The Gorbachykha tract on the left bank of the Dnieper River in Kyiv should have long ago become a protected area. Photo collage by Telegraph
The next court hearing in the Gorbachikha case is scheduled for March 20. Will Gorbachikha be eliminated?
Legal battles continue over the possibility of developing a unique natural area in the left-bank part of the capital, known as the Gorbachykha tract. On one side are environmentalists from the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center (KECC), on the other are the Kyiv City Council, the Kyiv City State Administration, and the land's lessee, the Construction Inter-Industry Alliance, backed by the developer KAN-Development . While construction is currently not underway at Gorbachykha, environmentalists who initiated the legal proceedings are confident it's only a matter of time.
Telegraph decided to recall the chain of events that led to the risk of development in Gorbachikha, to find out why it is interesting from a natural perspective, to examine the environmentalists' arguments in the legal dispute, and to clarify the developer's position.
Gorbachikha. Destroy the miracle.
Last fall, when Telegraf investigated the attempted development of Lake Vyrlitsa , it mentioned the recent disastrous state of affairs with the protection of natural sites in the capital, particularly with regard to the conservation of natural areas. At the time, in response to a request from the editorial staff, the Kyiv City State Administration's Department of Environmental Protection attempted to argue that the conservation situation wasn't all that bad, citing data from previous years.
But the situation is truly appalling. For example, not a single protected area was created in Kyiv in the entire year of 2024. This is according to data from the Ukrainian Environmental Protection Group, which recently published relevant statistics . And this despite the fact that dozens of initiatives regarding the will are known to exist in Kyiv.
One of the areas that should have been designated a nature reserve long ago, and for which several projects to create a wildlife sanctuary have been developed in recent years, is the Gorbachykha tract in Kyiv.
The location of the Gorbachykha tract, photo from the Facebook community "Gorbachykha Reserve"
The tract lies on a hill between Vigurovshchina and the Rusanovsky Strait along the Desenka River. An illustrated guide to Kyiv in 1912 calls this area a "sandy hill" and indicates that it was here, most likely, that Kyiv's real Bald Mountain (as opposed, apparently, to the fake ones located on the Right Bank) was located, which attracted witches, both local and from elsewhere.
A fragment from a 1912 guidebook
Visiting Gorbachikha, even today, it's easy to believe: the tract amazes with its incredible aura. Perhaps because for so long it was quite inaccessible to humans (and a century and a half ago, it was practically an island), which allowed it to preserve its unique character. Or perhaps it was shaped this way by nature itself, which, as we know, performs its best miracles independently, without human intervention.
The Fairytale Gorbachikha. Photo by Sergey Polyushko
The struggle to preserve this unique natural area in Kyiv has spanned several decades. Its officially documented beginning can be traced back to 1994, when the Kyiv City Council of People's Deputies adopted Resolution No. 14 of February 17, 1994, "On the creation, reservation, and preservation of territories and objects of the natural reserve fund in Kyiv." Appendix No. 3 of this resolution included the Gorbachykha tract in the "List of valuable natural areas and objects reserved for conservation."
Back in 1994, the Kyiv City Council proposed reserving 78,4 hectares of Gorbachykha for conservation, but in 2006, for some reason, it halved this territory, leaving only 32 hectares for the future nature reserve or sanctuary.
Be that as it may, this 30-year-old decision is still in effect. Kyiv's General Plan, approved in 2002, is also still in effect, stipulating that Gorbachikha Street falls within the boundaries of nature reserves (the green area and red lines in the screenshot of the General Plan fragment).
Gorbachikha tract on the General Plan and GoogleMaps
Despite this, in 2007, at a plenary session chaired by Oles Dovhyi ( then deputy and secretary of the Kyiv City Council, replacing Leonid Chernovetskyi at the session ), the Kyiv City Council, without a single dissenting vote, awarded Gorbachikha for development to the Construction Inter-Industry Alliance LLC. The agreement to this effect was signed in 2008.
Information from the registers regarding the land plot near Gorbachikha, given to the developer
Information from the registers regarding the land plot near Gorbachikha, given to the developer
This decision was later appealed by the prosecutor's office, and in November 2011, the Kyiv District Court was even convinced that the lease of the land where the Gorbachykha tract is located was illegal . However, the case failed the appellate review.
