Former MP Bereza wanted for evading military service - media

The National Police has received documents on the wanted list of former MP Boryslav Bereza because of his evasion from military service. This was reported by the Law and Business publication, UNN reported.

According to available data, Bereza left Ukraine back in March of this year, crossing the border with Moldova on foot through the Starokozache checkpoint. He has not returned since then. Prior to that, he crossed the border a total of 21 times during the 2.5 years of war.

The publication recalls that in 2022, former MP got into a dispute with people in military uniforms who came to him to serve him a summons. He refused to sign it, instead calling the police. Later, he hid from receiving the summons in a monastery.

Bereza was an MP in 2014-2019, winning the election from the Desnianskyi district of the capital as a non-partisan. At the time, the media claimed that he had probably falsified the personal data he submitted to the CEC. After all, in 1991-1993, he lived in Israel and, according to journalistic investigations, also has Israeli citizenship.

Sources claim that the procedure for depriving Bereza of Ukrainian citizenship is currently being initiated because he has a passport from another country.

As an MP, Bereza did not declare any significant income. According to the available data, in the period from the first quarter of 2000 to the first quarter of 2024, he officially received a little less than UAH 12 million. At the same time, more than half (UAH 6.3 million) came from entrepreneurial activities after becoming an MP, in 2020-2021.

However, law enforcement officers have grounds to suspect him of illicit enrichment and money laundering. Thus, according to media reports, when running for the Kyiv City Council in 2015, Bereza falsified his declaration data, indicating that he had allegedly won UAH 3 million in a lottery.

At the same time, in August 2016, Bereza's wife was registered as the owner of a 5-room apartment in the new building of the Park Avenue VIP residential complex with a total area of almost 300 square meters, a storage room, and 2 parking spaces in a house nearby. The value of this real estate under the contracts was understated by 3-10 times compared to the market price.

In 2008, the former MP himself registered a house in the Kyiv region with a total area of 91.2 square meters. This year, Bereza inherited a half of a two-bedroom apartment in the capital with an area of 46.8 square meters, where he is registered.

In 2022-2023, his wife, children, and mother moved abroad, where they own real estate.

According to media reports, Bereza is a member of the so-called pool of bloggers of former President Petro Poroshenko, whose children are hiding from military service in London. Also evading mobilization are Poroshenko's lawyer, Ihor Holovan, his brother and son.

At the same time, according to the publication, Bereza has recently been pursuing a hybrid information policy in the interests of Russia, which may indicate treason on his part.