The wife and 21-year-old student son of Volodymyr Poberezhny, head of the Lutsk branch of the Western Interregional Tax Service for work with large taxpayers, purchased property worth nearly 12 million hryvnia in just the last year. In total, the family became the owner of at least 13 real estate and other assets worth more than 20 million hryvnia — and this does not account for possible assets registered to third parties.
Who is Poberezhny and where did the criminal proceedings come from
Poberezhny's name appeared in the public sphere back in June 2023. At that time, detectives from the DBR conducted searches at the Volyn regional tax office and the "Lutsk" customs checkpoint as part of an investigation into a VAT evasion scheme that investigators linked to Lutsk businessman Mikhail Smolka.
According to the investigation, Smolka organized a network of fictitious non-commodity transactions — companies under his control allegedly provided cargo transportation services and supplied spare parts to enterprises, but no actual goods existed. This allowed clients to illegally form a VAT tax credit and evade taxes.
"Investigators believe that Smolka was conducting non-commodity transactions under the nose of the tax authority, and in exchange for silence, the tax office manager Lyseyuk received monetary benefits from the businessman through his intermediaries"
BlackBOX OSINT, investigation into the Volyn tax scheme
According to the investigation, Poberezhny, then head of the Lutsk branch of business administration, figured as one of two probable intermediaries between businessman Smolka and the then-head of the Volyn tax service Serhiy Lyseyuk. According to the case materials, the second probable intermediary was Taras Tsybulin, head of the internal security department.
What journalists found: 13 objects, a student, and an "inappropriate" year
The investigation by Slidstvo.Info is based on data from state registries. Journalists documented that the tax official's family acquired at least 13 real estate and other assets. The most telling period is the last year: it was during this time that Poberezhny's wife and their 21-year-old student son purchased assets worth nearly 12 million hryvnia.
- Total declared value of discovered assets — more than 20 million hryvnia
- The most active purchasing period coincides with the time when Poberezhny figures in the criminal proceedings
- Part of the assets are registered to a minor son and wife — typical practice for concealing assets
Important: Assets registered to relatives are not in themselves evidence of a crime. The investigation must establish whether there is a connection between Poberezhny's official position and the source of funds for purchases.
Context: a scheme that covered several regions
The Lyseyuk–Tsybulin–Smolka group, according to BlackBOX OSINT investigators, operated even in the Rivne region, where in 2016 it controlled fictitious VAT trading and customs clearance of cars at undervalued prices. After Lyseyuk was transferred to Volyn, the scheme moved with him.
With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, according to materials from the same investigators, the group continued importing cars from Europe — now under the guise of humanitarian aid for the Armed Forces. In April 2022, SBU detectives discovered at least 64 vehicles that were supposed to go to the front but ended up in Volyn. Smolka even registered his own volunteer battalion TRO "Strumivka" for this purpose.
Since then, Serhiy Lyseyuk has been transferred to a position as acting deputy head of the tax service in Kyiv. According to public data, the criminal proceedings continue.
What Poberezhny himself says
At the time of publication, Slidstvo.Info did not receive a detailed comment from Poberezhny regarding the source of funds for the property purchases. No official suspicion has been informed to him in the criminal sense — he figures in the proceedings as a person under investigation.
Suspicion ≠ guilt. All named individuals are presumed innocent until a verdict becomes final.
The key question that the investigation must resolve: if the DBR conducted searches two years ago and named Poberezhny as a probable intermediary, why is the criminal proceeding still not completed — and will this change following Slidstvo.Info's investigation, which has documented the family's assets?
