Real estate owned by parents, relatives in the Russian Federation, and ties to organized crime – what is known about NABU officers and prosecutors competing for the position of BBEP Director

The competition to select a new director for the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) is underway in Ukraine. Its final stage will be interviews with candidates, which will take place on June 21-23. Based on their results, the commission members are to recommend two individuals to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, from whom the winner will be chosen. 

The biographies of some of the 16 candidates have already been thoroughly analyzed by journalists, while others have been overlooked, as they have already participated in competitions for the NABU, meaning they have fewer problematic issues. However, ties to the Russian Federation, hidden assets, and dubious contacts have surfaced. 

The Center for Countering Corruption states that independent candidates have made it into the top five of the competition, including three representatives from NABU. Likely candidates are Oleksandr Skomarov, Roman Yaromenok, and Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi. Ruslan Damentsov, Maksym Vorvul, and prosecutors Omarov Amil Azad and Attila Kovchi are also counting on victory.

What is known about the favorites in the competition for the BES director

Oleksandr Skomarov - Head of the Second Main Detective Unit of NABU. According to the version of the Institute for Economic Leadership, Skomarov is a candidate with a high level of corruption risk.

According to journalists, he concealed his father's Russian citizenship and his business in the occupied part of Luhansk region. According to the information from StopCor publication, Skomarov's father received his passport only in January 2024, likely to sell his house and car under Russian law. After returning to Ukraine, he left the country again on December 25, 2024, and could have returned to Novoaidar, Luhansk region, which is impossible without a Russian passport. Skomarov Sr. finally arrived in Kyiv only recently, crossing the state border on March 21 this year. 

Documents published by the editorial office also indicate the procedure for confirming ownership of a Hyundai vehicle the month after obtaining an RF passport - in February 2024, and then its sale under Russian laws. Apparently, the same procedure applied to the house, which is listed in Oleksandr Skomarov's declaration as jointly owned with his parents.

In addition, it is known that immediately after the start of the full-scale invasion, the candidate's wife, Olha Skomarova, left the country in a LAND ROVER vehicle belonging to Maryna Khrystenko, the wife of a pro-Russian MP from "OPZZh", who is hiding abroad.

The owner of the car herself is registered in an elite residential complex in Moscow. The mentioned car was driven by Andriy Hailo - a close associate of Peter Csaba Alajos. The latter was wanted by NABU in 2023 for unreliable declaration. 

In the past, Skomarov was involved in investigating cases related to Ihor Kolomoiskyi, while his wife, Olha Skomarova, worked in structures associated with the oligarch – at "1+1" and "Plus TV". Despite modest official incomes, the family has managed to acquire valuable real estate and premium cars.

In 2019, Oleksandr Skomarov, then a top NABU official, was involved in a scandal surrounding the case of sanctioned Odesa businessman Vadym Alperin – the "godfather" of smuggling in Ukraine. The case was investigated by NABU. In addition to Alperin, the sister of the Bureau's detective chief, Alina Skomarova (Danchenko) – former head of customs payments administration at the State Fiscal Service, ex-deputy head of the energy customs – was фигурировала in it. At that time, Skomarova was accused of allegedly pressuring the investigation and leaking pre-trial investigation materials. 

Skomarov participated in the competition for the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office but failed the intelligence assessment test. He "failed" another competition – for the head of NABU – at the interview stage. The commission was interested in whether he had a conflict of interest, given that his wife Olha works for companies whose beneficiary is under NABU investigation? The commission was also interested in how Skomarov managed to work in NABU simultaneously with undergoing almost a month-long internship (295 hours) to obtain a certificate of qualification for legal practice and defend his PhD dissertation? Furthermore, commission members noted that the data on the completion of the individual internship plan was compiled on behalf of a female individual. 

Skomarov began actively declaring significant changes in his property status starting in 2018, after taking office as deputy head of the Second NABU Detective Unit.

Roman Yaromenok - Senior Detective at NABU. In May last year, he participated in the competition for a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and even earlier competed for the position of head of the SAP. Journalists accused Yaromenok of involvement in leaking criminal proceedings materials.

In 2021, he was a candidate for the High Council of Justice, but the Ethics Council raised doubts about the candidate's compliance with the criterion of professional ethics and integrity. 

Yaromenok was disciplinarily sanctioned twice: in 2009 for the actual loss of criminal cases and in 2011 for significant shortcomings and miscalculations in work organization in the prosecutor's office.

He has a suspended адвокат certificate, for which he underwent a six-month internship in 2021 while working for NABU.

In 2024, he applied for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. At the same time, he violated traffic rules while driving his wife's car, resulting in damage to another vehicle. 

During the full-scale invasion, he travelled abroad with his family twice: to Romania from October 28, 2022, to November 9, 2022, and to Poland from October 15, 2023, to October 18, 2023.

Yaromenok's wife has held the position of Head of the Department for organizing communication with the public, review of appeals and requests of the Prosecutor General's Office since 2024. Previously, she worked as the deputy head of the public relations department of the NABU Public Relations Department. After resigning from NABU, she filed a lawsuit for illegal dismissal.

Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi - Head of the NABU Detective Unit. Known for the recent investigation into the Komarnitsky case regarding fraud with capital land – operation "Clean City". 

Previously, Tsyvinskyi participated in many competitions for leadership positions in NABU, including for director, but was unsuccessful.

Before working at NABU, Tsyvinskyi held various positions in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. While working at NABU, he allowed the loss of criminal proceedings materials.

