Prosecutor’s Office revokes developer’s ownership of architectural monument in Podil

19.11.2021

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On November 17, the Kyiv City Commercial Court canceled the registration of the ownership of the private enterprise Konvaliya-Nedvizhimost to the complex of historical and cultural monuments at 2 Khoryva Street. The decision was motivated by the improper use of cultural heritage objects and an incomplete package of documents that could have certified the legality of the transfer of monuments to private ownership.

Who is the owner?

The owner of the private enterprise Konvaliya-Nedvizhimost, which until recently registered the complex of monuments, is Victoria Rohach. According to the Nashi Hroshi publication, Rohach is a lawyer at Proksen & Partners Law Firm. At the same time, the director of Konvaliya Real Estate is Roman Shyngur, who is the deputy director of the same law firm.

According to Nashi Hroshi, Shyngur has been involved in a joint business with the former head of the Central Election Commission Mykhailo Okhendovsky since the 90s. However, this is not the last «trace» of the «Yanukovych’s ally» in this case. By a strange coincidence, the sale and purchase agreements for the complex at 2 Khoryva Street were certified by no one else but Mr. Mykhailo’s wife, Kateryna.

In January 2020, the Podil Police Department of the Main Department of the National Police in Kyiv opened criminal proceedings over the possible forgery of documents certified by Mr. Okhendovsky’s wife. And in 2021, when the case was considered by the Economic Court, it turned out that 4 of the 5 buildings of the complex were transferred to the company as «auxiliary premises». However, even for them, lawyer Oleh Shevchuk, who represented the developer’s interests in this case, could not provide documents in the prescribed form. Therefore, the registration of the property right was recognized as illegal, and the property itself should return to the municipal property of Kyiv.

Why are the buildings valuable?

The complex of buildings at 2 Khoryva Street is one of the oldest manor complexes in Podil that has come down to us in almost unchanged condition. The estate received the status of a monument back in 2014. And in 2021, following a public petition, the Podil monument was granted another protective status – a historical monument.

The Dmitriev Estate, which is the name of the complex in the State Register of Immovable Monuments, was founded back in 1830 and originally consisted of one house and a courtyard. Later, with the change of owners, new buildings appeared on the territory of the complex. But the characteristic feature was that each new owner was careful with the «achievements of his predecessors». Unlike today, new construction here did not destroy or distort the appearance of previously built structures. Thus, a whole architectural history of styles and generations gradually began to emerge, which ended only in 1910, when the last object of the complex was built.

The authors of this «chronicle of architecture» in different periods were prominent Kyiv architects Oleksandr Kryvosheiev and Volodymyr Nikolaiev.

What’s next?

According to the text of the court’s decision, it comes into force unless one of the participants files an appeal. The latter is likely to be used by Konvaliya-Nedvizhimost. The developer’s strong intentions to raze the historic complex to the ground may be evidenced, among other things, by numerous lawsuits to cancel the protected status of the buildings. The latest one was filed with the District Administrative Court only a month ago.

«Рішення суду є. Як його реалізувати – допоки незрозуміло»

However, it is unclear how the courts will now consider requests for revocation of the security status from the “non-owner”. The city council also does not comment on the “unexpected gift” that literally fell on their heads. Neither the Kyiv City Council nor the relevant Department of Communal Property has yet voiced any official position on accepting the returned monuments on its balance sheet or plans for their restoration and restoration.

At the same time, numerous advertisements for the sale of the buildings at 2 Khoryva Street are circulating on the Internet. The authors of such messages ask for more than $1 million for the almost 200-year-old mansion. At the same time, the court did not enforce the decision in the case. So, purely formally, the buildings may be auctioned off even before they are returned to communal ownership.

Dmytro Perov, founder of the Public Organization “Green Minute”