who do not attract extra attention to themselves. Therefore, his detention on Christmas Eve initially interested only local media. However, the next day, when the State Bureau of Investigations’ press service published a photo with dollar bundles in the toilet, Volodymyr Domanskyi became a "star" of national scale.

However, in Bryukhovychi, a quiet and prestigious suburb of Lviv where local wealth likes to settle, Volodymyr Domanskyi is well known. For several months, journalists from the publication NGL.media studied the activities of Volodymyr Domanskyi, and the facts revealed show that his detention is only the beginning of a loud story.

In 2010, Lviv native Volodymyr Domanskyi was elected a deputy of the local village council, and already in 2015 - the village head. He was destined to become the last full-fledged head of Bryukhovychi. In the fall of 2020, the village became part of the Lviv municipal community, so the village council was liquidated. However, these five years significantly affected the well-being of his family.

He came to the position of village head as a not wealthy person. Even in 2016, according to the declaration, he owned a small apartment in Lviv with a total area of 23 m² and half of a house with an area of 59 m² somewhere in Vola-Gomuletska, 420 thousand hryvnias in cash together with his wife, and a share in the company "Nineli".

The annual salary of the village head at that time was only 140 thousand UAH. But soon the family began to acquire new property.

Initially, these were small purchases. For example, in 2017, his wife bought a car for 356 thousand UAH, and a year later - an apartment for 500 thousand UAH. And in 2020, Kateryna Domanska had her own house in Bryukhovychi for 900 thousand UAH.

And that’s of course far from all.

"You see, this is business! Buy cheap – sell expensive"

While Volodymyr Domanskyi was managing Bryukhovychi, real estate in the village began to appear among the closest relatives of his wife. For instance, her brother, 18-year-old Volodymyr Uskyi, bought two plots in Bryukhovychi with an area of more than 25 "sotok" for half a million hryvnias. At the age of 22, he spent 845 thousand UAH on an apartment in a building on Lvivska Street, 24, which he recently sold for more than 2 million UAH. The HOA "Lvivska 24", which he headed until recently, is trying to acquire land here - obviously, for some new residential complex.

Volodymyr Domanskyi’s father-in-law, Vasyl Uskyi, became the owner of two commercial premises with areas of 118.5 m² and 53.5 m². In the smaller room located in the residential complex "Kazka", Kateryna Domanska opened a medical practice - "the first medical office Pokrova in Bryukhovychi". She received the relevant medical license on November 23, 2023.

Volodymyr Domanskyi with his wife Kateryna (photo Facebook)

In December last year, Vasyl Uskyi, who works as a regular crane operator, bought a hectare of land in the Yavoriv district for a symbolic 65.4 thousand UAH from the former deputy of the Bryukhovychi village council Roman Surovov. Before that, in 2023, Usky Sr. bought another 14 "sotok" in Bryukhovychi for 1.3 million UAH, which at the then NBU exchange rate was 35 thousand dollars, although this plot was being sold for 90 thousand dollars on OLX. Now these 14 "sotok" and the neighboring 6 "sotok", as explained by the realtor, are being sold for 260 thousand dollars. That is, they want 182 thousand dollars for Domansky’s father-in-law’s plot alone.

Vasyl Uskyi borrowed over a million hryvnias under the mortgage of the purchased plot from someone named Pavlo Nikitin. The cash was supposed to be returned by December 6 of that year. The company where Nikitin is a co-owner was building a residential complex in Bryukhovychi on Shyroka Street - "Greenwood-3" residential complex. This construction was allowed in the village just during Domanskyi’s headship.

Nikitin, as Domanskyi said, is his long-time acquaintance, as well as his mother-in-law’s and father-in-law’s. “Well, they borrowed. So what,” Domanskyi says about his father-in-law’s loan.

Volodymyr Domanskyi’s mother-in-law Mariya Uska also borrowed money from Olena Nikitina, Pavlo Nikitin’s wife, but much more - 6.2 million UAH this year. "Borrowed for business. Which one? Commercial secret," explained Domanskyi.

