Ukraine’s State Customs Service names new heads of 14 regional customs offices following the open competition held in April to recruit the new management.
The list of open competition winners cites Illya Nizhnykov who is set to become a head of Lviv regional customs office with a salary amounting to 18 thousand hryvnas along with extra payments like long-service pay and other.
Here is what we know about Illya Nizhnykov
A 39-years old Kyiv native currently heads Customs Violations Control Department at State’s Customs Service.
According to Nizhnykov’s assets declaration, he owns a small (120 sq.m.) land plot in Druznya village near Kyiv, co-owns a land plot of 344 sq.m. in Crimean resort Yalta. There is another property in Crimea – a house in Slovyanske near Krasnoperekopsk his family owns.
Nizhnykov also declared a 158 sq.m. cottage house with a 60 sq.m. land lot in Shpytky village near Kyiv – he co-owns with his wife Maryna Bilonozhenko.
He also boasts several apartments in Kyiv – and again they are co-owned by his family members. His wife also listed few pieces of jewelry and two icons.
The family has a car park of 3 cars – BMW 528i and two BMW X5 – the former is listed as owned by his brother. One of the BMW X5 cars is registered in the name of Svitlana Bilonozhenko, his wife relation. In 2020 Maryna Bilonozhenko bought a newer BMW X5 that cost her 938 thousand hryvnas.
In 2019, Illya Niznhykov worked in the SBU Kyiv office. then there was a short tenure at State Bureau of Investigations where headed Chief Investigation Directorate. At present, he is a director of Customs Violations Deparment at State Customs Office.
In 2019, he declared yearly salary of 305 thousand hryvnas working at the SBU.
In 2020, his earnings amounted to 404 thousand hryvnas. His 2019-2020 assets declarations listed no salaries at State Bureau of Investigations and Customs Office.
His wife comes from the family of professor Bilonozhenko from Health Care University named after Shupyk. She works as a judge in Cherkasy District Administrative Court, where she hears administrative cases and appeals. This job brought her 676 thousand hryvnas in salary in 2019 and 890 thousand hryvnas in 2020.
Maryna Bilonozhenko (the third person from the right)
In his 2020 asset declaration Nizhnykov filed Maryna Bilonozhenko as his common-law wife while the earlier records listed her as his official spouse.
Nizhnykov and Bilonozhenko 2020 asset declaration records have almost the identical information .
Family assets
In 2019, Nizhnykov family recorded $8,000 and $4,000 in cash and about 200 thousand hryvnas in bank accounts.
In 2020, Niznykov listed $ 8,000 in cash while his wife did a bit better – $14,000. They claimed about 54 thousand hryvnas in bank savings.
Illya Niznykov’s relations
His father Mykhaylo Nizhnykov is an academic of Ukraine’s Academy of Sciences and former deputy head at Chief Organizational Department of the Office of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine – Head of the Organizational Support Department for Plenary Sessions of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Mykhaylo Nizhnykov is known as an advisor of Dmytro Razumkov, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. His asset declaration also records the shared property in Crimea.
According to his 2020 asset declaration, Mykhaylo Niznhykov earned 675 thousand hryvnas as a salary in the Ukraine’s parliament, 30,5 thousand hryvnas at his part-time job in National Aviation University, and got 154 thousand hryvnas’ pension.
He listed 200 thousand hryvnas in savings, a Hyundai Tuscon car, and a big land 7,8 hectares land lot in Crimea in Slovyanske village.
It is worth mentioning that in 2020 Illya Nizhnykov was reportedly was short-listed for a position of a deputy head at the department set up to investigate crimes during the 2013-2014 events.
Now, recruited for a position of Lviv Customs Office head, Nizhnykov is waiting for an official announcement.
Although State Customs Office named him as a winning candidate for a post of Lviv Customs Office Head.