Then, in May 2013, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that Chernovetskyi's "young team" on the Kyiv City Council had, it turned out, the right to lease Horbachykha for development. The court argued that the alleged lease of land with obvious development restrictions did not necessarily mean it would be developed. The court's verbatim ruling stated: "The law does not prohibit the use of the aforementioned lands, but merely establishes certain conditions and restrictions on economic activity on these lands."
In 2018, when the land lease expired, there was a chance that the new Kyiv authorities would save Gorbachikha. But Klitschko behaved no better than Chernovetskyi and extended the lease for Construction Interindustry Alliance LLC for another 10 years. This decision was made without putting it to a vote by the Kyiv City Council.
Gorbachikha. What environmentalists say
Alexander Dyadyuk, head of the Kyiv Environmental and Conservation Center, believes that the prosecutor's office's position and arguments were too weak during the 2011-2013 hearings. And today, the ecologist says, for some reason the prosecutor's office is hesitant to initiate a second lawsuit or to join environmental activists in court.
"I filed a petition asking the prosecutor's office to intervene in the case. But they refused, at least the Kyiv Prosecutor's Office did. We'll try appealing to the Prosecutor General's Office as well. Incidentally, the Prosecutor's Office also contested these issues at one point, but they were weak and ultimately lost," Dyadyuk recalls.
At the same time, according to Dyadyuk, there are all grounds for repealing both the 2007 Kyiv City Council decision and the subsequent 2018 decision to extend the lease.
Firstly, Dyadyuk points out, there's a 1994 decision reserving the site where Gorbachikha is located for conservation. Secondly, such a transfer is also prohibited by the current General Plan for the capital, which does not envisage any development on the Gorbachikha site. Consequently, this site should not have been leased for further development at all.
"According to the current General Plan, Gorbachikha is a green space for public use. Moreover, of the nearly 30 hectares, 5 hectares are coastal protection zones. Therefore, the Kyiv City Council had no right to designate them for residential development ," Dyadyuk believes.
Third, Mayor Vitali Klitschko's decision to extend the 2018 lease was also unlawful. After all, a lease can only be extended without a vote by the Kyiv City Council if the initial terms for the tenant remain unchanged. And in the case of Gorbachykha, half of the lease terms were rewritten in 2018.
"The land lease law allows a bona fide user to renew a lease without a session decision. But Article 33 of the law clearly states—under the same conditions. Klitschko reinstated the developer's lease without a Kyiv City Council session, but half of the lease terms were changed ," notes the head of the Kyiv City Council.
Currently, the environmental organization headed by Dyadyuk has secured the court's acceptance of a petition to overturn all decisions regarding the lease of the land near Gorbachikha. Court hearings on the case continued throughout February and will continue until March 20 of this year.
Dyadyuk himself, by the way, emphasizes that he is not against construction as such, but only on legal grounds.
"I always say I'm not an extreme radical on this issue. But construction must be done according to the law. Let them buy up industrial zones and build there, not in green spaces or protected areas ," says Dyadyuk.
Along with the aforementioned arguments about so-called "procedural" violations in the transfer of the Gorbachikha lease and its extension, opponents of the development also have a powerful "environmental" argument. Specifically, the Gorbachikha territory, its flora and fauna, are protected by several international environmental initiatives recognized by Ukraine, such as the Bonn and Berne Conventions, as well as a number of Ukrainian legislative acts—"On the Red Book," "On the Fauna," "On the Flora," "On Environmental Protection," "On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine," and others.
It is also known that the Bureau of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention advises the Ukrainian authorities to grant Gorbachikha protected status and even include it in the Emerald Network ( a network of areas of special conservation interest aimed at preserving species and ecosystems that have been recognized as rare throughout Europe. - Ed .).
Letter to the Ministry of Ecology from the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention. Source: Gorbachikha Nature Reserve Facebook group
Letter to the Ministry of Ecology from the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention. Source: Gorbachikha Nature Reserve Facebook group
Environmentalists believe that Gorbachykha's greatest asset is the unique floodplain forest ecosystem it contains, the last one on the capital's Left Bank. This ecosystem is home to hundreds of unique fauna species, many of which are listed in the Red Book. The animal diversity is no less diverse. For example, local activists regularly photograph beavers and turtles there.
