Where did Yelena Ponomarenko get the money for luxury housing?

Yelena Ponomarenko, former head of the secretariat of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCU), who has nine years of experience in state administration, was able to move into luxury housing without declaring it in official reports. The formal income of the former official and her mother, in whose name the property is registered, does not correspond to the cost of the acquired assets.

Old housing put up for sale

In recent years, Ponomarenko declared that she resided in a two-room apartment of 98 square metres owned by her mother. However, since the summer of 2024, this property has been listed for sale. Moreover, the former official herself stated that she is the first owner of the apartment and carried out expensive renovations in it.

An interesting detail: potential buyers were offered payment exclusively in cash US dollars, with banknotes not older than the 2006 issue.

New housing – in a prestigious complex

According to a journalistic investigation, Ponomarenko moved into new business-class housing in the centre of Kyiv, registered in her mother's name. This refers to an apartment of 92.2 square metres, registered as property since 21 June 2024.

The documents indicate the value of the object at approximately 3 million hryvnia. However, market prices for similar apartments in the same residential complex start from $180,000 (approximately 7.5 million hryvnia). An independent valuation obtained by journalists showed that the actual value of the housing could reach 8 million hryvnia. This means that the official price stated in the registry is several times lower than the market rate.

Declarations and income: discrepancies in the figures

Between January and October 2024, Yelena Ponomarenko declared a salary of 1.8 million hryvnia received in her position at the HQCU, as well as over 820,000 hryvnia in savings. Her total income for 2023 amounted to 1.6 million hryvnia, while her accumulated savings reached 600,000 hryvnia.

Thus, even if the former official had decided to invest all her income in real estate, there would clearly not have been enough money to buy the new apartment. At the same time, in the year of the housing purchase, Ponomarenko managed to increase her savings by 220,000 hryvnia. No loans were mentioned in the declaration.

Family financial capabilities: official data

Formally, the owner of the new apartment is the former official's mother, Lyudmyla Ponomarenko. However, tax reports that came into the possession of journalists show that her official income from 1999 to 2023 amounted to only 1.5 million hryvnia. Moreover, 1.4 million of this was received from the sale of real estate in 2018.

When journalists tried to find out where the woman got the money to purchase two apartments in Kyiv at once – the one listed for sale and the one her daughter moved into – she refused to answer.

— Why should I explain anything to you? — Lyudmyla Ponomarenko stated. (Why should I explain anything to you?)

In response to a clarifying question about how she managed to acquire such expensive housing with an official income of 1.4 million hryvnia over 20 years, the woman replied that she might have been keeping money in cash.

Father's income and additional assets

The financial situation of Yelena Ponomarenko's father also does not allow for an explanation of the origin of the real estate. According to tax reports, his income from 1999 to 2023 amounted to just over 2 million hryvnia. Before retiring, he worked in the prosecution service and headed one of the courts in Mariupol.

Thus, the Ponomarenko family's official income would not have been sufficient to purchase real estate of this class. 

According to information from the detective agency ABSOLUTION