Yesterday, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, bypassing public discussion and a competition, appointed Serhiy Gruzdo as deputy head and acting head of the Kyiv City State Administration's Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. The public, which had only just begun to discuss this nomination, decided it was time to file a complaint against the mayor with the prosecutor's office for abuse of office.
KV was told this by Tatyana Shevchuk, a member of the public council under the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, who was tasked by the meeting to read out the public demands at the Kyiv City Council meeting on November 13, 2014.
According to the activist, Kyiv City Council member and head of the cultural commission, Ihor Lutsenko, initiated a public discussion of Serhiy Gruzdo's candidacy for the position of deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration's cultural heritage department, which he appointed yesterday, October 11.
However, the Kyiv City State Administration's column hall, where the public discussion was scheduled to take place, was occupied due to window replacement. As a result, the event was moved to the fifth-floor meeting room of the Kyiv City State Administration.
Tatyana Shevchuk also reported that the discussion quickly turned to criticism of the authorities, as Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration Anna Starostenko arrived at the meeting, bringing with her the signed order of Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko No. 387 of November 11, 2014 (page 1, page 2), according to which the mayor had already appointed Serhiy Gruzdo to the position of deputy head of the department.
The public perceived this as an abuse of office by Klitschko and even suggested filing a complaint against the capital's mayor with the Prosecutor General's Office.
According to Tatyana Shevchuk, such appointments should be made through a competitive process, but Gruzdo avoided this procedure.
In addition, there are very serious doubts about the suitability of this candidate for the position held.
Previously, since 2001, Gruzdo held various positions in the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, as well as the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate.
"Sergey Gruzdo has always participated in discussions of illegal construction, ostensibly protecting cultural heritage. However, he has always been in opposition to the public and, in reality, has only lobbied for the interests of developers," Shevchuk added.
Tomorrow, at the plenary session of the Kyiv City Council, activists plan to read a resolution to the Mayor and deputies, asking for the repeal of Order No. 387 and the announcement of a competition, or to join the complaint to the prosecutor's office.
It should be noted that today, on the Kyiv City State Administration website, Serhiy Gruzdo is listed as the head of the Kyiv City State Administration's Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.
As a reminder, Moscow public activists previously protested Vitali Klitschko's dismissal of the former head of the Kyiv City State Administration, Yakiv Dikhtyar, fearing that he would be replaced by "sworn enemies of cultural heritage," Andriy Vingranovskyi or Viktor Vecherskyi.
And so it happened. Gruzdo is clearly a protégé of these odious individuals and Elena Serdyuk, the developer of Kyiv's historical and architectural reference plan as part of the General Plan 2025, which likely explains the rush to appoint him. His subsequent actions are predictable.
Let us also recall that Klitschko recently appointed singer Oleksandr Fortado as acting head of the department, who is now listed on the Kyiv City State Administration website as the deputy head of this structure.
It's worth noting that when Klitschko signed the order dismissing Yakov Dikhtyar in August, these powers were transferred to Nikoryak, who had been approved by the Ministry of Culture. Now, without the approval of the relevant ministry, Sergei Gruzdo is heading the department in this peculiar manner.
However, the final clauses of Kyiv Mayoral Order No. 387 could baffle any "expert in red tape." They state that Gruzdo has been appointed acting head of the department, temporarily, during the suspension of Ruslan Kukharenko, the head of the Kyiv City State Administration's (KCSA) department of the same name, which has now been restructured! Furthermore, the dismissal of Yakiv Dikhtyar is also cancelled.
It seems Levochkin's people have decided to cleverly confuse everyone so that it will be unclear who is ultimately responsible for the capital's completely ruined cultural heritage.
KyivVlast
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