The humpback turtle family. Photo — Facebook page of the "Humpback Reserve" community.
And there's nothing to say about birds: the Gorbachikha area is part of the so-called Dnieper Corridor—a bird migration route, so you can encounter the most unexpected species here , from a variety of passerines, ducks, and herons to hawks, eagles, and owls.
Gorbachikha is particularly proud of its insects, a significant number of which are also listed in the Red Book. Among them are the emperor and cordulegaster dragonflies, the swallowtail, polyxena, and podalirius butterflies, and various species of beetles, such as the longhorn beetle.
Incidentally, beetles seem to be a trigger for Gorbachikha developer Igor Nikonov. He mentioned them with irritation when he argued against creating a nature reserve in Gorbachikha.
"We have the same thing: we want to create a nature reserve so that no one goes there, and breed valuable beetle species there," Nikonov complained in one of his interviews.
Regarding the nature reserve: in addition to repealing the Kyiv City Council's decision to lease the land near Horbachykha and permit development there, which environmentalists believe is illegal, they are also seeking to establish protected nature reserve status for the area. So far, there have been at least three known attempts to establish a nature reserve there—the first was during the Revolution of Dignity, but some of the documents submitted to the Kyiv City State Administration allegedly burned.
One of the options for creating a nature reserve in Gorbachikha. Photo — Facebook page of the "Gorbachikha Nature Reserve" community.
The next attempt occurred in 2019: activists collected and submitted the relevant documents and even held public hearings , and a draft resolution was prepared . But ultimately, this project also stalled.
In 2021, there was a routine attempt to create a nature reserve on the territory of the Gorbachykha tract, initiated by Kyiv City Council member Yevhenia Kuleba and her faction colleagues. The project received a negative opinion from the Kyiv City Council's Legal Support Department, allegedly because the Kyiv City Council does not have the right to independently initiate (submit a petition) regarding the creation of a nature reserve, but only to make a final decision on the matter. The project was subsequently " killed " by the Kyiv City Council's Environmental Commission, whose members lacked the courage to vote in favor and instead staged a protest against the decision.
Alexander Dyadyuk says the next steps to preserve land in the Gorbachykha tract are currently being considered, but first, the main priority is winning the court case. After all, to preserve a territory, this issue must be agreed upon with the landowner. And in the case of the Construction Inter-Industry Alliance, this is completely hopeless.
"No one will approve the creation of a nature reserve on land that is privately owned or leased by a developer ," says Dyadyuk.
What does the developer have?
It is worth noting right away that today the developer ( and this, as already mentioned, is Igor Nikonov’s KAN-Development company , which, through its investment fund “Tennessee”, has a stake in the Construction Inter-Industry Alliance LLC ) seems to have completely suspended its development activities in Gorbachikha.
While preparing this article, we contacted KAN-Development co-founder Anna Popruga to share the company's position on the Gorbachykha tract. Specifically, we asked if we could submit a request to learn more about the specifics of the new development project and the definition of "ecopark," which Igor Nikonov once used in his public speeches.
Her answer was quite laconic: "We haven't done anything there for a long time. Everything is on pause."
However, as Alexander Dyadyuk points out, KAN-Development's lack of activity on the site in the tract does not mean the developer has lost interest. He claims that in court, the developer's lawyers are "fighting tooth and nail" to prevent environmental activists from canceling the site's lease.
Therefore, it's difficult to say today what exactly Igor Nikonov plans to do with this site and when. It's worth noting that before he officially acknowledged his involvement in the project, several renderings of the development were available.
One version, for example, suggested a gigantic barrack-like structure with an unclear purpose.
One of the older development plans for the Gorbachykha tract, a rendering once provided to the media by the National Ecological Center of Ukraine
The second version is a solid residential anthill. The third is a project for a futuristic residential complex with a number of infrastructure facilities.
"Housing" development plans for Gorbachikhi. According to Igor Nikonov, they are irrelevant.
Nikonov himself has proven himself to be quite inconsistent in his statements regarding Gorbachikha. For example, in a December 2019 interview with UP, he claimed that he had no legal connection to the land plot in the Gorbachikha tract.
