Bihus.Info journalists find undeclared assets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in minister Kim’s family

Relatives of Veterans Affairs Minister Vitaliy Kim — the former head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration — are using assets not reflected in official declarations. These include elite real estate, a car, and hunting grounds.

This was reported by Bihus.Info in a new investigation.

In the summer of 2025, a company belonging to Kim’s wife Yulia — “Media Grupa” — purchased an apartment of more than 100 square meters and a parking space in the Kyiv residential complex “Novopecherski Lypky.” The value of the property is approximately $350,000. The firm’s public financial reporting had been zero for many years.

According to Bihus.Info, Kim used this apartment: a Volkswagen Touareg with fake license plates, resembling one rented by the minister, was spotted near the residential complex. Kim himself denied this, stating that he does not use the apartment and that his wife’s company purchased it on credit.

Another undeclared asset is a Porsche Macan, for which Yulia Kim received a fine in 2024. The car does not appear in the minister’s declarations and is registered to the construction company “S-Develop,” owned by Kim’s former business partner Roman Serbenov. In a comment to the outlet, Kim explained that his wife had rented the car and used it for fewer than 180 days, and therefore he was not required to declare it.

A separate episode in the investigation concerns hunting grounds. In the summer of 2025, Kim’s longtime business partner Oleksandr Stepanov acquired a share in the Kaniv left-bank hunting enterprise covering 18,000 hectares. Stepanov admitted to journalists that he does not like hunting and has “never really been to that hunting lodge.” Kim, for his part, has repeatedly described hunting as his hobby in interviews with various media outlets.

In addition, Kim’s savings grew by approximately €127,000 in 2025 against an official income of less than approximately €136,000 before taxes.

The outlet had previously reported that journalists found assets worth approximately €974,000 belonging to relatives of former Odesa military commissars the Vaskevyches, including apartments, cars, and a seaside cottage. It was also reported that Defense Minister Rustem Umerov was found to own eight elite real estate properties in the United States.