Ivan Kurovsky: Kyiv's plague developer
In recent years, Kyiv's appearance has been horribly disfigured by ugly new buildings constructed from frame, panel, and plastic, sprouting from the bald spots of the historic city center. And behind the monstrous towers of elite high-rises, the sparkling domes of St. Sophia Cathedral and the Lavra Bell Tower, symbols of the city for centuries, are no longer visible. But restless developers like Ivan Kurovsky, who are completely uncontrollable due to their vast connections, not only spoil the appearance of the Ukrainian capital but also pose a serious threat to the health and lives of its residents.
Ivan Kurovsky. Construction on Bones
The scandal surrounding the attempted development of part of the site of Kyiv's Central Clinical Hospital (Oleksandrivska, formerly Oktiabrska) has been going on for almost 14 years, reminiscent of the prologue to either a horror film or a disaster movie. It depends on what exactly workers from Zhil-Stroy LLC (often referred to in the media as "Zhitlo-Bud") might uncover if they continue working on the site of an old burial site from the 19th century: simply old human bones, or still-living anthrax spores and bubonic plague bacilli.
On July 10, 2003, the Kyiv City Council, under pressure from the then capital's mayor Alexandra Omelchenko The decision was made to remove a 0,45-hectare plot at 39-1a Shelkovichnaya Street from the Central Clinical Hospital and transfer it to the city's residential development fund. A year later, on July 7, 2004, the plot was leased to Zhil-Stroy LLC for the construction of a 17-story residential building. This was done in defiance of all legal provisions prohibiting the seizure of land from protected areas of architectural monuments and prohibiting any construction on them. Furthermore, what also outraged Kyiv residents was that the land had been owned by the city community since the hospital's construction (in 1874); it had been purchased by their great-grandfathers specifically to prevent anyone from encroaching on Kyiv's first people's hospital. So, as early as 2004, concerned Kyiv residents began to defend the plot from development, facing either the police or the "titushki" (illegal armed groups).
Protests intensified in 2007, when excavation work began on the site. A public committee was created, including academician Vadim Berezovsky. Ivan Kurovsky, the owner of the development company, countered their demands with a surprising statement that the protests were being waged by scammers who allegedly wanted to "get away with" two entire floors of apartments in the future residential building. But in early 2008, the mayor sided with the protesters. Leonid Chernovetsky, who ordered construction to be halted and even nearly revoked Zhil-Stroy's permits to operate in Kyiv. However, Chernovetskyi's touching concern was only explained by the fact that he was lobbying for the interests of his own development companies (including the scandalous Elita-Center). Then the crisis hit, and in 2009, Kurovskyi decided to take revenge on her "betrayal." Yulia Tymoshenko, which initiated inspections, during which construction of a house on this site (a hillside) was deemed dangerous due to soil subsidence. In 2010, the Kyiv prosecutor's office succeeded in invalidating the lease agreement for this site. However, Zhil-Stroy took legal action and succeeded in getting the opposite effect. Then, opponents of the development began to emphasize the threat of an epidemic, as the construction site could house an old burial site for those who died of plague and anthrax. Kurovsky dismissed these claims as insinuations and invited a commission from the sanitary and epidemiological station, which took several soil samples and found nothing.
Finally, in March 2013, the Supreme Administrative Court recognized Zhil-Stroy's right to the land and allowed construction to continue. Then Kurovsky suddenly announced that he would not continue construction. Moreover, that same year, deputies Ivan Kurovsky and Oleg Lyashko They registered a bill imposing a moratorium on hospital closures, thus demonstrating their supposed concern for the health of Ukrainians. But a few months later, the Zhil-Stroy company has resumed its efforts in this area—meaning Kurovsky essentially lied to Kyiv residents.
As a result of this years-long tug-of-war, the plot was effectively expropriated, fenced off, and a site prepared, but no house was ever built, and the ownership rights to the ill-fated half-hectare remain up in the air – no one can determine whose they legally belong to. However, as noted Skelet.OrgRecently, drilling began again at the site, and this has once again alarmed Kyiv residents, who are seriously afraid of an infectious "hello" from the past.
In the winter of 2017, something was being drilled again at the “plague” construction site near the Alexandrovskaya Hospital.
Alexander Kurovsky. The Oligarchic Foreman
Ivan Ivanovich Kurovsky was born on June 28, 1951, in the village of Skarzhnytsi, Khmelnytskyi district, Vinnytsia region. Immediately after graduating from high school, he rushed to Kyiv and enrolled in the Civil Engineering Institute. From 1973 to 1991, Kurovsky worked on Soviet industrial construction sites, starting as a foreman and graduating as chief engineer. He built the Khlovinil plant in Kalush, the powder metallurgy plant in Brovary, the Prometey plant in Boryspil, and the Tochmash plant in Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi. However, in the 90s, factory construction in Ukraine ceased, while the demand for good housing in Kyiv increased even more. So, in 1993, Kurovsky founded Investment and Construction Company LLC, which became the foundation for his future company, Zhil-Stroy.
