The family of Alla Basalayeva, head of the Audit Service, transfers hundreds of thousands of euros abroad and “covers itself” with student friends in high offices

The family of Alla Basalayeva, head of the Audit Service, transfers hundreds of thousands of euros abroad and “covers itself” with student friends in high offices

In 2023, a major scandal erupted between defense companies and the State Audit Service. Referring to a government resolution in force at the time, the SAS argued that firms working for the defense sector should not make a profit or pay the corresponding tax.

The largest market players opposed this position and the continuous inspections that hindered their operations during a difficult time for the country. At that time, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko supported the head of the Audit Service, Alla Basalayeva. Later, the Cabinet of Ministers amended its resolution, and the scandal subsided. Only now have journalists uncovered why Basalayeva received support from the highest echelons of power. The reason lies in the right connections from her student years.

Alla Basalayeva was appointed head of the State Audit Service in November 2022. Prior to that, she and her husband, Oleksandr Veselyi, had worked for a long time at the Central Election Commission. Veselyi also worked at the Ministry of Energy and Ecology when it was still a single agency. At that time, it was headed by Oleksandr Orzhel, who had previously been involved with the Office of Effective Regulation – BRDO. This is the organization where, among others, then-Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk worked, and in his government, Denys Shmyhal, now the Minister of Energy, served as Deputy Prime Minister. There is no doubt that the Basalayeva-Veselyi couple knew Shmyhal from those times.

Looking at the family’s declarations, until 2017 they had no savings. They declared only their salaries from public service and a house with a plot of land in Irpin. In 2019, Basalayeva and Veselyi declared nearly two million hryvnias in cash, although neither reported any income from entrepreneurial activity.

Only from 2021 did Alla Basalayeva and Oleksandr Veselyi begin declaring income from the law firms “Kuchma and Partners” and “Political and Legal Consulting Group.” They likely provided them with legal assistance.

By coincidence, the latter firm provided services to the political party “Servant of the People” for at least 2021–2022. According to court documents, the “Political and Legal Consulting Group” received almost 4 million hryvnias from the pro-presidential party during that period. The National Agency on Corruption Prevention contacted the company to clarify what services it had provided to “Servant of the People,” but received a refusal and turned to the court.

In 2023, the court closed the case due to the absence of an offense. Thus, it remains unclear what services the “Political and Legal Consulting Group” provided to receive 4 million hryvnias from the president’s party.

The head of LLC “Political and Legal Consulting Group” is Maryna Melnychenko. She previously headed a local branch of the Party of Regions in Liutezh, Vyshhorod district. Later, she led the Kyiv regional branch of the party “United Community,” which in February 2026 changed its name to PP “Dim” (Welfare and Peace).

This party is headed by former secretary of the Irpin City Council, Yuriy Denysenko. He was also the head of the Buchansky city party organization “New Faces.” That same party has been repeatedly caught by journalists in corruption and the actual land-grabbing in Irpin and Bucha.

It turned out that Yuriy Denysenko and Alla Basalayeva were classmates. In 2002, they both graduated from the National Academy of the State Tax Service of Ukraine. In 2003, the scandalous mayor of Irpin, Volodymyr Karplyuk – leader of the “New Faces” party, which Denysenko also joined – graduated from the same academy.

Volodymyr Karplyuk was reasonably suspected of actively distributing land for development to companies close to him and his circle.

The case regarding the receipt of 4 million hryvnias by LLC “Political and Legal Consulting Group” from “Servant of the People” was closed by Irpin court judge Mykhailo Odaryuk. He is a frequent lecturer at the National Academy of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, from which Alla Basalayeva, Yuriy Denysenko, and Volodymyr Karplyuk all graduated. It is therefore unsurprising that he saw no crime in a company close to Denysenko and Basalayeva receiving millions from the pro-presidential party.

Another classmate of Alla Basalayeva is the current Minister of Finance, Serhiy Marchenko. It was he who defended the head of the SAS in its confrontation with defence companies. They graduated together from the tax academy in 2002.

When Basalayeva’s husband, Oleksandr Veselyi, began declaring work for law firms, one of which worked for “Servant of the People” and was linked to his wife’s Irpin classmate, the couple’s cash holdings grew to 3.4 million hryvnias.

During the same period, according to their declarations, they began investing in an apartment from “Intergal-Bud.” In 2021, Basalaieva declared obligations to invest in construction with LLC “Company for Asset Management ‘Kristal Asset Management.’” This firm is part of the “Intergal-Bud” group of former MP Volodymyr Zubyk.

