€6m for a villa in Vienna: details of investigation into Andriy Kholodov's assets

In 2019, journalists from the "Schemes: Corruption in Detail" project published the results of an investigation revealing that the family of former Member of Parliament Andriy Kholodov, from the "Servant of the People" party, owns real estate in the Austrian capital. According to official data from the Austrian registry, the value of this estate was €6m.

Details of the luxury real estate purchase

According to the documents, a 360-square-metre house on a 20-are plot of land was purchased in 2013. Ownership was registered in the name of the former MP's wife, Kateryna Shakovska. The estate is located on Lainzer Strasse in the prestigious Hietzing district of Vienna. Journalists noted that a building where Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash previously lived is located nearby.

In addition to the residence, a wedding and evening dress salon was found in central Vienna on Walfischgasse, which also belonged to Kholodov's wife.

Family and political connections

Investigators established that the children of Andriy Kholodov and Kateryna Shakovska were godchildren of Oksana Marchenko, the wife of Viktor Medvedchuk. Then-head of the "Servant of the People" party, Dmytro Razumkov, confirmed to journalists that he was aware of the family ties. However, he clarified that, according to the information available to him, Kholodov is specifically Oksana Marchenko's godfather, not Viktor Medvedchuk's.

At the time of the investigation in 2019, Andriy Kholodov held the 22nd place in the party's electoral list. He was also a beneficiary of the Kyiv company "Efkon-Vikna", which specialises in the production of aluminium profiles and other metal building structures.

Links to the tobacco market and law enforcement reaction

In November 2019, "Schemes" published an additional investigation dedicated to the MP's family's links with companies that, according to the journalists, engaged in the wholesale supply and retail sale of cigarettes in Kyiv kiosks.

Investigators pointed to a possible conflict of interest: while serving on the parliamentary committee on financial, tax and customs policy, Kholodov supported a legislative amendment that, in their assessment, could increase the profits of retail tobacco traders.

Following the publication of these materials, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine announced the opening of a criminal case based on the facts described in the media.

In 2021, "Radio Svoboda" reported that Kholodov withdrew his lawsuit against the "Schemes" journalists who had investigated his links to the tobacco business. The court left the lawsuit unexamined.

In 2023, Andriy Kholodov resigned his parliamentary mandate after journalists published information about his prolonged stay abroad.