Repair of the «Krakiw» cinema: the roof, which cost 10 million hryvnias, is leaking, and with this contractor, Kyivkinofilm is preparing to conclude a new contract

According to the contract signed on August 2, 2018, between the Municipal Enterprise of the Executive Body of the Kyiv City Council «Kyivkinofilm» and the winner of the tender for 74.3 million UAH (Ukrainian hryvnia), LLC «Integral Bud-Standard» represented by director Yerokhin D.V., the capital repair works in the premises of the «Krakiw» cinema were supposed to be completed within six months
from the start. However, the repair started at the end of October 2018.

According to the passport, which is installed at the entrance to the «European Cultural Center of  Krakow», the center should start its work in the renovated premises of the cinema with a new  system of ventilation, heating and solar panels on the roof, on 31.12.2019, probably with New Year’s performances.

But on November 8, «Krakіw» greeted us with broken windows, bare walls, a leaky floor,  water on the ceiling, seats for spectators covered with a layer of construction dust, and a mountain of  debris from a large wall panel that had greeted moviegoers on the second floor of the cinema since 1968.

On Friday, activists (a person who campaigns to bring about political or social change) from the  Dniprovskiy district and representatives of the Public Council at the Dniprovskiy District State  Administration had the opportunity to see the progress of work at the municipal institution funded with 74 million budget hryvnias.

«Here we will have a hall for children’s groups, here — a choreographic studio, here a sound recording  studio», —  Oksana Abrashekova, the acting director of the Communal Enterprise «European Cultural  Center of Krakiw», told inspiredly, pointing to the dark premises with bare brick walls and buckets  standing in the middle , where rainwater flows from the ceiling.

«Water from the roof is our glaring problem. You can see large water stains on the ceiling and on the  floor, — Mrs. Abrashekova continues in despair. — This wasn’t there before the  renovation. It’s completely unclear why the builders dismantled the roof; it wasn’t in the  technical task for the building’s reconstruction! The roof was recently redone by a different  contractor, and there were no issues at all. Nothing was leaking anywhere. Now, after the renovation, it  got soaked with the very first rain. And what now? Is it going to rot, swell, and damage the roofing material?»

Together with the working group responsible for monitoring the repair work of the Krakow cinema  building, which was established this week by the Public Council under the Dniprovskiy District State  Administration in Kyiv, we climbed onto the roof of the Krakіw cinema. In addition to the splendid  autumn view, a large puddle immediately caught our eye, which had formed in the middle of the roof of the building, which has a noticeable slope towards the center. Even with such a slope, the water does not  naturally flow to the drainage system, and even with the help of a broom, it is difficult to redirect it in the  desired direction. According to representatives of the European Cultural Center Krakіw, the  subcontractor arbitrarily relocated the drainage system from where it was originally designed by the  architect of the Krakіw cinema and had been functioning effectively for over 50 years.

Even when walking on the new rolled roofing material covering the roof, you constantly either step on  noticeable protrusions or your foot sinks into some pits. But the situation with the side part of the roof is  even worse. The rolled roofing material was laid on it in such a way that it created a  «bellows» effect — meaning the covering does not snugly adhere to the wall protrusion. 

«If it might be sufficient to cover the roof itself with another layer of rolled material and a layer of  bitumen, then on the side, everything needs to be relayed so that air doesn’t circulate there. There will definitely be either leaks or the formation of moisture with all the consequences», — architect Andriy Chaukin, who was present with us on the roof, explained.

Somehow it so happened that during our inspection, a team of workers, sent by the management of Integral Bud-Standard LLC (A limited liability company, commonly referred to as an “LLC”, is a type of  business structure) to the facility, climbed onto the roof to complete the insulation of the new ventilation  hole. Somehow it so happened that the workers had previously made the hole, but not the  insulation, and it was because of this that a large-scale flood occurred inside the room, and the glass  wool got wet.

«In our presence, the workers began insulation work on the opening, and we inquired whether the roof  covering would be completely replaced. «We haven’t been told that… Ask our management…  And in any case, the contract has been terminated», were the responses we heard».

In reality, Contract T-99/18 dated August 2, 2018, was terminated by mutual agreement of the parties  on June 14, 2019. In the supplementary agreement between «KyivkinoFilm» and «Integral Bud-Standard» it is stated that «the work within the specified scope has been  properly executed in accordance with the terms of the Contract». For this, «Integral  Bud-Standard» received 10 million hryvnias. In other words, the Municipal Enterprise «KyivkinoFilm» settled with «Integral Bud-Standard» for the substandard roof  work and, without any further claims, terminated the contract with the LLC. It turns out that formally «Integral Bud-Standard» is not obligated to repair the leaking roof…

«But for an additional 123 million hryvnias, «Integral Bud-Standard» is ready to do it! Despite the initial  work not being completed and the fact that what was done led to the deterioration of the building,  this LLC won a new tender for the overhaul of the «Krakiw» cinema building located  at Rusanska Naberezhna Street, 12. The price tag for this is already 123 million hryvnias. By the  way, three other companies submitted their proposals for this tender, but they did not secure the lucrative contract».

«We have suspicions that this entire story of contract termination and the emergence of a new tender,  which has once again fallen into the hands of the same company, is nothing more than a simple increase  in the price of repair works, so that someone can pocket more millions, – shared his thoughts with  «Active Citizens» a local activist. – Do they intend to profit from our premises every year  while the premises deteriorate in the meantime? This seems like a mockery of Kyiv residents! «It`s interesting that a pre-trial investigation is being conducted against an unnamed individual  from the «Kyivkinofilm» company regarding possible negligence during the reconstruction of  the «Krakiw» cinema. So far, law enforcement agencies have identified instances of  violations of construction deadlines for the reconstruction of the «Krakiw» cinema and non- compliance with the terms of the contract, under which 10 million hryvnias were transferred to the subcontracting organization.

In the meantime, the Kyiv authorities have announced a tender for the reconstruction of another important cinema. They plan to allocate 120 million hryvnias for the renovation of the «Kyoto» cinema (formerly «russia») located at Mylutenka Street 19.

Іryna Kovalchuk