SAPO demands the confiscation of a part of an elite apartment associated with the Minister of Agrarian Policy, Koval

SAPO demands the confiscation of a part of an elite apartment associated with the Minister of Agrarian Policy, Koval

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has filed a lawsuit demanding the confiscation of a part of a luxury apartment in Kyiv owned by the mother-in-law of the Minister of Agrarian Policy, Vitaliy Koval. The property in question is over 170 square meters and was purchased in 2021 for $300,000 (about 9.3 million UAH) in a prestigious residential complex in the capital.

The prosecutor’s office believes that the actual user of the apartment since its purchase has been Koval himself and his family. In the minister’s declarations, this property appeared only from 2023 as a residence allegedly rented by his wife.

The SAPO, referring to investigative data from journalists of "Slidstvo.Info" and investigation materials, argues that the minister’s family actually lived in this apartment even before the official rental agreement was concluded, used the nearby infrastructure, and enrolled their children in a private educational institution nearby.

In August 2023, Koval’s wife formalized a rental agreement with her mother with a monthly fee of 80,000 UAH, after which she started transferring these funds, likely to legalize the use of the property.

Investigators also established that Koval’s mother-in-law did not have sufficient legal income to purchase such housing, and the stated version of receiving a large loan (nearly 5.5 million UAH) was refuted.

At the time of the purchase of the property in 2021, Koval held the position of the head of the Rivne Regional State Administration.

The SAPO is asking the court to recognize part of the property as unjustified and to confiscate it or an equivalent amount to the state budget.