A communal apartment, a luxurious estate and a BMW X5: prosecutor Artem Petrenko lives large

Artem Petrenko, head of the department of the Nikolaev regional prosecutor's office, privatized the communal apartment that his family received just two years ago.

According to journalists, on October 25, 2023, the Nikolaev City Council decided to exclude a two-room apartment from the list of official ones, which allowed the prosecutor’s family to privatize it.

Already on December 27, 2023, the apartment became the property of his wife Tatyana Petrenko, although before that it had only been in use for two years.

It is interesting that, despite the family’s high income, the prosecutor’s wife has received more than 200 thousand hryvnia in social and charitable assistance over the past two years, including payments for IDPs and assistance from international organizations.

This situation caused outrage, since Petrenko has significant savings, in particular, they keep 22 thousand dollars and 300 thousand hryvnia in cash.

The investigation also revealed that the Petrenko family uses a luxurious house in Tsarskoye Selo, which belongs to the prosecutor’s mother. Artem Petrenko does not formally own any housing, but has the right to use this estate for 300 square meters.

He also drives a BMW X5, which is registered to his father, while his wife owns a Mazda CX5.

Journalists also noticed that the apartment that Petrenko privatized may be for rent, because another person lives there, who confirmed his acquaintance with the prosecutor, but did not want to answer whether Petrenko himself lives there.

In general, this story raises questions about how during the war local authorities allocate official housing, which is quickly privatized, as well as questionable social benefits for people with high incomes.