How much does Volodymyr Zelensky earn? Salary and assets of the Ukrainian president

How much does Volodymyr Zelensky earn? This is a question that many will have asked themselves since the war broke out, with the president of Ukraine becoming one of the most famous and influential political leaders in the world.
In recent months, the financial past of the tenant of the Mariyinsky Palace has been investigated several times but with often discrepant results, between rumors of a billion-dollar fortune and more modest estimates.
The earnings of Volodymr Zelensky who can also boast a past as an actor, would still be very respectable even if very far from the figures that revolve around his great enemy Vladimir Putin and his exorbitant assets.
Let's see what salary Zelensky received as president of Ukraine, what is in his latest available tax return and how much his assets would amount to.
read also Who is Volodymyr Zelensky? Lights and shadows of the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky: the tax returns According to Ukrainian laws, the president's mandate lasts 5 years with a maximum of 2 renewals: given the war, however, presidential elections will not be held in 2024 in Ukraine.
From the tax return for 2019, the income of Volodymr Zelensky and his family members amounted to approximately 860 thousand euros.
These figures also weighed on over 100 thousand euros in taxes, all regularly paid according to what emerged from the investigations carried out at the time on the president's family.
Also in the same report it was indicated that, since May 2019, Zelensky was no longer engaged in direct entrepreneurial activities and that, therefore, he would have relied on the salary from the Department of State Affairs as his main source of support.
The only recorded extra income is the sale of an apartment in the city of Kiev that belonged to his wife Olena Zelenska.
The proceeds from the real estate operation would have been around 150 thousand euros.
The Ukrainian government website recently announced that in 2021 Zelensky's income amounted to $286,168, a decrease compared to 2020.
In 2022, his income was further reduced by two thirds.
A decrease in income due to the temporary termination of some rental contracts, also reducing his family's residual funds.
President Zelensky, however, still has some trademarks – 22 in total – registered before his entry into politics.
Volodymr Zelensky's salary From what we know, however, the salary of a politician, in a country like Ukraine, is not at all comparable to the earnings that we are used to associating with our ruling class.
President Zelensky would therefore receive 10,554.00 euros per year.
For comparison we can say that a parliamentarian in your country earns around 7680 euros a year.
However, we must underline that these values must naturally be compared to the cost of living in the Eastern European country which, as an approximation, has an average monthly wage of around 170 euros.
Assets On a monetary level, one could almost say that Zelensky was much luckier as a comedian than as a politician.
In 2017 he had in fact declared 7 million hryvnia (207,481 euros) while his wife reached 800 thousand (23,712 euros).
However, the perception of an economic downsizing had collapsed in the face of the Pandora Papers scandal.
This term refers to the largest investigation in the history of investigative journalism on the financial front.
In fact, starting from October 3, 2021, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has published millions of documents capable of revealing the reality of the bank accounts of the richest and most influential people in the world.
Among these at the time there also seemed to be the Ukrainian leader but, following investigations conducted by Forbes, the fact seems to have been denied.
Unlike his predecessor Petro Poroshenko, Zelensky has never been a billionaire and according to Forbes his assets amount to around 20 million dollars.
Russian propaganda instead attributed to him up to five luxury yachts and three private jets as well as 60 million euros in shares in companies such as Saudi Aramco, Meta and Tesla.
The most realistic data, however, show 434 thousand dollars in his name held mainly in the Privatbank in Latvia and a four million villa in Forte dei Marmi.
The largest income would be his 25% share in Kvartal 95, a group of companies that produce humorous shows including the series Servant of the People, the work that made him famous and which consecrated him as the winner of the elections national in 2019.
However, as Forbes itself ironically joked, at the moment there are issues surrounding the figure of Zelensky that are perhaps far more crucial than those relating to his personal accounts.
read also Olena Zelenska: who is and where is Zelensky's wife