Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk

Biography

Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk is a Member of the Verkhovna Rada of the 9th convocation. In 2019, she was elected to parliament representing the “Servant of the People” party (District No. 96, Kyiv region) and became Deputy Chair of the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy.

Prior to becoming an MP, Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk worked as a journalist for the “1+1” TV channel, which was ultimately owned by oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi. In the Verkhovna Rada, she was part of the “Kolomoiskyi group”—a faction of MPs who defended the oligarch’s interests. Her office was located in premises linked to Kolomoiskyi’s business centre. Alongside her colleague Dubinskyi, who headed the party branch in the Kyiv region, she actively blocked the adoption of the “anti-Kolomoiskyi” bill #2571-d by submitting over 1,600 amendments.

Such amendment spam is intended to block or slow down the consideration of legislative initiatives. Media reports link her to the “Millennium” business centre, which is owned by a Kolomoiskyi-affiliated structure.

During the pandemic, she described the COVID-19 virus as a “marketing ploy” to sell more masks and thanked Andriy Portnov for his contribution to “restoring justice.” She opposed the recognition of ORDLO as a subject within the Advisory Board that was to be established under the Trilateral Contact Group.

Timeline of Key Events

2026

Voted in the first reading for the controversial draft Civil Code (15150) submitted by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk. The 803-page draft, which the Ministry of Justice had not managed to review within three weeks of registration, was fast-tracked through parliament. The legislative initiative contained provisions allowing for the carve-up of state and municipal property—forests, coastlines, and subsoil resources. Additionally, the project contained risks to freedom of speech. Following the parliamentary vote, street protests broke out in several regions. A petition demanding a veto garnered over 25,000 signatures on the first day of registration. Judges of the Supreme Court also expressed substantial objections. The draft Civil Code, which had not undergone proper discussion, effectively destroyed judicial practice developed over 20 years.

2025

The MP’s voting card was absent from the slot during the vote on liquidating the independence of anti-corruption bodies, the NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Draft #12414), but she supported the proposal to sign this legislative initiative without delay. As a result of this vote, protests began near Bankova Street that same day, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law. However, at the end of July, following public and international pressure, parliament—on the President’s initiative—voted for project #13533, which restored the powers of the anti-corruption bodies.

Voted for Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk’s controversial bill to abolish the Commercial Code of Ukraine (#6013), which defined general principles of business-state interaction. The law poses risks to national security and was opposed by the “Holka” civic initiative, “Ecology. Law. Person,” the “Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group,” and the Association of Ukrainian Cities.

During the government takeover in Irpin, when the team of former mayor Volodymyr Karpliuk was removing the head elected by the community, Oleksandr Markushyn, who had been accused of illegal border crossing, from office, the MP offered to stand surety for Markushyn.

2024

Initiated the adopted bill on strengthening the regulatory functions of the National Bank, aimed at combating the use of bank cards in illegal schemes (#11043).

2023

Voted for the bill “On the Legalisation of Medical Cannabis,” which allowed the production of medical cannabis in Ukraine for the rehabilitation of wounded military personnel, including for the treatment of PTSD. The adoption of the law was advocated by the “Patients of Ukraine” organisation.

Also in 2023, with Smahliuk’s participation, the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy deemed the performance of the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB) leadership unsatisfactory. MPs instructed the government to prepare legislative changes regarding: holding a repeated competition with the participation of international experts for top management positions at the BEB, and re-attestation of all employees except administrative staff.

In the same year, the Temporary Investigative Commission (TIC) investigating possible legislative violations by BEB officials, in which Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk served as Deputy Chair, published a preliminary report. The TIC noted that competitions for BEB positions were held with significant violations, reports submitted by the BEB on activity results did not correspond to reality and contained inflated indicators, and the Bureau has extremely low pre-trial investigation rates and generally operates inefficiently.

2022

Voted for the urban planning “reform” bill (#5655), which was criticised by a number of civic organisations, including CHESNO, DEJURE Foundation, the Association of Ukrainian Cities, the Architectural Chamber of the NSAU, the National Union of Architects of Ukraine, and Dzerkalo Tyzhnia. The European Parliament and European Commission also expressed reservations, and Chatham House noted risks of construction cartels arising from the law.

In the same year, Olha Smahliuk became Deputy Chair of the TIC investigating possible legislative violations by BEB officials.

She began using a new car: a 2018 Jaguar. The market price on the secondary market is at least $50,000. The car is registered to the MP’s brother and was purchased by him in 2021. However, since the start of the full-scale war, it has been used by Vasylevska-Smahliuk herself, as reported by Bihus.info.

2020

Submitted about 1,500 amendments to the bill prohibiting the return of PrivatBank to Ihor Kolomoiskyi (#2571-d).

In the same year, she called the COVID-19 virus “a marketing ploy to sell more medical masks” and stated that a portion of the faction shared this opinion. Two years later, she would support an initiative allowing MPs with such a diagnosis to join sessions remotely.

The MP thanked Andriy Portnov, former Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration under the traitor Yanukovych, for his “contribution to restoring justice.”

Became one of the “Servant of the People” MPs who signed an appeal regarding the unacceptability of creating an Advisory Board within the Trilateral Contact Group that would include the so-called ORDLO as a subject.

2019

Became an MP from “Servant of the People” and was appointed Deputy Chair of the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy. Before her election, she worked for over 8 years at Ihor Kolomoiskyi’s “1+1” channel, authoring many journalistic investigations.

In the same year, she headed a TIC to investigate the circumstances of the change of ownership of the TV channels “112 Ukraine,” “NewsOne,” and “ZIK.” The commission aimed to prevent the monopolisation of the broadcasting market, limit the influence of the Russian Federation on the information space, and counter threats to national security. The TIC planned to establish the ultimate beneficiaries of the channels, the individuals influencing editorial policy, and the circumstances and sources of funds used to purchase the channels. However, the Verkhovna Rada did not approve the TIC’s report.

Also in 2019, she stated: “it seems to me that there is such strong freedom of speech in our country that it is time to dampen it a little.” The statement was made in response to remarks by “European Solidarity” MPs Sofia Fedyna and Marusia Zvirobii, regarding which the Prosecutor General’s Office saw signs of threats to the life of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and opened a criminal case. Smahliuk later stated that her words were taken out of context.

During the vote on permitting the arrest of MP Dubnevych, Vasylevska-Smahliuk did not vote, according to Ukrainska Pravda, citing former MP Serhiy Leshchenko.

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