Family of Ukrainian customs officer owns shares in Russian bank

A scandal is unfolding in Sumy Oblast surrounding customs officer Maksym Hulaikov. According to open-source data, his wife, Alla Hulaikova, holds 10,000 shares in the Russian Gazprombank. This information is contained in the official declaration of the official.

According to the documents, the shares were acquired in the summer of 2018, i.e. four years after the annexation of Crimea and the start of the war in the Donbas. This means that at a time when Ukraine was fighting for its territorial integrity, the family of a state employee invested funds in one of Russia's largest banks.

Gazprombank and its role in the Russian economy

Gazprombank is one of Russia's key financial institutions, closely linked to the Kremlin. It serves strategic enterprises, including the gas giant Gazprom, whose revenues directly form the budget of the aggressor state.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the bank came under international sanctions, its assets are being frozen, and cooperation with it is condemned at the global level.

Why is this important?

Investments in Russian companies raise serious questions about officials and their close relatives. At the time of the share purchase:

• Russia had already occupied Crimea;
• Active hostilities were taking place in the Donbas;
• Ukraine had introduced sanctions against Russian financial structures.

A logical question arises: why did the family of a Ukrainian customs officer invest money in a bank financing the economy of the aggressor state?

Will there be a reaction from the authorities?

The disclosure of this information could become grounds for an investigation by anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies. 

According to Absolution