The return of the debt is backed by a collateral - an apartment with an area of 139.6 m² in the Lviv residential complex "Sofiyivka". Mariya Uska acquired property rights for this housing for 1.5 million UAH in 2020, still at the construction stage. In addition to this real estate, in August 2022, she bought two plots in Bryukhovychi, where, on average, one "sotok" cost her almost 560 dollars. Such prices simply do not exist in this village.

In 2017, Mariya Uska bought an apartment with an area of 77 m² in Bryukhovychi for 212.6 thousand UAH on Izdryka Street, 9b. At the beginning of this year, she sold it twelve times more expensive. This house on Izdryka is one of the projects of Bryukhovychi developer Andriy Zavadskyi. About his connections with Volodymyr Domanskyi, we wrote earlier. However, the fact that his mother-in-law resold the apartment for 12 times a higher price, the former village head comments briefly: "You see, it’s business! Bought cheap – sold expensive."

The story of loans is also close to Volodymyr Domanskyi himself. Volodymyr Domanskyi borrowed almost 1.75 million UAH (67 thousand dollars) from Bryukhovychi resident Lyubomyr Dmytruk. The fact of the loan was confirmed by Dmytruk himself - according to him, he lent the money in cash and got it back around May 2022. This generally agrees with the data of the real estate register, where it indicates that the obligation performed on March 1, 2022.

This loan was not declared by Volodymyr Domanskyi, although it should have been. The amount exceeds 500 subsistence minimums, therefore, it falls under article 366-2 of the Criminal Code (declaring unreliable information).

And this is not the only loan. Kateryna Domanska borrowed over 0.5 million UAH at the end of 2021 too. The lender confirmed to us that the money was returned at the beginning of the next year. So, in total, the Domanskyis would have to return almost 2.3 million UAH in 2022.

But judging by the income declarations, they clearly lacked such money. In 2022, Domanskyi had only 275.5 thousand UAH of income, and savings decreased by only about 280 thousand UAH. The only possible explanation is the sale of the shop premises with an area of 23.2 m² by the wife, but this happened only at the end of the year. This real estate sale Domanskyi also did not declare.

Buy not to declare

Since Volodymyr Domanskyi remains a public figure and should declare all the acquired property, his wife buys property somewhat differently. And you will not see mentions of these purchases in his declarations.

For instance, in 2021, Kateryna Domanska became the owner of real estate worth over 5 million UAH by becoming the founder of a company that shortly before had received premises with an area of almost 400 m² in Lviv.

The previous owner of the premises, Oksana Lafinchuk, had been trying to sell this "built-in household servicing building" with an area of 399.8 m² on Shevchenko Street for a while. She was trying to get from 5.5 million UAH to 6.84 million UAH for this premises on open platforms, but nobody bought it. Suddenly, in September 2021, she registers the company "Ryasne-Servis" and transfers this premises to it. The authorized capital of the new company is only 645 thousand UAH - this is ten times less than the amount for which Lafinchuk tried to sell the object.

A month later, the owner of the company instead of Lafinchuk became Kateryna Domanska, thus obtaining expensive real estate.

Serhiy Mytkalyk, the chairman of the NGO "Anti-Corruption Headquarters", explains that this is a typical story when property is registered in the name of a company - in this case, it needs to be declared only if the declarant personally uses it. For example, if they live in premises or drive a car registered to a legal entity.

Interestingly, Domanskyi "forgot" to show "Ryasne-Servis" in the 2021 declaration and remembered it only with the next year’s report. According to Mytkalyk, this is a violation, but an administrative one, and regarding this matter, an appeal can be submitted to NAPC.

Previous owner Oksana Lafinchuk refused to tell for what amount she sold the real estate. NGL.media contacted several real estate market experts who estimated the price according to photos of the building. According to their assessment, in 2021, such premises cost 500-700 dollars/m², that is, a total of 200-280 thousand dollars.

"It definitely wasn’t expensive"

Analyzing the declarations of Volodymyr Domanskyi, it is impossible to understand where the money for all this property came from. In 2020, his salary as the head of the Bryukhovychi village council, along with material assistance, amounted to only 476 thousand UAH, and his wife’s income was barely more than 40 thousand UAH a year. The family had approximately 1.2 million UAH in cash and bank accounts. The next year, in 2021, only Volodymyr Domanskyi was earning - 169 thousand UAH for the year, and the cash and the amount in accounts did not change at all.