LLC “Asset Management Company Kristal Asset Management” appears in a criminal case concerning tax evasion on an especially large scale by the “Intergal-Bud” group of companies. Investigators suspected that the company was likely attracting funds from individual investors for construction rather than using joint investment funds, thereby obtaining a tax benefit. Between 2018 and 2022, thanks to this scheme, the company “saved,” or rather failed to pay to the budget, over one million hryvnias.

In 2023, searches were conducted at the main office of “Intergal-Bud” in connection with the case, and 800,000 hryvnias and 249,000 US dollars were seized. However, the Prosecutor General’s Office failed to have the funds arrested after the court refused.

The owner of “Intergal-Bud,” Volodymyr Zubyk, was formerly a member of the Party of Regions faction.

Returning to the savings of the Basalayeva-Veselyi family, it is worth noting that in 2024 the amount of cash in their declarations rose to 7.4 million hryvnias. These funds were apparently used to pay for the apartment from “Intergal-Bud,” as they disappeared from the financial reports in 2025.

Instead, an 82-square-meter apartment in Lviv appeared. One might assume this was the residence for which the couple paid an “Intergal-Bud”-affiliated company. But that is not the case.

On the same day that Oleksandr Veselyi acquired an unfinished apartment in Lviv, he purchased a financial instrument as an obligation to the Joint-Stock Company “Closed Non-Diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund ‘Adamant.’”

This fund belongs to the group of companies of developer “Avalon.”

In 2025, the Basalayeva-Veselyi couple also purchased additional land in Irpin, adding to the nearly 600 square meters they already owned.

With the start of the full-scale invasion, the head of the State Audit Service of Ukraine, Alla Basalayeva, began actively transferring funds to foreign accounts. As of the end of 2022, she held an account at Santander Bank in Barcelona worth 14,400 euros, another at Spain’s BBVA worth 17,960 euros, and an account at Poland’s Bank Pekao worth 10,000 US dollars. Her husband, Oleksandr Veselyi, held 4,914 euros at Spain’s Santander.

As of the end of 2025, the couple jointly held about 40,000 euros in Spanish accounts and 9,850 US dollars in a Polish bank.

The couple’s Ukrainian accounts also changed significantly. In particular, Alla Basalayeva began holding 20,290 euros in foreign currency at Ukrgasbank. Her husband, Oleksandr Veselyi, has an account at the same bank worth 45,509 euros.

Importantly, in previous declarations, the couple had no foreign-currency accounts in Ukrainian banks. The Spanish and Polish accounts appeared in their reports only in 2022.

In total, the Basalayeva-Veselyi couple currently hold 105.5 thousand euros and nearly 10,000 US dollars in various bank accounts. Converted to hryvnias, this amounts to 5.8 million.

In Alla Basalaieva’s latest declaration, it is stated that her husband earned nearly 3.6 million hryvnias from entrepreneurial activity in 2025. Veselyi is the founder of LLC “Garda V.O.M.,” with a charter capital of 5,000 hryvnias. It is therefore unlikely that this company brought him millions. He likely continues to provide services to law firms partially linked to “Servant of the People.”

In addition, Veselyi began receiving income from LLC “Scientific and Production Company ‘UkrekoProm.’” However, in that company he earned less last year than his wife did at the State Audit Service. “UkrekoProm” is a frequent participant in public tenders and deals with the disposal of hazardous waste. The company “took off” during the coronavirus period. Last year, the firm won tenders worth 267 million hryvnias.

Immediately after Basalayeva’s appointment to the Audit Service, the media reported on her alleged connection to the now-deceased former deputy head of President Yanukovych’s Administration, Andriy Portnov. His “ally,” Oleh Tatarov, now works in the Office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

At one time, Tatarov was the lawyer of the aforementioned former mayor of Irpin, Volodymyr Karplyuk, who was reasonably suspected of mass land distribution to his associates. And who, it should be recalled, was well acquainted with Alla Basalayeva from their studies at the tax academy.

A piquant detail: one of those who recently posted bail for former head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak was the head of the firm “A. DVA.KA. T,” Yaroslav Kuts. He is a sitting deputy of the Irpin City Council. Sources suggest that Kuts may actually be financed by Volodymyr Karplyuk, who in turn “hides behind” his connections with Oleh Tatarov.

The circle of classmates has closed. Basalayeva’s connection through her Irpin friends has led journalists, on one side, to the Government and, on the other, to the Presidential Office.

Therefore, the head of the Audit Service can obviously continue to transfer funds abroad, accumulate unexplained cash, and invest in new housing without concern.