"I'm definitely not involved in that. These are my friends, people I've been friends with for many years. We agreed that they would buy the land, and we would do the project ourselves. We did it. Legally, it's not my business, but from an agreement standpoint, yes. In terms of my financial obligations: if everything goes well, I'm ready to invest my own money ," Nikonov explained.
But already in October 2021, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Nikonov admitted that he had had a direct financial relationship with the site in the tract for 15 years and that the land was intended specifically for residential development.
"We have a development site on the Left Bank. It's part of the Gorbachykha tract—an area on the banks of the Desenka River, where the exit from the new Podilsko-Voskresensky Bridge is located. It could become an extremely interesting project for the city. We could create an eco-park there, a community center, something that Kyiv doesn't yet have. Moreover, we've been paying rent to the city for 15 years. But we still haven't started the project... According to the documents that show us as the landowner for this site, it's designated for residential construction ," Nikonov explained.
Incidentally, Nikonov continued to push the eco-park theme raised in this interview in his subsequent public statements. For example, in a separate column devoted entirely to Gorbachikha, he wrote that people wanted access to water, "a place to connect with nature, and infrastructure that would bring comfort to their lives," and that's why local residents allegedly "supported the idea of creating an eco-park."
But Nikonov’s next phrase makes it clear what kind of “ecopark” this might be.
"Residents also requested a supermarket, pharmacies, a gym, and a medical center. All these requests will be included in the future project," Nikonov wrote.
Moreover, the urban development conditions and restrictions obtained by the developer for the site also refer to the "Construction of a shopping and office center, residential, office, and hotel complexes with underground and above-ground parking in the Gorbachykha tract." The number of floors specified is 2–31.
So, to summarize: Nikonov initially conceals his direct financial involvement in the Gorbachikha development project, but later admits it. He deliberately emphasizes that the land is allocated for housing construction (presumably, that's what he plans to do), emphasizing that "there's demand" for supermarkets and other similar facilities. The urban development conditions and restrictions also specify residential development.
But Nikonov wants to prove to Kyiv residents that this should truly be considered an "ecopark." Of course, the developer is categorically opposed to creating a nature reserve on the Gorbachikha property.
Of course, without a new project in place, it's too early to definitively assert that this is all a blatant substitution of concepts and that Nikonov's "ecopark" is, in fact, simply a pretty wrapper for a new residential complex. But if all this doesn't look like manipulation, then what does?
Who else is for and against the development of Gorbachikha?
Vitali Klitschko is obviously worth mentioning among Nikonov's supporters in the fight against environmentalists over Gorbachykha. As a reminder, the Kyiv City Council and Kyiv City State Administration are currently defendants in the lawsuit and are effectively defending not so much their own interests and shortcomings as those of the developer. It's also worth noting that it's at the level of the Kyiv City State Administration and Kyiv City Council that the issue of granting the tract nature reserve status is constantly being stalled.
It should also not be forgotten that Nikonov was Klitschko’s deputy for a long time and knew how to find a common language with him.
As for purely financial aspects, things are also interesting here. If you look at the founder structure of Construction Inter-Industry Alliance LLC, Nikonov isn't even formally the main owner—his Tennessee company owns only 12%, while 50% belongs to Phoenix JSC, owned by Serhiy Viktorovich Turchynov.
Serhiy Turchynov is a business partner of former Opposition Platform - For Life MP and well-known developer Vadym Stolar ; they are connected through a joint business through the company "Tower Group."
Bihus.info once linked Turchynov to a certain Artem Kolyubaev . The journalists described the latter as a former business partner of the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak.
On the other hand, it's not just Dyadyuk and the Kyiv Cultural and Historical Center that are fighting for the preservation of Gorbachykha, but also numerous other public organizations (although they were not allowed to intervene as third parties) and individual activists who care about the fate of Kyiv's natural environment. They have repeatedly stated that they will defend the preservation of the tract by all available means.
The next hearing in the Kyiv Commercial Court regarding Gorbachykha's case is scheduled for March 20. Dyadyuk has also filed a separate lawsuit as an individual in the Dniprovskyi District Court. The case will be heard in April. Time will tell who wins the battle.
Activists intend to defend Gorbachikha. Outside the courthouse. Photo — KEC
"Telegraph" is going to keep its finger on the pulse of the situation around the fabulous Gorbachykha tract, stay tuned.
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