So one can conclude that the deputy’s family lived for two years on 685.5 thousand UAH, but at the same time managed to buy a company with an authorized capital of 645 thousand UAH, which owns real estate worth 200-280 thousand dollars. However, the sale of a company is not a sale of property, and formally it could be sold even for one hryvnia.

"This is already a question of tax legislation, and one can raise the question of possible intentional tax evasion when selling a company. This story can be investigated during the verification of the declaration by both NAPC and tax authorities," believes Serhiy Mytkalyk.

What this premises is worth now

After renovation, experts estimate the real estate at 400-500 thousand dollars. Since October last year, Kateryna Domanska’s company "Ryasne-Servis" rents out part of the premises on Shevchenko Street (161.5 m²) to the Volyn company "Klever Stores", which has a chain of grocery stores. There is a "Simi" store operating there. In another part, there are a pharmacy and an Epicenter order pickup center, but information about lease agreements is absent in the real estate register.

Kateryna Domanska refused to talk to NGL.media about her business. Volodymyr Domanskyi briefly reported that "it was a long time ago", his wife was involved, and the premises "definitely weren’t expensive". "I saw those premises for sale a very long time ago, it was much cheaper then," he says. According to him, the premises were not bought at all - "there were some exchanges", but he doesn’t remember the details.

NGL.media obtained an official extract with historical data on previous owner- acquiring the property. And according to the exchange agreement, nothing was there, the only thing is that at the end of September that year, Lafinchuk bought an apartment in Lviv.

In 2022, "Ryasne-Servis" had another co-owner, Tetyana Tomal, who contributed an apartment to the authorized capital. Almost simultaneously with this, Tomal became the owner of another apartment in Bryukhovychi, on Riasnianska Street - she received it from the company of Domanskyi’s father-in-law. We’ll tell more about this below.

While this material was being prepared for publication, Kateryna Domanska again became the sole owner of "Ryasne-Servis", so she can be congratulated on another asset in the collection.

Domanskyi’s phone reveals family business

This object - an apartment in a three-story building on Klenova Street, 2 in Bryukhovychi, which was severely damaged by fire four years ago. Last summer, the HOA "Klenova-2" was created here. The contact phone number listed in the register, according to YouControl data, is Volodymyr Domanskyi’s mobile number.

It seems that the wife’s company has an apartment there, so what to hide? But to the question about the phone and HOA, Domanskyi said that he has no relation to it.

"When I was in office, many people approached me about land plot registration and property rights registration. I gave my phone number, it’s in open access," he hints that almost anyone can use his mobile number.

Strangely, but Volodymyr Domanskyi is very familiar with the head of this HOA, Volodymyr Kovalchuk. "He bought some residential space here," he says. Later, reviewing the documents, he specifies that the property is registered in the name of a spouse’s company. According to Kovalchuk, Domanskyi allegedly planned to invest in the reconstruction of the burned-down building on Klenova, 2.

"Well, what is the plan? That he will give housing in the newly built building," explains the HOA head. But says that the matter stopped because there was a problem with obtaining land. "They exaggerate my capabilities," comments Domanskyi. "I told them I would help find someone."

Volodymyr Domanskyi also disassociates himself from the company "D.S. Group", which listed his phone in the registration data. This company officially belongs to his father-in-law Vasyl Uskyi. In the fall of 2022, the father-in-law also registered as a private entrepreneur with the main activity "beverage service" and again indicated the son-in-law’s contact number.

It seemed like that was all, but no. Volodymyr Domanskyi’s mobile phone is also used by the company leading the large-scale construction of a restaurant with a hotel in the Bryukhovychi Park, officially on Kurortna Street, 3.

