The Chairman of the Kyiv District Court of Odessa, Sergei Chvankin, declared his wife’s company in the USA, which owns apartments in Miami worth $310 thousand or about 12 million UAH.
The earnings of the judge himself and his wife, a teacher at the Odessa Law Academy and lawyer Nelly Golubeva, do not allow such expenses.
The declaration does not indicate the costs of purchasing this property, nor the fact of the appearance of loan obligations if Golubeva purchased it with a mortgage.
According to the Florida register of companies, on February 13, 2023, the wife of the judge of the chairman of the Kyiv District Court of Odessa, Sergei Chvankin, opened the company OCEAN PROJECT 828 LLC in the United States.
According to official records of Broward County, Florida, the apartment measures 105 square meters. m (1,130 sq. ft.) at 1000 Parkview Drive, 828 Hallandale Beach, acquired by Golubeva on March 10, 2023. These apartments are indicated by the place of registration of the company.
According to specialized websites for the sale of real estate in Miami, the apartments are located in a 10-story apartment building built in 1976, a few hundred meters from the Atlantic coast. The listing promises "unobstructed coastal views from floor-to-ceiling windows," "heated pool, BBQ area, bike storage, state-of-the-art gym, tennis, 24-hour security with lobby security."
The house is “close to beaches, racetracks, casinos, Hollywood Promenade, marinas, Aventura shopping center, restaurants, shops.” In addition to the apartment there is a parking space. The description also states that the apartment is ready for rent.
Chvankin’s declaration also contains mention of several accounts that his wife opened in American banks. As of the time of filing the declaration (end of 2023), about $52 thousand were placed on them.
In general, the condition of Chvarkin and Golubeva does not allow the acquisition of such real estate.
The apartment was purchased in March 2023. In the declaration for 2022, the chairman of the Kyiv District Court of Odessa indicated UAH 9.7 million in income. Of these, 1.7 million UAH is his salary, 0.5 million UAH is the salary of his wife Nelly Golubeva at the Odessa Law Academy. The judge’s wife earned another 2.9 million UAH from doing business. Her main FOP KVED is activity in the field of law, she also has a lawyer's certificate. The family earned another 4.6 million UAH from interest on deposits, investments in government domestic loan bonds and alienation of property.
At the same time, Judge Chvankin declared UAH 3 million in expenses for the purchase of government bonds and renewal of his own vehicle fleet. His wife's expenses are unknown. As of the end of 2022, the family had accumulated about UAH 16.4 million in cash, as well as on deposits in hryvnia, dollars and euros. The family also keeps part of the funds in Austria, where in 2022 the wife and daughter were probably granted asylum (the declaration indicates a permanent residence permit, but does not indicate in which housing the family lived).
Journalists from Slidstva.Info called Judge Sergei Chvankin, but he did not pick up the phone, they wrote on WhatsApp - he did not read the message. His wife Nelly Golubeva blocked our phone number. We also sent a request for comment to the Kiev District Court of Odessa, but did not receive a response at the time of publication of the material.
Previously, the Public Integrity Council, in its conclusion that the judge did not meet the criteria of integrity and professional ethics, noted that the fortune of Chvankin and his family had dubious origins even before his career as a judge since the early 2000s. In particular, it was about the insufficient amount of funds for the purchase of real estate by the wife's parents and other relatives, who then transferred the property for use to the Chvankin-Golubeva family, the purchase of such real estate in elite residential complexes and cottage towns at clearly reduced prices, and the like.
After the publication of news about the apartment of the company of Judge Chvankin’s wife, the judge responded to Slidstva.Info journalists through the court’s press service. Chvankin claims that the apartment was purchased by the company with a 30-year mortgage. And he was not obliged to declare this fact by law, because it is the property of the company
