City officials continue to astonish Kyiv residents with their actions
The middle of autumn has proven to be quite productive for various scandals—both big and small—that have stirred the capital's community and caught the attention of journalists. KASHTAN NEWS decided to remind everyone of the most high-profile controversies of October.
“Dear friends”
Without a doubt, at the top of this conditional “honor roll” stands the Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration, Volodymyr Prokopiv. Investigative journalists from Bihus.Info. revealed a story about how two of his friends acquired at least six properties that previously belonged to the city through private companies. These individuals are Prokopiv's fellow countrymen from Prykarpattia—Oleksandr Poshtaryuk and Andrii Stetsenko.
9 Coincidentally, before they started acquiring the now former municipal property, they were involved in helping Prokopiv's family obtain elite housing at a low cost.
Given these circumstances, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko did not overlook the situation and appealed to law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies to investigate the facts presented by the journalists. During the investigation, he suspended Prokopiv from his duties as Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration concerning self-government powers.
Instead of a monument—Residential Complex
Every month brings new “architectural” scandals to the capital. For instance, in Podil, at 13b Yaroslavska Street, a developer is preparing a site for the construction of a residential complex on the site of a historical building that was demolished last year. Heavy machinery has already arrived at the location. Municipal workers are clearing the area designated for the construction of the residential complex “Yaroslavskyi.”
Interestingly, the wooden manor that was bulldozed in July 2023, built in 1811, was one of the oldest buildings in Podil.
The demolition of a “wall”
In another scandal, city utility workers made headlines. In the Shevchenkivskyi district of the capital, during the renovation of a park at the corner of Bulvarno-Kudriavska Street and Chekhovskyi Lane, they demolished a brick retaining wall that was erected over a hundred years ago.
0 The historical stamps on the yellow Kyiv bricks trace their origins to the brick factory of L.D. Herchikov, which was opened in 1910. Activists, along with local residents, collected 1,263 bricks, including those with the corresponding author’s markings. In response, “Kyivzelenbud” promised to use these bricks for cladding a new retaining wall.
Destruction of the Bread Shop Building
Meanwhile, in the center of Kyiv, at 27 Yaroslaviv Val Street, demolition work has resumed at the so-called Bread Shop Building, constructed in 1863. Specifically, the developer has already completely dismantled the internal ceilings.
This building has the status of a local architectural monument, as confirmed by a plaque on its facade. In 2021, a banner appeared on the wall of the building informing about emergency restoration works. However, the actions of the workers resemble preparations for demolition rather than restoration...
1 History is being squeezed out...
Meanwhile, in Podil, new construction is set to begin in close proximity to a 140-year-old historical monument. The land commission of the Kyiv City State Administration has allocated a plot for development within the protective zone of the monument—the T. Tolubeyev House, built in 1882, located at 42 Vyrkhnii Val Street.
This building received the status of an architectural monument based on an order from the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine in 2014, and by 2018, the first plans for construction nearby had emerged.
Before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, protests were held near the building by local residents, as construction close to the historical structure threatens its preservation and contradicts the Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage.
2 …and are being burned out
At 66-B Dmytrivska Street, a historical two-story building from the 1920s (the so-called Rybalychenko Manor), which previously housed a kindergarten, was on fire. This is the second fire at the site. The first occurred in the autumn of 2018. The preliminary cause of ignition is suspected arson.
Notably, in 2020, the Kyiv City Council transferred the plot with the building in the city center for an investment competition. The winner was supposed to demolish the historical building and construct a new one, placing a preschool institution there.
Municipal garbage
Those who are supposed to maintain cleanliness in the city are the very ones polluting it. The Economic Court of Kyiv has ordered the KP “Road Maintenance Administration for the Repair and Maintenance of Roads and Structures in the Solomianskyi District of Kyiv” to eliminate an unauthorized landfill created by the municipal workers in the “Pronya Balka” park.
3 It turned out that the municipal workers from the Road Maintenance Administration had illegally dumped waste hazardous to human health and the environment in the park: they brought construction debris, road spikes, concrete blocks, etc., leading to the contamination of the area.
It is noteworthy that the relevant regulatory authorities indicated the necessity of voluntary measures to eliminate the unauthorized landfill, but there was no response from those responsible.
“Salty” affair
Meanwhile, the KP “Road Maintenance Administration for the Repair and Maintenance of Roads and Structures in the Sviatoshynskyi District of Kyiv” also found itself at the center of a scandal. It turned out that the enterprise “made a profit” of 11 million hryvnias on the purchase of road salt. Although the documents indicated that the supplied salt was of the highest quality, experts established that it was actually second-class salt that lacked the necessary quality certificates.
Law enforcement agencies are currently investigating the “salty” affair.
Profited from the subway
Once again, the capital's subway has found itself at the center of scandals. In particular, the court has ordered the contractor to return nearly 140 million hryvnias that were used improperly during the construction of the subway line towards Vynohradar.
It was established that a commercial entity unlawfully placed funds received from the capital's budget for the construction of the subway from the “Syrets” station to the Vynohradar residential area in bank deposit accounts. Thus, it earned interest amounting to over 139 million hryvnias.
4 “Golden” carriages
In another case, the Municipal Enterprise “Kyiv Metro” unjustifiably overpaid nearly 160 million hryvnias for the transportation of 60 carriages received as a gift from Poland. The actual market cost of such transportation does not exceed 30 million hryvnias.
Specialists from the State Audit Office of Ukraine also uncovered another interesting fact in this transaction. It turns out that the winning enterprise, which delivered the carriages to Kyiv, debuted in the field of transport and freight forwarding services. During 2022-2023, it had not provided similar services to any other market participants—transporting carriages from Poland to Kyiv under contracts with “Kyiv Metro” is its only experience in this field.
The investigation materials have been sent to law enforcement for appropriate action.
Half a billion—on trams
Not far from the scandals of this month is “Kyivpastrans.” It has been revealed that the Municipal Enterprise plans to purchase five low-floor three-section self-propelled tram cars measuring between 25.5 and 28 meters through an auction. The budget for this purchase from the city budget amounts to 493 million 71 thousand 381 hryvnias.
5 At the same time, as noted by the co-founder of the Public Organization “Passengers of Kyiv,” Oleksandr Hrechko, the situation with trams in Kyiv has the same problems as with wheeled transport: we buy new rolling stock, but do not invest in infrastructure development. As a result, the lifespan and quality of service of this transport are rapidly decreasing.
According to him, the city needs to radically rethink its approach to trams and start investing money in replacing worn-out tram tracks, reducing noise, modernizing switch systems, and constructing new boarding platforms.
“Skin” interest
At noon on October 19, about three hundred residents of the Lisovyi Massif took to the streets of the capital to protest, demanding that the city authorities restore hot water supply to their homes, which had been absent since August. The reason for this was the connection to the heating and water supply networks of