“My Wife Helps Financially.” Mykhailo Havryliuk Confirms He Owns a Three-Storey House in the Carpathians

Former MP says he expected news about the construction of the house.

People's Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the 8th convocation Mykhailo Havryliuk confirmed information published in a TK Media report that he owns a three-storey house in the village of Nyzhnii Berezov (Kosiv district, Ivano-Frankivsk region), with an area of 550 m2. Video and photographs of the construction of the house, located by a lake and a waterfall, were provided to TK Media by journalist Vasyl Krutchak.

According to Mykhailo Havryliuk, he had expected such news, as rumours that the house belonged to him had long circulated among villagers. The former MP said the plot belongs to his wife's family, and his wife, a parliamentarian's spouse, supports Havryliuk financially. Havryliuk himself has high hopes for the project and works on the construction site personally. The former MP also complained that the media portray him as “stupid”.

Mykhailo Havryliuk
People's Deputy of the 8th convocation

The media have often portrayed me as stupid in their stories, but today they have outdone themselves. Apparently I am building a three-storey house in the picturesque Carpathians, on a beautiful large plot by a waterfall, without having declared the funds with which I could have acquired and built all this. But whatever my surprise at today's sensation, I must confess that I have been waiting for this moment. In the village they have been saying for a long time that this deputy is building, that he pushed the green button for money, and it was only a matter of time before journalists became interested in such information. 
So, my dear ones, I want to tell you that I simply married well. My wife not only helps me gain knowledge, but also enriches me materially!On this wonderful plot with the “waterfall” there has always been a vegetable garden, which was tended by my wife's grandmother and grandfather, but doesn't it sound better that this is a former deputy, a hero of the square, who acquired it and concealed the purchase in his declaration? Of course it sounds better, more effective! It proves the criminality of the previous government. 
My wife's parents sacrificed her childhood to give her a better life. If they had known she would marry a deputy who in the future would build her a mansion, they would not have bent their backs working abroad! Yarina's father would not have spent ten long years in the Czech Republic, and Iryna's mother would NOT have been forced to join him later, leaving their daughter with her grandmother and grandfather. They would have lived happily and without separations in the hope that a rich uncle would come and help them and their child. But these facts also do not fit into the general picture of Havryliuk, so we simply do not notice them.
People often tell me not to comment on every article about me, because “dogs bark and the caravan moves on,” but I can't do that. I know that many people do not trust the media, and it is precisely for them that I want to explain. So, the house is being built. Not for the first year now, with our own efforts and the efforts of family, who also help physically. This is not Mezhhirya, this is a project in which we place great hopes. No, I am not ashamed, because all people want to work for themselves, and neither my wife's relatives nor I — are an exception. When you have worked for someone your whole life, you have the right to live for yourself too, I think so. Yes, I am helping my father-in-law. I put every spare penny into this project, and I spend every free minute on the construction site. No, I am not ashamed to return to construction after being a deputy; I am a professional in this field, that's first. Second, I too have to make a living somehow. I have a family and two children. If at the time I had taken advantage of the opportunities offered to me in the Verkhovna Rada, then believe me, I would not be building a house with my own hands in a Ukrainian village, but would have long been living somewhere in the Maldives, or would have continued to work for the government, not looking for a way to feed my family. To realize what we have planned, it will take a lot of time and money, and perhaps someone will again have to go abroad to earn money. Perhaps even me. And I am not ashamed of this either, because so many people in Ukraine live this way. I hope I have clarified this situation for you. We have all the documents confirming what is written, but still I suspect that this is not the first visit by journalists, not the first manipulation. Well, am I not used to this by now?

The full text of Mykhailo Havryliuk's response can be read on his Facebook page.

It is worth noting that Mykhailo Havryliuk's declaration, submitted in August 2019,  before he left office, shows income of UAH 381,000 from salary. According to Havryliuk's declaration , he has no other income or cash savings.

The former MP's wife declared UAH 6,880 in state assistance for the birth of a child. The declaration suggests that the MP's wife does not work and has no other income. 

The Havryliuk family also owns a 2008 model-year SsangYong car. Havryliuk said he bought it for UAH 98,000 (about $4,000 at the time of purchase).

The full investigation can be read via the link.