The catch by NABU and SAP this time turned out to be richer than ever
The two-day saga of searches at the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) concluded with a powerful finale: on February 7, the High Anti-Corruption Court imprisoned a group of Kyiv deputies and officials, including Klitschko's deputy, Petro Olenych, and the head of the land commission of the Kyiv City Council, “UDAR” member Mykhailo Terentyev.
Kashtan NEWS reports that information is currently available about the operation "Clean City" and whether the suspects have a chance to regain their freedom.
7 The Big Cleanup
The first reports about the joint operation of NABU and SAP “Clean City” appeared on the morning of February 6. Both law enforcement agencies stated that the goal of the operation was "to expose a criminal organization involved in land corruption in the Kyiv City Council and KCSA."
Throughout the day, more details began to emerge. “Economic Truth”, referencing a source in NABU, reported searches at Denys Komarnytskyi, co-chair of the “Leonid Chernovetskyi Block” faction in the Kyiv City Council from 2008-2010, who was referred to as the “curator” of the construction and housing and communal services sector in the capital.
8 Later, SAP and NABU informed that the individuals involved in the case include a former city council deputy (the organizer of the criminal scheme), the deputy head of KCSA, two current city council deputies – the head and a member of the land commission, the first deputy and deputy director of municipal enterprises, and four other individuals.
9 The names of the suspects were not officially disclosed, but it soon became clear that those "under fire" included the deputy head of KCSA for self-governing powers in the area of digitalization Petro Olenych, the head of the Kyiv City Council's permanent commission on architecture, urban planning, and land relations, member of the “UDAR” faction Mykhailo Terentyev, and a member of the same commission, city council deputy from “Batkivshchyna” Olena Marchenko.
According to media reports, they were arrested alongside the deputy director of KP “Kyivblagoustriy” Oleksii Mushta and the first deputy director of KP “Spetszhytlofond” Yurii Leonov.
How land was misappropriated: the investigation's version
According to law enforcement, the organization operated using the so-called “toilet scheme”.
“The scheme involved searching for promising land plots and registering ownership rights to structures on those plots that never existed. Subsequently, applications were submitted to the city council for granting them ownership rights to the land plots for servicing these structures, which allowed them to avoid auctions. The deputies of the KMC and officials of KCSA, some of whom were part of the criminal organization, while others were under its influence, ensured the adoption of decisions granting the relevant land rights, for which they received unlawful benefits in the form of money and real estate,” NABU reported.
Thus, the “needed” people received land without issues, while the “unneeded” either ended up empty-handed or had to bow to the scheme participants to become “needed.”
0 On the evening of February 7, the publication “Mirror of the Week”, citing NABU investigators, quoted one of the investigation's documents:
“Komarnytskyi involved KMC deputy Mykhailo Terentyev, deputy and commission member Marchenko, first deputy director of KP “Spetszhytlofond” Leonov Yu.P., and his trusted person Bohoslavska O.V. In turn, Terentyev M.O. involved the deputy director of KP “Kyivblagoustriy” to select trusted persons for registering ownership rights to real estate objects and registering legal entities to which such real estate objects were to be added to the authorized capital.”
For the sake of secrecy, the scheme participants operated under pseudonyms and used special mobile communication terminals and counter-surveillance means. However, as noted by NABU, this did not hinder the detectives.
Official figures
According to investigative estimates, during 2023-2024, the “Komarnytskyi group” illegally misappropriated land worth 11.6 million UAH from the community of Kyiv in the city center and planned to seize six more plots worth a total of 83.7 million UAH.
1 “A proposal of unlawful benefit in the amount of 100,000 USD was also recorded to a member of the land commission and a city council deputy for abusing her powers and influence in the interests of the criminal organization,” NABU's press service reported.
Moreover, according to detectives, the scheme participants attempted to “take over” a land plot of a private enterprise engaged in trade and leasing commercial premises in one of the districts of Kyiv.
Jail or bail
On Friday, February 8, the High Anti-Corruption Court remanded seven individuals involved in the case, allowing them the option of bail. The bail amounts varied: the “most expensive” was city council deputy Olena Marchenko, whose release was set at 50 million UAH.
2 The bail for Marchenko’s direct superior in the land commission Mykhailo Terentyev, “who, according to the investigation, joined the criminal organization for personal enrichment,” was set at 2.5 times less: Terentyev's bail was estimated at only 20 million UAH.
Even cheaper was Klitschko's deputy Petro Olenych: he was assigned a bail of 15 million UAH.
The deputy director of KP “Kyivblagoustriy” Oleksii Mushta could temporarily regain his freedom for 7.5 million UAH, the first deputy director of KP “Spetszhytlofond” Yurii Leonov for 4.5 million UAH, and an unnamed employee of the same “Spetszhytlofond,” responsible for accounting, for 8 million UAH.
3 For one of the subjects, as reported by SAP, personal obligations have been applied.
“And I'm in the little house!”
Regarding Denys Komarnytskyi, referred to as the leader of the “toilet group,” he labeled the media-released information about the searches as “a large-scale and well-planned dirty information attack” on February 6.
“This only confirms one thing: I and my activities truly hinder someone, and the truth is so inconvenient for certain individuals that they do not shy away from any means. Moreover, all this looks like a systematic campaign aimed not only against me but also to discredit the Kyiv city authorities and their representatives, which once again confirms its ordered nature,” Komarnytskyi stated in a comment published by “Ukrainian News”.
Komarnytskyi asserted that the pressure he allegedly faces is directly related to his professional activities as a lawyer.
“And I am particularly saddened that representatives of supposedly independent anti-corruption bodies are involved in this. It is obvious that my work raises concerns among those who believe that the law can be freely adjusted to their whims, and justice is worthless,” he said.
According to media reports, Denys Komarnytskyi is currently in Vienna, where he went as a father of four children. In 2012, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv sentenced him to two years probation for assaulting lawyer Ihor Hrantsev in the BTI premises in Kyiv on August 2, 2005. At that time, the investigation established that Komarnytskyi, along with two accomplices, seized from Hrantsev a suitcase containing 20,000 USD and a ruling from the Zolochiv District Court of Kharkiv Region, which had imposed a seizure on the real estate of ATZT “Knyzhka.”
Additionally, in July 2020, an investigation by Bihus.info was released, which discussed Komarnytskyi's possible involvement in the embe