Ukraine to investigate luckiest politician

A member of the Ukrainian parliament will be investigated after declaring that he won the national lottery three times in the past year.

Opposition leader Oleg Lyashko will be investigated by the anti-corruption agency in Ukraine after declaring that he won US$21,335 from three different national lottery draws in his income statement. The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAZK) will probe Lyashko’s declaration at the recently introduced online database for such procedures.

Online declarations were introduced last year to tackle corruption and might prove their worth as “in the event violations are detected, the national agency will take measures in accordance with the current legislation,” the NAZK stated.

Lyashko’s income statement contradicted his “representative of the common man” profile as he declared having household cash worth US$1 million, whilst average monthly salary in Ukraine is US$267. He later updated his statement with the reported lottery wins and generated controversy in among politicians and the public, ultimately leading to the NAZK investigation.

“Information on lottery winners and on the personal data of specific players is confidential information in accordance with current legislation and cannot be disclosed without the agreement of the players,” the national lottery said in a statement.