Tsyvinskyi's father has been a Russian citizen since 2005. The NABU detective took his elder son, at the age of 17, to Great Britain, where his younger son also lives. The candidate himself, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, has also travelled abroad without problems in December 2024.

Ruslan Damentsov - Deputy Head of the Second Unit of Detectives of the Fourth Main Unit of Detectives of NABU. 

He previously participated in the competition for NABU director. In open sources, there is almost no information about this candidate, apart from announcements of his participation in the competition. 

Damentsov began his career in the Odesa region as a police officer and holds a certificate of qualification for legal practice, issued by the Bar Council of Odesa region in 2016. 

Damentsov had not previously declared any property, but since 2022 he owns a Lexus car and an apartment in Odesa. 

At the same time, two residential buildings in Odesa and a land plot are registered to his father-in-law. One of them was received by the father-in-law as a gift from Ogly Anatoliy Petrovych, who has no other real estate, property, or companies registered to him. In addition, in 2025, a contract of sale for an apartment in Odesa worth UAH 850,000 was registered to the father-in-law, which on the same day, the father-in-law transferred to Ruslan Damentsov under a loan agreement for UAH 850,000. 

The spouse of Damentsov, who currently works in the SBU, is registered with a land plot in the Odesa region, as well as Subaru Forester cars manufactured in 2005 and Toyota Prius S manufactured in 2016. 

Damentsov himself, despite owning an apartment in Odesa and numerous properties of his relatives where he lives, is registered in a dormitory of the National Police of Ukraine, even though he has been working at NABU for 9 years.

Maksym Vorvul - Deputy Head of the Third Unit of Detectives of the Fourth Main Unit of Detectives of NABU. He participated in the competition for NABU director, where he was asked about acquiring ownership of a land plot in Sahnovskyi district, where he was a prosecutor at the time. 

Vorvul rents an apartment from the former deputy head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, Yevhen Bezborodov. Furthermore, according to media reports, he has friendly ties with the head of the regional public human rights organization "Opora Slobidshchyny", the head of the Lozova branch of OPZZh, Hahun, who was a фигурировал in a criminal proceeding investigated by Vorvul. Maksym Vorvul is also linked to the former notorious head of NABU detectives Andriy Kaluzhynskyi, the godson of former NABU official Sytnyk. Both were accused of systemic corruption by the illegally dismissed detective Karyeyev, who was reinstated at NABU through court.

The property of Vorvul's family is mainly registered to his mother-in-law, Nina Keller. The woman owns a house, a plot of land, and a garage in the Kharkiv region. 

After the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, Maksym Vorvul traveled abroad in August 2022, where he stayed for almost a week.

Omarov Amil Azad - Head of the Shevchenkivsky District Prosecutor's Office of Kharkiv. A non-public figure, despite his position. There are practically no mentions in the media, except for his participation in the competition. His declaration is almost empty – an apartment and a car for use, and a small house for ownership. Annual salary - 1.5 million UAH.

For a short period in 2015, he was among the 70 selected NABU detectives, after which he returned to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office. Subsequently, by order of the head of the regional prosecutor's office, he was transferred to the position of deputy head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.

In 2014, Omarov worked as a senior prosecutor in the case of a fire at a jewelry factory in Kharkiv, where people died. According to local journalists, Omarov was accused of fabricating the case: part of the video evidence that could have influenced the verdict was allegedly concealed by the investigation.

As deputy prosecutor, Amil Omarov got involved in a scandal by sending a letter to the leadership of the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics, in which he stated that the rector had wrongly dismissed three vice-rectors, one of whom was Omarov's relative. 

Most of Omarov's property is registered to his father, who has practically no income. In particular, Omarov Sr. owns an apartment in the new Kharkiv residential complex "Avantage", two parking spaces, and a Toyota car, which the candidate uses. 

Omarov's wife, according to the declaration, owns 6,000 dollars in cash, despite having no official income. 

Attila Kovchi - Prosecutor of the Prosecutor General's Office, former candidate for BES director in 2021. Since July 2020, he has held the position of prosecutor in the Prosecutor General's Office. From 2016-2020, he was the head of the legal support department of the Ukrainian Institute for Expertise of Plant Varieties. He also worked in the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Tax Administration, and the private sector. 

Kovchi's wife headed the Ternopil Regional Prosecutor's Office for three years, and later was appointed prosecutor in the internal security department of the Prosecutor General's Office. Therefore, she could have facilitated Kovchi's employment in the Prosecutor General's Office. 

The rest of Kovchi's family, including his mother, brother, and children, live abroad. The elder daughter has been studying in a medical college in Germany since 2019, and the younger daughter has been pursuing education in Germany since 2022. However, Kovchi does not declare any expenses for their education.

The candidate's brother, Kovchi Laszlo, left the country a few days before the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation and has not returned to Ukraine since. He is currently wanted – he is subject to military conscription and has no deferment or reservation. 

In his 2024 declaration, Kovchi indicated the right to use a Ford car, owned by an entrepreneur from Ternopil.

Attila Kovchi is one of the most publicized candidates for the position of BES Director. His numerous interviews and comments coincided precisely with the start of the competition. On social media, he positions himself as a scientist and economics expert, actively supporting posts by MP Hetmantsev. 

We remind you that earlier the Competition Commission for the selection of the BES director delegated the verification of candidates' tasks to unnamed experts, and the commission members themselves abstained from directly evaluating the answers to practical tasks of the candidates. There is no public information about who checked the practical work of the candidates for the head of the BES position. At the same time, this stage of the competition drastically changed the overall ranking of the candidates.