Restaurant with a hotel in the Bryukhovychi Park (photo NGL.media)

NGL.media already reported that towards the end of his tenure, Domanskyi and the deputies allowed a cheap sale of the land plot under this construction – only for UAH 21,000 per «sotka» (hundred square meters). The owner became the company «Knyahynya», which officially belongs to a senior lecturer of «Lviv Polytechnic» Pavlo Denysyuk. Shortly before joining Lviv, the Bryukhovychi village council also issued updated urban conditions and restrictions for this restaurant, listing Domanskyi’s mobile phone as the director’s contact number for «Knyahyna».

Pavlo Denysyuk flatly refused to talk about Domanskyi and the restaurant. Therefore, we can only report two additional facts about him. Domanskyi and Denysyuk were registered at the same address in Bryukhovychi. Denysyuk was also a deputy of the Bryukhovychi village council and was part of the «Razom do Zmin» (Together for Changes) deputy group, headed by Volodymyr Domanskyi.

«He is my acquaintance. When he was studying, he was registered at our parental home. He was the boyfriend of my godmother», – explains Domansky, denying his involvement in the park construction.

Salvador on the Market

During the investigation, several sources informed NGL.media that Volodymyr Domanskyi allegedly has a restaurant on Rynok Square in Lviv – «Taverna Salvador». Judging by the establishment’s Instagram page, it opened at the beginning of 2023.

It turned out that the premises for the restaurant were rented by Kateryna Domanska’s parents, Maria and Volodymyr Uskyi. This was confirmed by the owner of the premises, Yaroslav Portuhai.

Domanskyi-Uskyi’s restaurant on Rynok Square in Lviv (photo Instagram)

Thanks to a response from the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Lviv Oblast, NGL.media also found another confirmation of who operated the restaurant. In Vasyl Uskyi’s license for retail alcohol trade, Taverna Salvador is noted as the place of trade. However, in the fall of 2023, this license was annulled at his request. His wife Maria Uskyi took over the baton, registered as an entrepreneur in August 2023, and received the same license that month, followed by another one in August 2024 for another year. The place of trade remained Salvador.

However, on November 4, this license was annulled at her request. Evidently, the reason is that Salvador recently ceased operations – the social media pages of the restaurant have not been updated since September.

Volodymyr Domanskyi confirms that he invested money in the restaurant. «I worked there [at Salvador] as a private entrepreneur. We had this business as a family. Accordingly, my mother-in-law and father-in-law were private entrepreneurs there. We worked together. My activity was in the kitchen,» he explains. «We rented this restaurant. It was 70% ready; some equipment was purchased. Therefore, not much money was needed, but we did invest partially.» According to him, the re-equipment of the restaurant cost approximately UAH 150,000, the lion’s share of which he invested himself.

Thanks to the restaurant, Domanskyi’s latest declaration showed an income of UAH 3.4 million for 2023 (not to be confused with profit), as opposed to just UAH 275.5 thousand the previous year. Last year, he and his wife also sold an apartment in Bryukhovychi for UAH 3.8 million, which they bought in 2018 for UAH 0.5 million. The living space, however, was somewhat expanded – increasing the area from 81 m² to 100 m².

Construction Startup

Recently, a new business has begun for Kateryna Domanska’s younger brother – 25-year-old Volodymyr Uskyi. He registered as an entrepreneur and now drives a truck, which his sister bought him in the spring. By the way, the Domanskyi family, this year, switched to a 2018 Jaguar I-Pace electric car, purchased in leasing.

Recently, Uskyi junior married a Lviv woman, Violetta Nurayemt, who began buying land in Bryukhovychi from the age of 19. In December 2018, she purchased two plots totaling nearly 14 «sotkas.» Interestingly, two unrelated land sellers were represented by the same 25-year-old Bryukhovychi resident with a power of attorney. The price for the land also turned out to be very symbolic.

One of the plots on Kurortna Street, with an area of 0.0544 ha, was allocated at a council session shortly before to another man, but he sold it to Nurayemt for only UAH 60,000. In Bryukhovychi, you can’t find even a «sotka» for such money.

Already at the age of 20, Violetta Nurayemt, according to YouControl, became the founder of a development company to which she transferred this plot on Kurortna Street. At that time, the company was called «Performance» and quickly transitioned to the owners of the «!Fest Emotion Holding.» Now it is the «Developer Company «Kvitka.» The construction project has already been realized – building a residential high-rise.

