Top official of Zaporizhzhya Vladyslav Kutsenko purchased property in Miami

Top official of Zaporizhzhya Vladyslav Kutsenko purchased property in Miami

The family of the deputy head of the Zaporizhzhya Regional Council, Vladyslav Kutsenko, purchased a luxury apartment in Miami a week after the invasion began. It cost $410,000 and is registered in the name of the official’s wife and mother-in-law. This is reported by the Zaporizhzhya Investigation Center.

According to the ZIC, on February 6, a session was held in the Higher Anti-Corruption Court in the case of Vladyslav Kutsenko, Vyacheslav Kolesnykov, and Serhiy Chyzhelikov. They are accused of influence peddling. The apartment, which according to Kutsenko’s declaration, is rented by his family but actually owned, was a significant argument against such a decision, the prosecutor claimed.

The apartment in question, which the Kutsenko family lives in, was declared as rented in court, but journalists found out that it actually belongs to the official through a shell company. The founders of this company initially included Kutsenko’s own mother. The company is even named after one of the small rivers in the Zaporizhzhya region.

 

The company mentioned by the prosecutor is called Konka LLC — LLC "Konka" — named after a river that flows into the Dnipro River south of Malokaterynivka, separating the Zaporizhzhya and Vasylivka districts. When registering the firm, Kutsenko’s mother, Olena Kutsenko, was also listed, as the prosecutor noted. The registration date of Konka LLC is February 4, 2022. Currently, LLC "Konka" is registered at 17125 North Bay Road in the small city of Sunny Isles Beach.

 

Currently, the company only has one co-founder — Alla Peretyatko. She is the mother-in-law of Vladyslav Kutsenko, who became known to the general public in 2015. At that time, information was disclosed about nearly 30 hectares of land in various parts of the Zaporizhzhya district, which were registered to a person with such name and surname.

Alla Peretyatko is also mentioned in Kutsenko’s declaration: he uses her garage and a Kia Sorento car. The country house and six acres, used by the Kutsenko family, are also registered to her.

Screenshot from the Florida State Registry of Legal Entities, USA

The apartment is located in the northern suburb of Miami Beach, which consists of elite residential complexes and mansions. Russians are actively investing in this area, and it is even called "Little Moscow".

In Miami-Dade County, they focus on property transparency and the property registry for addresses and companies is open here. There is a full excerpt from the registry claiming that the company owns this very apartment, which is indicated as its legal address.

The house where Kutsenko bought the apartments

The area of the apartment is 95 square meters. The company "Konka" bought the apartment on March 1, 2022, for $410,000. At the current exchange rate, that’s 17.6 million.

The apartments are located in an 8-story residential complex building, which is part of the Porto Bellagio condominium.

The building where Kutsenko bought the apartment

Where did Kutsenko get the money for the apartment

According to ZIC, the deputy head of the Zaporizhzhya Regional Council is a wealthy person. In previous years, he declared significant amounts of savings. In his declaration for 2021, he listed almost $145,000 in various currencies. However, investigators note that this amount would not have been enough to purchase an apartment in Miami.

In recent years, Kutsenko’s savings have decreased somewhat, and in the 2023 declaration, there are savings listed at approximately $15,000-20,000 less.

Even if the former prosecutor’s mother-in-law, Alla, somehow sold the 30 hectares registered to her in the Zaporizhzhya district over previous years, it still wouldn’t have been enough.

"Such a discrepancy in balance could already become grounds for an additional NACP check on the compliance of the official’s lifestyle with the declared income," concludes the "Zaporizhzhya Investigation Center".