Well, there was no doubting Kurovsky's talent as a builder, but two questions arose: where did he get the investment to create a construction company, and who supported him in securing his first orders and sites? This chapter of Kurovsky's biography is shrouded in mystery. Skelet.Org there are only assumptions: at that time, Alexander Omelchenko and Surkis brothers, and it was impossible for a newcomer to ignore them. Given Kurovsky's good relationship with Omelchenko during the latter's mayoral term (1996-2006), one might assume that it was San Sanych who helped Ivan Ivanovich rise to power. However, it's worth noting that most of Kurovsky's major projects in Kyiv began in 2003. First, there's the aforementioned 17-story building on the grounds of the Oleksandrivska Hospital, which was never built. Second, there's the luxury building at 14 Patorzhynsky, which houses Rinat Akhmetov's apartment and Viktor Yushchenko's office. Third, there's Kyiv's most visible "celebrity": the 48-story building at 7a Klovsky Descent, the tallest residential building in Ukraine (163 meters), dominating the view of the Lavra. And then there's the following projects:
- St. Irininskaya, 5–7, contract No. 245/405 dated January 30, 2003
- Mikhailovsky Lane, 22, 24/9, agreement No. 245/405 dated January 30, 2003
- Kruglouniversitetskaya Street, 3–5, contract No. 411/571 dated April 24, 2003
- Nekrasovskaya Street, 4, contract No. 638-17/798 dated July 10, 2003
- St. Stritenskaya, 8, contract No. 638-8/798 dated July 10, 2003
- St. Turgenevskaya, 28a–30a, contract No. 19/179 dated September 26, 2002
Skyscraper on Klovsky Descent
The development at 17-23 Olesya Gonchar Street deserves special mention, where construction of the Fresco Sofia residential complex has begun in earnest. Moreover, the registered contractor was not even Kurovsky's Zhil-Stroy, but his older firm, Investment and Construction Company.
Kurovsky received the construction site in this historic district of Kyiv (essentially within the St. Sophia of Kyiv architectural reserve) from Omelchenko in July 2004. Public protests against the construction began in 2007, when a huge pit was dug there. The standoff over this site was one of the most intense: first, aggressive "titushki" (illegal thugs) were sent to the outraged residents of the area, then a sham public meeting (attended by unknown criminal-looking individuals who intimidated people) was staged, which voted to approve the construction. But protests continued for many years. In March 2011, Shevchenkivskyi District Court Judge Sergei Zubkov was murdered. He had previously ruled twice against Ivan Kurovskyi: he denied the Investment and Construction Company's right to develop the site, and he refused to collect 560 hryvnias in compensation from protesters for alleged losses incurred by the developer as a result of blocking construction.
In fact, most of Kurovsky's projects (completed or unfinished), for which contracts were signed in 2003, were subsequently challenged either as containing gross engineering violations or as illegal due to land allocation violations. And what a toll the Kyiv residents living near these construction sites had to endure!
Ivan Kurovsky: Kyiv's plague developer
It appears that between 2002 and 2004, Kurovsky and Omelchenko were up to some kind of scheme—and considering that Zhil-Stroy took on a dozen major construction projects in just one year, these schemes must have involved colossal sums of money! But whose money? That's the question, the answer to which Kurovsky carefully concealed. All that's known is that the money flowed through Zhil-Stroy Financial Company LLC and wasn't spent solely on its intended purpose: at the same time, Kurovsky invested in agricultural and hotel businesses (AP Agroprogress, LLC Karpatsky Capital), and acquired the Bobrovitsky Bakery and the Delovye Vstrechi restaurant.
Collective farm named after Kurovsky
The scandal surrounding Losinovka-AGRO LLC, a subsidiary of Kurovsky's Agroprogress, eloquently illustrates how Ivan Kurovsky invested in Ukrainian agriculture. Several years ago, an "investor" appeared in the village of Losinovka in the Nizhyn district of the Chernihiv region—Kushnirenko, a representative of Agroprogress—who began enticing villagers to lease their land shares to the company. But here's the problem: since 2002, the villagers had already leased their land, as well as the property of a former state farm, to an enterprise run by the Agrarian Academy of Sciences, and the village council itself had done so on their behalf. But generous promises and big promises did their job, and in May 2009, Losinovka experienced its own mini-Maidan, during which the villagers succeeded in terminating the contract with the Agrarian Academy and took back their shares – in order to lease them to Losinovka-AGRO LLC.
Ivan Kurovsky
A total of 343 shares were acquired, registered as deposits by the co-founders of Losinovka-AGRO, and 9% of the land's profits were paid as "dividends." However, a year later, the payments dropped to 5%, and when farmers began asking questions, Kushnirenko showed them the "management board's" decision, claiming it was the economic situation that forced them to do so! Meanwhile, the farmers working at Losinovka-AGRO were paid only 1300 hryvnias per month.
