Kyiv City Council members from Batkivshchyna, Svoboda, Samopomich, Democratic Alliance, and Civil Position have filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office against Rinat Akhmetov's construction company. The construction firm, ESTA Holding, is accused of illegally seizing two plots of land adjacent to the Central Department Store (TSUM) and violating construction regulations.
Based on this complaint, the Kyiv prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings against Akhmetov's company.
Deputies accuse developers of causing cracks in neighboring buildings (including the Kyiv City Council building) during the department store's renovation. Vitaliy Pavlik, head of the Democratic Party of Ukraine faction in the Kyiv City Council and the initiator of the appeal to the prosecutor's office, wants to hold Akhmetov's company accountable and force it to pay a fine for the damages caused to the city.
ESTA Holding, for its part, denies all accusations. According to the developer, the cracks in the adjacent buildings are not dangerous. Furthermore, the company has allegedly already reached an agreement with the city authorities on compensation for the damage and repairs. However, the land dispute has reached an impasse. Rinat Akhmetov's company claims to have purchase and sale agreements for the property located on these lands—a transformer substation and a utility room. To continue the restoration of TsUM, the developer must enter into lease agreements for the previously seized lands under terms that allow for the reconstruction of the transformer substation. However, Kyiv City Council members are categorically opposed to this.
At the end of last year, the Kyiv City Council plenary session discussed the lease of two plots of land, 68 square meters and 188 square meters, adjacent to the TSUM, to Stolichny TsUM LLC. However, the council members who filed the complaint insisted on the refusal. If the documents are rejected again, ESTA Holding threatens to sue the Kyiv City Council. Litigation between the developer and the council members could delay construction and, in the worst case, halt all work. In this case, the TSUM building risks joining the list of Kyiv's long-delayed construction projects.
The publication "Delovaya Stolitsa" reports that Kyiv City Council members have a fairly good chance of canceling the construction and returning the adjacent land to Kyiv's ownership. Vitaliy Pavlik is known for overseeing disputes and resolving legal matters for Vyacheslav Suprunenko, the former son-in-law of former Kyiv Mayor Chernovetskyi.
ESTA Holding is a subsidiary of Rinat Akhmetov's SCM holding company. The Ukrainian oligarch purchased Kyiv's TSUM department store in 2011 and subsequently created Stolichny TSUM LLC, which oversees the project.
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