Apartments for the price of a smartphone: the brother of the DBR director bought 143 properties from a developer for next to nothing

On the morning of 17 July 2026, eight Ukrainian media outlets simultaneously published an investigation by Slidstvo.Info and the Anti-Corruption Centre about 143 real estate objects that belonged or belong to the brother of the director of the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR), Oleksiy Sukhachov – businessman Oleksandr Sukhachov. The piece was released as part of the “Initiative 143”, created after a court, even before publication, banned the authors from disseminating part of the collected information. The action included Ukrainska Pravda, Suspilne, Skhemy, hromadske, Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, NV, Bihus.Info and Telebachennia Toronto.

Journalists Maksym Savchuk and Alina Stryzhak found that between 2018 and 2020 Oleksandr Sukhachov acquired 143 apartments and office spaces in two residential complexes in Kharkiv. Both addresses were linked to the developer Stroy City on real estate websites.

A detailed extract from the State Register of Property Rights for the objects registered to Oleksandr Sukhachov consisted of 155 pages. According to the register, in 2018 he became the owner of approximately 40% of the units in the multi-apartment building at Yulia Chyhyrina Street, 13, where the residential complex IT-Park Manufactura is located.

In 2019, the average market price per square meter from the developer in that complex was indicated at nearly USD 800. At such rates, buying dozens of apartments would have cost millions of dollars. However, documents obtained by the investigators show that the properties were sold to Oleksandr Sukhachov at book value, which was many times lower than the market price.

Under two contracts signed on 9 July 2018, Oleksandr Sukhachov purchased immediately 30 apartments in IT-Park Manufactura. The price of a single unit ranged from UAH 24,600 to UAH 48,900, or from USD 932 to USD 1,856 at the then exchange rate.

In total for these 30 apartments, the brother of the then deputy head of a department of the General Prosecutor’s Office, Oleksiy Sukhachov, paid slightly more than UAH 1 million, which at the time amounted to approximately USD 39,300.

Two days later Oleksandr Sukhachov bought a further 28 apartments, spending less than USD 33,000. The cheapest apartment cost UAH 26,500, and the most expensive UAH 38,700. Thus, 58 apartments cost him roughly USD 72,000.

The seller of the properties was LLC “Parkovyi-2”. After journalist Alina Stryzhak sent the company a request with questions about the deals, the developer applied to the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv. The claim was filed on 3 July 2026, and on 6 July Judge Serhiy Vovk prohibited the journalist, Slidstvo.Info and the Anti-Corruption Centre from publishing information about the property, transactions and investments of Oleksandr Sukhachov.

On 13 July 2026 LLC “Parkovyi-2” filed a full lawsuit against the journalists. The company insisted that information about the businessman’s financial transactions should not be disclosed.

In Slidstvo.Info and the Anti-Corruption Centre the Pecherskyi court’s decision was called a dangerous precedent, a direct restriction of freedom of speech and an attempt to stop the publication of information of public interest. The ban was issued before the substantive hearing of the lawsuit and even before the investigation appeared in the public domain.

At the time the apartments were purchased in 2018, LLC “Parkovyi-2” belonged to lawyer Ivan Kozikov. Journalists now link the company to Stroy City, which built IT-Park Manufactura and the complex on Heroes Avenue in Kharkiv, where Oleksandr Sukhachov also acquired properties.

Investigators traced the connection between the companies through Liudmyla Riabykh – the sister of the wife of the former owner of Stroy City, businessman Yehor Maslennikov. According to journalists, Oleksandr Sukhachov also purchased another 11 apartments from Yehor Maslennikov, again at prices described as nominal.

Yehor Maslennikov earlier drew journalists’ attention over an expensive Rolls-Royce that was spotted in December 2024 in Monte Carlo. He later transferred his old construction business to his wife’s sister and opened a new business in Dubai.

At the same time, the investigators say the link between Oleksandr Sukhachov and the developer may not have been limited to purchasing apartments. In 2021 the National Police investigated possible illegal construction by Stroy City following a report from the SBU.

During searches in the company’s offices, law enforcement officers found company seals that belonged or previously belonged to Oleksandr Sukhachov, as well as financial documents of a company he owned. Journalists believe this may indicate that the brother of the DBR director could have been connected to the developer’s activities not only as a buyer but also as an investor. Oleksandr Sukhachov did not respond to phone calls or inquiries from the authors of the piece.

Also in 2021, the police and the prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case regarding unauthorized construction by Stroy City in Kharkiv. The investigation concerned, in particular, the buildings in which Oleksandr Sukhachov acquired property.

In December 2022 the deputy prosecutor general transferred this case to the Main Investigation Department of the DBR. Thus, the bureau for a time investigated the activities of the company that, according to journalists, may have been linked to the brother of the head of the DBR himself. While the case was at the bureau, no one was formally charged.

In August 2025 the proceedings were again transferred to the police – this time to Chernihiv region, where they were closed. However, after the individuals mentioned in the journalistic material received information requests, the criminal case was reopened.

As of 17 July 2026, Oleksandr Sukhachov had already ceased to own almost all of the 143 apartments and offices mentioned in the investigation.

The State Bureau of Investigation responded to journalists’ requests saying the agency and its director have no information about Oleksandr Sukhachov’s participation in the developer’s business.

Regarding the investigation of the developer’s activities, the DBR noted that the bureau did not make a decision to close the criminal proceedings. They also emphasized that determining which authority’s investigators should conduct the pre-trial investigation falls within the competence of the prosecutor’s office.

Previously we wrote:

• Dousing of a camera operator and a driver with green paint: police opened a case after the attack on Ukrainska Pravda journalists
• 143 objects of the DBR director’s brother: the Pecherskyi court blocked journalists’ anti-corruption investigation
• While the investigation continues: suspected officials of Mykolaiv region declare millions and elite cars
• Two apartments in Odesa and a car worth a million: the declaration of a VLK member from Mykolaiv raises questions
• DBR suspects the former head of the SBU in Mykolaiv region of UAH 22.6 million illegal enrichment: apartments in Kyiv through a mother-in-law