Ukrainian officials declared $58 million worth of bitcoins: who owns the largest amount of cryptocurrency?
By March 31, 2024, public servants of Ukraine submitted more than 664,000 income declarations for 2023. An analysis of these documents revealed that 792 of them contain references to cryptocurrency, mostly Bitcoin.
About this it is said in the Unified State Register for 2023.
In total, Ukrainian officials declared 834 BTC, which at the time of writing (April 12, 2024) is equivalent to $58.19 million or approximately 2.2 billion hryvnias.
Who owns the largest number of bitcoins among Ukrainian public servants?
- Nikita Kuzkevich, 121 BTC
Mykyta Kuzkevich, a deputy of the Odesa Regional Council, became the leader in terms of the number of declared bitcoins. He listed 121 BTC in his declaration, which at the time of writing is over $8.4 million. According to the document, 88 BTC belong to Kuzkiewicz himself and 33 BTC to his wife. The cryptocurrency, as noted, was purchased by the couple back in 2012.
- Oleksandr Kizlyar, 100 BTC
Oleksandr Kizlyar, a deputy of the Khmelnytskyi District Council, ranks second among the declarants in terms of the number of bitcoins. He has declared 100 BTC (over $6.97 million at the time of writing), of which 30 BTC belong to his wife. According to the declaration, the official keeps his crypto-assets in the Trust Wallet wallet. He is also an early investor in Bitcoin, as all coins were purchased in 2012. Interestingly, the declaration states that Kizlyar and his wife spent 3,356 and 1,438 hryvnias, respectively, to buy 100 BTC.
- Gennadiy Pogorelov, 80.99 BTC
Rounding out the top three in terms of the number of bitcoins is the deputy head of the regional service center of the GSC of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, Gennady Pogorelov. He listed 80.99 BTC (approximately $5.64 million at the time of writing) on his 2023 tax return. According to the declaration, Pogorelov purchased the cryptocurrency in 2015, when bitcoin was trading between $200 and $460.
Other notable Bitcoin declarants:
- Oleg Bondarenko, Chairman of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management: 80 BTC
- Oleksiy Kucher, head of the State Regulatory Service of Ukraine: 77 BTC
- Dmytro Gurin, People’s Deputy of Ukraine: 42 BTC (according to the declaration, access to assets is lost)
- Andriy Moraru, head of the migration control department in the Odesa region: 37 BTC (belongs to his wife)
- Khrystyna Pavlova, chief specialist of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure of the Dnipro Regional Council: 20 BTC (belongs to the husband)
- Eduard Solovyov, Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Mykolaiv Oblast: 15 BTC
- Oleksandr Rykovtsev, senior detective of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine: 13 BTC (most of which, according to the declaration, belongs to his wife.