The Kyiv City Council leased 0,3 hectares of land in Pushcha-Vodytsia to International Tennis Academy LLC. The leased land is essentially a road used by Igor Kononenko's company (a political and business partner of the fifth president of Ukraine) to build a so-called "eco-parking lot" near his "tennis academy." Local residents' concerns about the "crowded" area and the fact that important utility lines apparently run through the land didn't deter the city council. In 2016, the city council already demonstrated "miracles of generosity" to Kononenko: they allowed him to build a commercial tennis club on the adjacent leased land instead of the originally promised children's and youth sports school.
As KV has learned, on March 4, 2021, Kyiv City Council deputies voted 74 times in favor of the draft resolution "On the transfer of a land plot to International Tennis Academy LLC for the construction, maintenance, and repair of engineering, transport, energy, communications, and road infrastructure facilities (except for road service facilities) at 9 Gorodska Street and 9 Lisnaya Street in the Obolonskyi District of Kyiv" (dated September 3, 2020, No. 08/231-2243/PR).
By this decision, the Kyiv City Council approved the land management project and leased a land parcel with cadastral number 8000000000:85:126:0004, measuring 0,3224 hectares, to this LLC for 5 years. The parcel is classified as industrial, transport, communications, energy, defense, and other land. Its intended use is for the placement and operation of buildings and structures for motor transport and road infrastructure.
The draft resolution was first approved by the Kyiv City Council Commission on Urban Development, Architecture and Land Use on September 8, 2020, and the second time on January 27, 2021.
The explanatory note states that the site is free of capital development and is not part of a green zone. In the Detailed Territorial Plan (DTP) for the Pushcha-Vodytsia district (Kyiv City Council Resolution No. 787/1843 of July 9, 2009), the land is designated as a street and road area. This same functional purpose is also defined for it in the current General Plan.
The party submitting the draft resolution – the Department of Land Resources of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) – indicated that the expected estimated annual rent would be 162,1 thousand hryvnias per year (3% of the standard monetary valuation).
During the discussion of this issue, deputy Konstantin Bogatov (non-factional) noted that the site is being allocated for construction.
According to him, at a meeting with local residents, the management of this LLC announced plans to remove the fence and expand the territory of their recreational facility. The deputy added that members of the public had expressed concern about these plans. Bogatov also recalled that Pushcha-Voditsa has a unique historical planning structure: the distances between blocks are 15 meters. The deputy urged his colleagues not to support this decision, as he believed that the potential tenant's plans could create obstacles for local residents accessing their homes.
Moreover, as Ukrinform reported, a special state communications line to neighboring Ministry of Defense facilities and a pressurized sewer line run through this area. At a meeting with local residents in February 2021, a representative of the International Tennis Academy LLC assured that there would be "no major construction" on the site and that the green spaces would be preserved. They claimed that only an "eco-parking lot" with a special surface was planned for the area.
Adjacent plot
It should be noted that the section of streets and roads leased to International Tennis Academy LLC on March 4th "circles" an adjacent parcel with cadastral number 8000000000:85:126:0001, with an area of 2,6824 hectares. This parcel, in turn, was leased to International Tennis Academy LLC for 25 years for the reconstruction of the buildings and structures of the "Yunga" pioneer camp of Leninskaya Kuznya Plant PJSC back in 2014 (Kyiv City Council Resolution No. 595/595). The lessee was to establish a children's and youth sports school (DYUSSH) here.
However, at the Kyiv City Council meeting on July 14, 2016, deputies adopted Resolution No. 736/736, which amended the lease agreement for this plot, removing the tenant's obligation to build a children's and youth sports school. This new Kyiv City Council resolution stated that the plot was transferred to an LLC "for the operation and maintenance of the buildings and structures of the International Tennis Academy sports and fitness complex." Amendments proposed for a vote at the July 14, 2016, meeting to increase the rent for the plot to 12% of the standard monetary value and reduce the lease term from 25 years to 10 years failed to garner sufficient votes.
Media outlets reported at the time that the Leninskaya Kuznya plant, at the time of the transfer of the land to the International Tennis Academy LLC in 2014, belonged to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and deputy head of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction in the Verkhovna Rada, Igor Kononenko.
In 2015, the International Tennis Academy in Pushcha-Vodytsia opened its doors, not as a youth sports school, but as a private sports facility with paid services. Classes at the fitness club, built on a 2,6-hectare site with swimming pools, a gym, and tennis courts, were (and remain) initially expensive: monthly memberships cost thousands of hryvnias. As KV learned from the International Tennis Academy's website, the hourly rental price for a tennis court (without a coach) ranges from 160 to 500 hryvnias.
Igor Kononenko Tennis Academy
According to the Youcontrol analytics system, International Tennis Academy LLC was founded in 2008 with a charter capital of UAH 100 million. Its director is Vadym Gumenyuk, and its primary activity is the operation of sports facilities. The ultimate beneficial owner is Igor Kononenko, and the founders are PJSC Closed-End Non-Diversified Corporate Investment Fund Vik and JSC Closed-End Non-Diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund QIWI.
The Youcontrol system lists International Tennis Academy LLC as part of the Ukrprominvest group, whose key figure is Ukraine's fifth president, Petro Poroshenko. The group comprises over 100 companies in Ukraine and abroad. The group's main assets are owned by Prime Assets Capital: the Roshen confectionery corporation, the Ukrprominvest-Agro agricultural holding, the Peskovsky glassware plant (co-owned by Igor Kononenko), the Energoavtomatika plant, and the Bogdan automobile corporation.
Ihor Kononenko is a longtime friend and business partner of Petro Poroshenko. They became friends in the 1980s while serving in the army. Since the 1990s, Kononenko has been Poroshenko's partner at the Ukrprominvest concern. Ihor Kononenko entered politics in 2006, when he was elected as a member of the Kyiv City Council of the 5th and 6th convocations from the Leonid Chernovetskyi Bloc. In 2014, he was elected as a member of the Kyiv City Council from the UDAR party (No. 11 on the party's electoral list) and became co-chair of the UDAR faction.
In May 2014, on the eve of the parliamentary elections, Kononenko played a key role in the negotiations in Vienna regarding the merger of the BPP with Vitali Klitschko's UDAR. As a result, Klitschko's political force effectively merged with the presidential Solidarity party. Working at the Central Headquarters, Kononenko "managed" interactions and assistance to the majoritarian candidates nominated by the BPP.
From November 27, 2014 to August 29, 2019, he was a member of the Verkhovna Rada of the VIII convocation (No. 29 on the party list, first deputy chairman of the BPP faction). In 2019, Petro Poroshenko publicly distanced himself from Kononenko and sent him, along with several other controversial associates, to run for the Verkhovna Rada as an independent candidate.
In 2019, during the snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada of the 9th convocation, despite frantic pre-election activity using budget funds and administrative resources, he lost the elections in the 94th district of the Kyiv region (Vasilkov, Obukhiv) to the candidate from the Servant of the People, journalist and TV producer of the 1+1 TV channel Oleksandr Dubinsky, taking second place.
KV reported that in 2016-2017 alone, Igor Kononenko's companies (Leninskaya Kuznitsa Plant, International Tennis Academy, and Peskovsky Glassworks Plant) won government tenders worth a total of 106 million hryvnia.
As a reminder, following the 2020 local elections, seven factions were formed in the Kyiv City Council of the 9th convocation. The European Solidarity Party faction became the largest, with 31 members.
Since July 27, 2018, the Department of Land Resources of the Kyiv City State Administration has been headed by Petro Olenych.
Photo: International Tennis Academy website
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