Ukrainian Officials Increasingly Embrace Cryptocurrencies, Says NACP

The head of the NACP, Viktor Pavlushchik, highlighted the growing popularity of digital assets among Ukrainian officials in an interview with Glavcom and discussed methods for tracking crypto assets.

“Each year, the amount of funds declared in cryptocurrencies increases. They are used by both the general population and public officials. A few years ago, no one knew about them, but now they are as common a form of savings as cash or bank accounts. Cryptocurrencies are tracked through blockchain tools,” he stated.

According to the NACP head, the agency has also recorded violations in the use of digital assets. For instance, the deputy head of the regional service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Mykolaiv region declared cryptocurrency worth 100 million UAH but could not prove its existence.

“I have personally monitored declarations since the registry was first created. I submitted them myself when I was a detective at the NABU, and I remember what it was like: searching for loopholes at night to access the registry and not lose data. Now we have a completely different situation: the declaration registry has not been disabled for a second, especially during my time at the NACP,” Pavlushchik noted.

In January, the candidate for the head of the NACP, Kateryna Kaplyuk, declared 31 crypto assets with a total value of 167,601 UAH at the time of purchase. Her portfolio includes ETH, SOL, USDT, SHIB, and other cryptocurrencies.

In the same month, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitaliy Kim, declared 0.71 BTC (approximately $30,000).

As reported in 2022, digital assets were mentioned in 1,428 declarations by Ukrainian officials, double the 2021 figure of 788. The top three most popular coins were BTC, ETH, and USDT.