And that was only the beginning of the scam. It soon became clear that Kushnirenko had been manipulating shareholder agreements (originals and copies) and land certificates without informing the residents of Losinovka, who were actually shareholders. Then the document forgeries began, and Kushnirenko acquired bogus agreements granting Losinovka-ARGO free leases of the former Losinovka agricultural enterprise's extensive assets: five combine harvesters, five tractors with seeding systems, a dozen trucks, a dairy farm with 450 cows, and grain processing and storage facilities. In essence, the naive villagers were simply robbed! And when they politely began to seek the truth, Kushnirenko sent them to the Kyiv lawyers of Agroprogress to sort things out, who instead concocted excuses. “It’s a good idea for Ivan Ivanovich to sit at Kiev and not worry about what the local kreivniks are doing,” wrote simple-minded Losinovites to local newspapers, believing that master Kurovsky was a good person, but simply did not know about the outrages of his managers. Holy simplicity!
Ivan Kurovsky was aware of the events, but he saw them differently. At the time, he was preparing Agroprogress for sale and was interested in maximizing its value, including through leased and appropriated assets.
In 2012, Agroprogress, along with all its subsidiaries, was transferred to the Cypriot company Bluerace (Kurovsky), which was then sold to the Cypriot company Unigrain Holding, owned by dairy oligarch Alexander Petrov (Cheese Club, Industrial Dairy Company). It seems Petrov was very taken with Losinovka's cows, for which the villagers were paid nothing to milk them! And who knows how many other fraudulently created enterprises like Losinovka-ARGO were part of Kurovsky's Agroprogress!
Ivan Kurovsky. In Search of Protection
With Leonid Chernovetskyi's ascension to the post of mayor, Kurovskyi's construction business in Kyiv began to experience some difficulties, culminating in a feud between the two in 2008, forcing Kurovskyi to seek work outside Kyiv. Fortunately for Kurovskyi, in 2006 he was elected as a people's deputy on the BYuT list (No. 65). And in the 2007 elections, he was also elected on the BYuT list, also under No. 65!
No, Ivan Ivanovich wasn't interested in politics at all; he simply bought his place on the electoral list, like many other oligarchs. And he had money: in 2007, Kurovsky's fortune was estimated at $175 million. Within the walls of the Verkhovna Rada, Kurovsky had three concerns: finding protection from Chernovetsky, finding clients and financiers for his business, and, with the onset of the 2008 crisis, finding budgetary allocations for his construction company, calling on the state to either not abandon developers in the lurch or to show compassion for the citizens who had prepaid for their apartments.
However, already in 2009, Ivan Kurovskyi began associating increasingly frequently with colleagues from the Party of Regions, for which he was accused of betraying Yulia Tymoshenko, making her a vindictive enemy. And in 2010, Kurovskyi even joined the new coalition, for which he was expelled from the BYuT as a "carcass" on February 1, 2011. But it was from that moment on that fortune turned his way, and he began winning most of his court cases—allowing him to retain virtually all of the projects previously challenged by the prosecutor's office as violating the law.
In the 2012 elections, Kurovskyi didn't buy his way onto the Party of Regions list, but ran as its candidate in the 206th single-member constituency in Nizhyn, enticing gullible villagers with promises, including in Losinovka. In his own PR, Ivan Kurovskyi knows no bounds. For example, residents of Nizhyn once saw the following notice posted on their houses:
Ivan Kurovsky: Kyiv's plague developer
Local journalists conducted a small investigation and discovered that Deputy Kurovskyi had nothing to do with the hot water supply! The issue was resolved by local authorities with the support of the Cabinet of Ministers, and Kurovskyi only learned about it after the decision had been made. He was told something like, "Ivan Ivanovich, congratulate your constituents, we're turning on hot water for them!" Kurovskyi then hastened to instruct his aides to print out and post these notices throughout Nizhyn.
However, by betting on the Party of Regions, Kurovskyi miscalculated somewhat. He was later even accused of voting for the "January 16th laws," although he had prudently left the Party of Regions faction before Yanukovych fled and the ruling coalition collapsed. However, Kurovskyi failed to rebrand himself as a "patriot" and participate in the 2014 elections. Nevertheless, in 2015, he continued his vigorous construction activity in Kyiv, not only completing old projects but also developing new ones. They are just as large-scale and just as scandalous! For example, in February of this year, residents of Anri Barbusse Street petitioned the Kyiv City Council for protection against Kurovskyi. There, the Zhil-Stroy group plans to erect a 25-story apartment building on the site of a kindergarten. This childcare facility belonged to the Radar factory, and 110 children happily chatted within its walls. But in 2015, Radar's owners closed the kindergarten and sold it, along with the land, to Kurovsky's company. Residents of neighboring buildings, of course, would prefer to see a renovated "kindergarten" from their windows, something Kyiv sorely lacks, rather than gaze upon the tower's soaring walls, blocking the sun. According to available information, Skelet.Org information, a public committee is already being created there, and with the start of construction work (first the demolition of the former kindergarten), activists will block them.
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
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