The Festival of Dark Forces Took Place on Khreshchatyk, 36, Without “Land,” But With a Scandal
On Thursday, October 31, Kyiv City Council members discussed the mythical resignation of Prokopiv, allocated 2.5 billion for the completion of abandoned projects by “Kyivmiskbud,” and decided to request an additional 2.2 billion from the government for the same purpose.
“Kashtan NEWS” shares the most notable moments from the first and last plenary session of October.
Sister Cities and Unsinkable Prokopiv
As is customary, the plenary session started late (almost three hours), prompting the deputies to simplify their lives by removing a significant portion of the planned agenda, including almost the entire land block. Consequently, the first item put forward for consideration was a request from the Kyiv City Council to sister cities, urging them to support Ukraine's victory plan.
However, even this seemingly innocent initiative of “all good against all bad” turned into the usual political battles. Volodymyr Prokopiv, Klitschko's deputy for self-governance and head of the “European Solidarity” faction, proposed amendments to the text of the address prepared by the “Servants of the People.”
1 The essence of the amendments, according to Prokopiv, was to stabilize the situation on the front line, develop domestic weapons production and military technologies, strengthen Ukrainian sanctions against the Russian Federation, transition the Ukrainian economy to military rails, ensure clear mobilization rules, and secure Ukraine's entry into NATO.
However, the head of the “European Solidarity” faction did not explain how these good and correct points relate to Kyiv's sister cities, leading to a certain cognitive dissonance in the hall. The situation was attempted to be salvaged by Secretary Volodymyr Bondarenko, who suggested that Prokopiv formalize the amendments as an annex with an address to the Verkhovna Rada. However, there were not enough votes for this option, and the proposal from the “Servants of the People” and “Voice” to implement their initiative as a separate document was rejected by “European Solidarity.” Tensions began to rise: Ksenia Semenova, a representative of the “Servant of the People” faction, asked the attending Vitali Klitschko if he deemed it ethical for his deputy, who Klitschko himself had promised to temporarily suspend due to a corruption scandal, to voice the amendments from “European Solidarity.”
“How normal is it that the amendments to the President's proposal for a peace plan are suggested by a person who has acquired new houses and cars during the military invasion? How normal is it that a person who advised the city to ‘live its life’ during the war is now saying we need to switch to military frameworks? Vitaliy Volodymyrovych, please answer whether your deputy Prokopiv has been suspended from exercising his powers, and please publish the relevant document on the Kyiv City Council's website,” Semenova addressed Klitschko.
However, instead of the mayor, Prokopiv himself took the floor, asserting that he was not guilty of anything.
“Of course, I saw that film (the plot from BIHUS.info, – ed.), in which I am accused of something unknown. But I am confident that I have not broken the law; I am open to any investigation. To prove this, the day after the release of that plot, I went to NABU and wrote a statement requesting an investigation. I hope that such an investigation by a competent authority will be swift and impartial. At the same time, I also appeal to the Kyiv City Mayor: we have a relevant department; I ask you to issue a protocol directive to that department to check my activities as deputy head of KCSA regarding the matters raised in the relevant plots,” he stated.
2 Meanwhile, Volodymyr Prokopiv did not mention either his temporary suspension, which Klitschko announced on October 22, nor his own Facebook post that day, in which he stated that he had submitted a resignation letter because he “is not holding on to the position.”
Notably, Klitschko, who spoke after Prokopiv, also did not give a direct answer to Semenova's question, instead praising his deputy.
“I consider Volodymyr Prokopiv's action correct, as he personally initiated the NABU check of the materials presented by journalists to dispel all speculations,” the mayor stated.
After this, it became clear that everything would remain the same with Prokopiv, and the session proceeded as usual. Despite the offended “European Solidarity” deciding to abstain from voting on the address to sister cities, the draft resolution garnered 61 votes, and the deputies moved on to the next issue.
The Black Hole of “Kyivmiskbud”
The next issue turned out to be extremely painful: from early morning, investors of “Kyivmiskbud” gathered in front of the KCSA building, unable to obtain the apartments they had paid for for several years. JSC “Kyivmiskbud,” which is 80 percent owned by the Kyiv community, has 24 unfinished projects in the capital, where approximately 40,000 families have purchased housing. All these people still remain without their own corner, as the management of “Kyivmiskbud” claims that the completion of their buildings is constantly hindered by either the coronavirus or the war.
3 Due to these factors, as well as reasons that JSC modestly calls subjective (at the end of 2023, the head of “Kyivmiskbud,” Ihor Kushnir, resigned after journalists discovered a 20 million euro villa owned by his wife on the French Riviera), the largest Kyiv developer has reduced its market reputation to zero, after which new investment inflows virtually ceased. Thus, there is currently no money for the construction of unfinished projects at “Kyivmiskbud,” and it is unlikely that there will be any without external intervention.
To rescue the situation, two draft resolutions were presented for the Kyiv City Council's consideration: one for the recapitalization of “Kyivmiskbud” from the city budget for 2.56 billion hryvnias and another for an address to the Cabinet of Ministers requesting funding of 2.28 billion for the projects of the company “Ukrbud” owned by Maksym Mykytas, which were transferred to “Kyivmiskbud” in 2019 and also remain unfinished.
In fact, there were no objections from the deputies regarding both addresses; however, some deputies inquired what guarantees exist that the funds received by “Kyivmiskbud” will be used specifically for the completion of the buildings that people have already paid for, rather than for something else. Additionally, investor representative Tetiana Smiyan spoke in the session hall, reminding the Kyiv City Council that the people gathered at the protest needed not charity but the realization of their legal right to ownership.
“This issue concerns over 40,000 families, a third of whom are servicemen who defended Kyiv in the first days, protected the region, and are now defending Ukraine's borders. They are asking in video messages to you: ‘My family is here, give us hope, give us housing. We are not coming for social housing; we have invested in our own housing,’” Smiyan said.
4 Ultimately, the Kyiv City Council approved both draft resolutions—with a protocol directive to the mayor to ensure the provision of a guarantee letter that these funds will be spent by “Kyivmiskbud” primarily on the construction of unfinished projects (“and not on new construction, as may happen,” as noted by the initiator of the directive, Liliya Pashynna).
We've Done Enough
The rest of the session (which, to be honest, was quite brief) was dedicated to culture, the “Defender of Kyiv” program, another loan from the EBRD, and the remainder of the land block. The land block, however, was completely rejected: four projects regarding the sale and permission for expert monetary valuation of land plots did not garner enough votes. Fortunately, the deputies supported an increase in funding for the “Defender of Kyiv” program, allocating an additional 300 million hryvnias.
5 However, funds for culture were reduced: this year, the target program “Capital Culture: 2022-2024” is planned to spend not 1.31 billion hryvnias, but 1.06 billion. The KCSA explains this by stating that the capital currently cannot hold mass events due to legislative restrictions of martial law. The Kyiv City Council also made a decision to address the government with a call to ensure decent pay for pedagogical and scientific-pedagogical workers (at the same time, the issue of increasing local allowances for Kyiv teachers was not considered).