The lawyer of Kherson Regional Council deputy Volodymyr Khvostov attempted in the appellate court to obtain the recusal of the prosecutor in the case about hiding money in his declaration.
This is stated in the court ruling published in the Unified Register of Court Decisions.
At the court hearing, defender Dmytro Loshakov filed a motion for the recusal of prosecutor Ihor Shchur on the grounds that on December 4, 2025, the MOST publication published certain information regarding Volodymyr Khvostov’s business trips, “which are not publicly accessible, and therefore there are sufficient grounds to believe that they were disclosed by prosecutor Shchur”.
The lawyer believed that the further disclosure of case circumstances indicates an attempt by the prosecutor to influence the court through public opinion in order to achieve the result desired by the prosecutor, which also indicates the prosecutor’s bias.
This concerns the news in which we reported on the details of the deputy’s case and indeed it contains information about Khvostov’s business trips.
We wrote about Khvostov’s business trips, by means of which Volodymyr Khvostov could have tried to delay the case to avoid responsibility. The article referred to trips in October and November–December. We wrote that Khvostov issued orders sending himself on business trips to Poland, Germany and Austria.
Obviously, we did not obtain this information from the prosecutor, whom none of the editorial staff know, but from… the public Unified Register of Court Decisions.
Information about the trips is contained in the ruling of the Kherson City Court dated December 2.
The court denied the lawyer’s motion, since the Code of Administrative Offences (КУпАП) does not contain a provision that provides for the concept of «recusal of a prosecutor» and the procedure for considering motions for recusal (self-recusal).
The ruling entered into legal force from the moment of its pronouncement and is not subject to appeal in cassation.
Recall that at the end of December 2025, the Kherson City Court issued a decision in the case of Kherson Regional Council deputy Volodymyr Khvostov, who concealed information about his funds in the 2022 declaration.
The court found that Khvostov did not indicate in the declaration a bank account where more than 28 thousand euros were held at the end of 2022. He also underreported the balances in accounts at two other banks. In total, the amount of hidden money amounted to UAH 1.33 million.
During the court session at which Khvostov appeared via video, he did not admit his guilt and claimed that his declaration is a huge 200-page document that he could not have filled out himself due to its complexity and the large number of business assets, so, according to him, his accountant, financial director and lawyer handled the paperwork.
The deputy assured the court that his trusted person was aware of all the funds he had, and that the failure to declare was a technical mistake.
His defender also tried to persuade the court that it is possible to simply make a mistake in the declaration and that no one intended to deceive the state. In addition, he argued that the declaration system is too complicated for entrepreneurs and is more suitable for ordinary officials who do not have so many accounts and companies.
However, the judge did not accept these arguments. She explained that the official who signs the declaration is solely responsible for its truthfulness. The use of lawyers’ assistance does not relieve the deputy of the obligation to personally check every figure.
The court decided that the deputy treated his duties negligently, which by law is considered an offense.
As a result, the court imposed a penalty on the deputy in the form of a UAH 17,000 fine. He must also pay a court fee of UAH 605.