Avakov's advisor makes money by allocating land and registering deals in the name of friends and relatives
Anton Gerashchenko makes money by renting out real estate, facebook.com
The Verkhovna Rada website has published an asset declaration by MP Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to Interior Minister Arseniy Avakov. In 2015, the advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs earned 549 hryvnias, including a salary of 73,4 hryvnias (6,1 hryvnias per month). His wife, Olesya, earned 324,6 hryvnias for the year. The document indicates that she is engaged in entrepreneurial activity. As in previous declarations, Gerashchenko owns two modest-sized apartments and a 2013 Honda Crosstour.
But Strana learned from its own sources close to Avakov's advisor that the MP has shady business schemes that bring him at least 12 million hryvnias a year.
How the business began
According to his official biography, Anton Gerashchenko began his political career as head of the Krasnohrad District City Administration in the Kharkiv Oblast. Prior to that, he served as a member of the Kharkiv City Council, where he was elected on his fourth attempt. Gerashchenko, a People's Front member of parliament, currently sits in the Verkhovna Rada of the 8th convocation.
Gerashchenko's people, with whose help he makes a profit
A former business partner of Gerashchenko, who wished to remain anonymous, provided details of the MP's secret business dealings to Strana. As it turns out, the politician began making money in the early 2000s while serving on the Kharkiv City Council.
"Then he met Alexander Sergeyevich Bondar. Together, they began helping interested parties allocate land plots. Then they began to secure land for their own businesses. They exchanged one plot for an apartment in Kharkiv, where they set up an office. It was registered to Alina Didenko, Bondar's wife, although a sign on the door indicated it belonged to lawyer Marina Matsegora (a close friend, confidant, and official assistant to MP Gerashchenko, as listed on the Verkhovna Rada website). These people form the core of Anton Yuryevich's business schemes," our source recalls.
"Strana" spoke with Marina Matsegora, who works with Gerashchenko, and asked if she really does business with her boss and owns real estate in Mykolaiv, Stakhanov, and Slovyansk. "I'm not Anton Gerashchenko's partner. This is gossip. I don't even understand what you're talking about and I don't know these properties. Do you want a comment from Anton Yuryevich? And don't you want a comment from the President of Ukraine?" the MP's aide replied.
To confirm the information, we contacted the main suspect, Mr. Gerashchenko, but he declined to comment. We spent a week trying to get him to respond to our questions, but to no avail.
It should be noted that an extract from the register of enterprises and entrepreneurs confirms that the woman has companies registered in her name that are the owners of the said real estate properties (see paragraphs 7, 9, 19)
Aiding ATB
Another of Gerashchenko's partners is Volodymyr Grechukha, who at the start of their partnership worked as a development manager for ATB (a supermarket chain operating throughout Ukraine). He is a low-profile figure and is rarely mentioned in the media. According to our source, Grechukha is well-off – he owns an apartment in a new building in Dnipro, vacations at luxury resorts around the world, and enjoys fine cars.
"Gerashchenko and Bondar traveled around Ukraine, following Grechukha's lead, finding the land and real estate ATB needed. From there, it was a matter of technique and experience. They bought them in the names of their relatives and resold or leased them to ATB. They started in Krasnograd, where Gerashchenko worked in the district administration. For example, their last property in Kaniv was purchased for $110 and sold for $1,1 million at the end of 2013. If I remember correctly, they registered 25 properties," says Gerashchenko's former partner.
According to the source, Bondar and Gerashchenko are still working in the Kyiv and Odesa regions.
Personal assets
Strana has obtained a list of properties from which Gerashchenko and his business partners collectively earn approximately one million hryvnias per month in rental income. The land and buildings are registered to the partners and their relatives.
All the people listed are involved in Gerashchenko's business scheme and are his friends, confidants, official assistants in the Verkhovna Rada, and their relatives.
It's noteworthy that some of these properties are located in territory not controlled by Ukraine. Moreover, according to our source, in 2012-2013, Gerashchenko directly communicated with former mayor Nelya Shtepa in Sloviansk regarding the allocation of a plot of land. He also shares a building with Yaroslav Markevich, a member of parliament from the Samopomich party (our source explains that it is registered to Matsegora, see point 7).
Documentary evidence
Only two properties have a documented connection to Gerashchenko himself. First, his mother, Erna Anatolyevna, was listed for a long time as the founder of the company "Alfa-Group BG," which owns approximately 200 square meters of real estate (see point 4). Second, one of the enterprises of "MD-Contraction Group," owned by the aforementioned MP's assistant, Maryna Matsegora, was registered at Gerashchenko's Kharkiv address—27 Chuguevska Street, Apt. 29 (see point 9).
Strana received scans of original extracts from the real estate registry, property purchase certificates, and business registrations mentioned in the article.
As Strana previously reported, Deputy Gerashchenko's security guard drives an armored "office on wheels," and his new wife works as a conflict resolution specialist.
On topic: Anton Gerashchenko's past antics
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