Scientists destroyed a unique hydrogeological station in order to build on state land against the law

09.11.2020

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The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, which has repeatedly been caught up in various scandals involving the embezzlement of state lands, will not betray itself in the future. This time, the main scientific institution of the state «without asking anyone» gave a unique hydrogeological station together with another 2 hectares of land for… the construction of another residential complex! And although the Kyiv Local Prosecutor’s Office No. 1 managed to open criminal proceedings for abuse of authority and seize the plot, construction continued under the cover of so-called «aunties».

Apartments for needy scientists

The Institute of Geological Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the Institute), which is the nominal user of the site, where a powerful research station was located until recently, issued the right to use the site last year. During this time of «successful management», the entire scientific part of the complex was completely razed to the ground, and the right to use the plot for a new residential building was issued in the very first week of obtaining the right of use!

According to the materials of criminal proceedings No. 12020100010001227, on September 23, 2019, information was entered into the State Register of Rights to Immovable Property about the registration of the ownership of a land plot with an area of 2.5737 hectares (cadastral number 8000000000:79:476:0013) in the State of Ukraine in the person of the Institute , and already on September 27, information was entered about the right of LLC «Interbud TM» to develop the specified land plot (surface) for a period of 49 years!!

State land was given for commercial construction

The position of the scientists from the Institute, who signed the contract on the right to develop the land plot, is simple and quite prosaic – the station has long since expired, and the developer, after the construction is completed, will be able to provide housing for the families of young scientists.

Actual sale

However, law enforcement agencies do not share the Institute’s «restrained» optimism about «improving living conditions» for its employees. In particular, on February 13, 2020, criminal proceedings were opened against officials of the Institute under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Namely, Art. 191 – Appropriation and embezzlement of property through abuse of office and Art. 356 – Self- government. Sanctions of the articles provide imprisonment for a term of up to eight years.

Petro Gozyk is the director of the Institute, one of those who gave the green light to the building

However, this punishment is too lenient for government officials who «unholy plunder the land», certain local residents and activists. According to one of them, eco-activist Mykhailo Pogrebyskyi, as a result of the criminal actions of the Institute’s employees, the state already today lost a unique hydrogeological station that was engaged in groundwater research, including studying the level of pollution and the peculiarities of its spread by groundwater in the capital.

«At the moment, the question of the future fate of the site remains – either the construction will stop and it will be used, as before, exclusively for scientific research, or it will be completely built up and then there can be no question of any research!» – told «Active Citizens» Pogrebyskyi.

According to the public figure, the transfer of the right to develop the plot to a private company, while keeping the plot itself in state ownership, is only a cover behind which the actual sale of the plot is hidden, because, as Pogrebysky notes: «…What is the point of the fact that it remains in state ownership, if the entire territory will be completely built up by private structures and it is unlikely that anyone will ever return it, especially for the needs of science!»

Construction under the cover of bandits

Already on the morning of Tuesday, November 3, worried about the new intensification of construction on the already former lands of «science», the public came under the walls of the Holosiyiv police department of the National Security Service in Kyiv to express their decisive «No!» encroachment of developers on another piece of capital land. The main arguments of the protesters, who do not want to develop the territory of the former hydrogeological station, are that such construction can cause extremely unpredictable consequences – under the former station there are still experimental wells of various depths, and the preparatory work on the construction site has already managed to cause soil subsidence and cracks in the houses of the nearby summer cooperative. In addition, the plot is located in the picturesque area of Feofania, which until recently was famous for its forests and clean fresh air, but now actually suffers from the intensive attack of developers.

People blocked the entrance to the district police headquartersThe prerequisites for the recent construction activation are, unfortunately, already banal for us — the complete inactivity of the police. Just think, on the condition that criminal proceedings have already been opened for the fact of the illegal transfer of state land for development, on the condition that the plot is seized, which deprives any of its users of the opportunity to carry out any construction, land, road and other works, and even taking into account operative support of the case by the Security Service of Ukraine, the developer calmly continues his construction!

The community’s visit «triggered» the start of police work

Further more – despite the fact that on November 4, after widespread publicity in social networks about the open inactivity of the police, the workers of the latter construction was quickly sealed, already on November 5, construction equipment continued to enter the construction site, which our journalist became an eyewitness. Interestingly, after the arrival of the police, the owners of the building carefully
attached the detached «seal» back, thus blocking their own equipment in the seized area.

The police will not help!

Towards the evening, the situation calmed down a bit, and the two concrete mixers, which were sullenly waiting for their «turn» around the corner, drove away. However, it was only necessary for the police and journalists to leave Feofania, when a real extravaganza of what the people used to denote by the slang word «disorder» began. Next, the direct speech of Mykhailo Pogrebyskyi, who stayed at the scene of events until late at night: «And it boiled again! Aunties made a corridor for equipment – and put concrete trucks on course! To and fro! There were more and more concrete trucks – just like aunties!»

With the arrival of the «aunties», construction continued with renewed vigor

Dozens of calls to the police were made by various people – with demands not only to call the SOG [Investigative-Operational Group – ed., Author], but also the immediate intervention of the special police unit – because there is a group of bandits here inlarge numbers.

What do you think, someone came? No way! And this is already a precedent! Moreover, it is a very dangerous precedent, because the issue of the reputation of the reformed National Police is far from timely! At the moment, the question of the effectiveness and viability of the entire law enforcement system of the country is not being fulfilled, since the main task of such a system is not being fulfilled – the protection of order, which is the strict observance of all laws and other normative legal acts of an authoritative nature, in the interests of all citizens!

Titushki – the new enforcers of order in the capital / Photo by M. Pogrebyskyi

In fact, on the night of November 5 to 6, 2020, we could see the diametrically opposite picture – the protection of one’s own far-fetched order, in the interests of a limited circle of people!

According to local residents, one of such a circle of persons is a representative of groups close to criminal structures known in Holosievo, nicknamed «Leshiy». On the evening of November 5, he personally arrived at the scandalous construction site to ensure free passage of construction equipment to the seized site together with his «fighters».

There is information in online publications that under this nickname is apparently the nephew of the former chief of the Kyiv police Oleksandr Tereshchuk. There is an opinion that thanks to such connections, «Lesho» always manages to avoid responsibility before the law. It is with «Leshy» that the mass media associate such high-profile cases as the shootout with the wounded in the park named after of Rylskyi, which happened in August 2019, the «crushing» of an illegal sand dump in the area of the Southern Bridge and the «crushing» of a number of other illegal buildings in the capital and the suburbs.

Dmytro Perov, founder of the Public Organization «Green Minute»