The construction was permitted by the Bryukhovychi village council under the leadership of Volodymyr Domanskyi, which issued urban conditions and restrictions to the 20-year-old Violetta’s company in August 2020, and the company was sold in the fall.

As for the second acquired plot, with an area of 0.0854 ha, the young entrepreneur bought it for UAH 140,000 and sold it for nearly UAH 1.7 million. This land was also allocated for free at a session of the Bryukhovychi village council five months before the sale. Violetta Nurayemt refused to speak with NGL.media.

Domansky’s father-in-law also acquired two more companies. It all began in 2020. At that time, Vasyl Uskyi became a co-founder of «DM Consulting Group,» which had various types of activities – from construction to restaurants. What this company actually did is unknown. At the time of writing, he was the sole owner, but when we started calling everyone for comments, the firm transitioned to another man and changed its name to «Veshin LTD.»

Thanks to the archival data of the real estate register, NGL.media found out that a number of properties passed through «DM Consulting Group.» It looked like this. A co-founder would contribute property to the authorized capital, which was then transferred to other people in various ways.

The same was the case with the apartment received by Domanska’s wife’s business partner, Tetyana Tomal. This apartment was contributed to the authorized capital of «DM Consulting Group» by a partner of the father-in-law in February 2022, valuing it at UAH 20,000, but by late October, it was removed from the company and transferred to Tomal, who decided to withdraw from the partnership. The apartment was valued at UAH 75,000.

As explained by Oleksiy Boyko, a lawyer with the «Anti-Corruption Action Center», when property is contributed to authorized capital, founders agree on its value. Similarly, when a founder exits the company, taxes do not need to be paid in such a case.

Even more interesting are two houses at Likarska Street, 12 in Bryukhovychi, each with an area of 158.6 m². Judging by open data, these are townhouses in the «Stockholm» complex, which was built on a leased plot for the «maintenance of a recreation-healing property complex» led by Volodymyr Kosenko. These houses were also contributed to the authorized capital of «DM Consulting Group» in 2020 by co-founders, and then they were sold.

The sale occurred within a year, but one cottage was sold for nearly UAH 2.6 million, while the other for just UAH 80,000. The owner of the almost free real estate became a 22-year-old Lviv native.

There is much less known about the second company held by the father-in-law – «D.S. Group», which uses Volodymyr Domanskyi’s phone. His father-in-law had a partner, Ihor Silvester, a former deputy of the Lviv City Council from «Svoboda». He exited the business in the summer of 2024. At that time, Volodymyr Ledakhivskyi became the head instead of him – Domanskyi declared his salary (UAH 4,400) from him in 2023. By the way, Ledakhivskyi bought an apartment from Kateryna Domanska’s brother for UAH 2 million.

«Both grandma and grandpa»

We wanted to ask Domanskyi’s mother-in-law and father-in-law about the sources of money for all these purchases and businesses. Maria Uskyi asked to call back in an hour. But neither after an hour nor the next day did she answer the phone anymore. Her husband, who, remember, works as a crane operator, was also deeply engrossed in his work.

According to NGL.media’s sources, from 2017 to 2022, Maria Uskyi worked at LLC «Inters Oil and Trans» with an average official salary of two to three thousand hryvnias per month. Vasyl Uskyi earned a similar amount when he worked from 2014 to 2021 at «Viennese Coffee.» In 2023, he began working for UAH 8,000-10,000 at LLC «Ground Tech» – this is the company of the son of the former secretary of the Bryukhovychi village council, Oleksandra Oshchudlyak.

Volodymyr Domanskyi speaks ambiguously about the sources of his relatives’ income – claiming that his father-in-law has been working for many years, and his salary is «not small». They also had savings, bought and sold something, and if they lacked money, they borrowed it, and so on: «My mother-in-law was once a private entrepreneur long ago, then she worked in trade. Both grandma and grandpa – they definitely had some money».

Author: Oleksandra Hubytska

Source: NGL.media