“During the war in general, you can, damn it, rent houses without facades, without landscaping, without anything. If they don’t like it, don’t sign it. Let them go nah..y,” commented on the dissatisfaction of investors allegedly Head of Kievmiskstroy Igor Kushnir during his conversation with Maxim Nikitas (suspected in numerous scams by the ex-head of Ukrstroy). A recording of the conversation was shown to investors by Nikitas himself, and it was also published online.
Igor Kushnir began the practice of “renting houses light” long before the full-scale war. Residential complex “Medovy” was put into operation on September 6, 2021. In three 26-storey buildings, problems with electricity and heating have not yet been resolved. In the center of the residential complex there is an unfinished kindergarten, and the only road to the complex is covered with pits. In addition, according to the standard, the number of parking spaces on the territory of the residential complex should be several times higher.
GLOBAL HAPPENINGS visited the territory of the residential complex “Medovy”, met with its residents and figured out how Kushnir built another problematic residential complex and how the private companies associated with it earn.
“Kyivmiskstroy” handed over the residential complex without a permanent electricity connection scheme and with a house without heating
Ukraine seeks to become a full member of the EU and, after winning the war, to return refugees home. To do this, you need to go a long way – to overcome systemic corruption, the shadow market and learn to live by the law. A vivid example of everything that needs to be got rid of is demonstrated by individual developers. And we are not talking about small private companies.
“Kyivmiskstroy”, which is 80% owned by the Kyiv society and controls 30% of the entire real estate market in the capital, is one of the main violators of the rules. The attention of GLOBAL HAPPENINGS was attracted by the investors of the Medovy-2 residential complex, they wrote a petition and asked the local authorities to influence Kyivmiskstroy and resume the construction of their residential complex. But the owners of the neighboring residential complex Medovy, which had already been put into operation, also suffered from the company managed by Kushnir.
The residential complex consists of three 26-storey buildings. According to the project, 1665 apartments were located here (the residents themselves say that there are more apartments, but this could not be confirmed). The complex is located in the Solomensky district of the capital. The only broken road leads to it. In this residential complex they lived without electricity long before the Russian missile attacks on the energy infrastructure, and a few months ago the temperature in supposedly heated apartments fluctuated between 10-12 degrees.
During his reign, Kushnir has become one of the richest real estate developers in Ukraine. His wife, Oksana, is the owner of a plane on which ex-people’s deputy and state traitor Viktor Medvedchuk flew to his godfather Putin in Moscow. Kushnir, 51, at the height of the 2022-2023 heating season, when the whole house in the Medovy residential complex was left without heating, flew to Vienna (and became the subject of an investigation by the Vena Battalion Unitary Enterprise).
Kushnir received certificates for the residential complex “Medovy” on the eve of the liquidation of the GASI. The culprits can’t be found
In September 2021, investors of the residential complex “Medovy” heard good news – all three multi-storey buildings were finally put into operation. Now they could turn from “investors” into full-fledged owners of apartments. Officially, from that moment on, the houses moved from the status of “construction” to the status of “residential property”. The news was long awaited because they promised to issue the keys by the third quarter of 2019 (the delay was two years).
The developer – “Kyivgorstroy” – received certificates for three high-rise buildings before the liquidation of the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate (GAI). GLOBAL HAPPENINGS then wrote a lot about how the ex-head of the State Architectural Inspectorate Aleksey Kudryavtsev and officials associated with him got into numerous scandals. And for two weeks before liquidation, they issued about 400 certificates, including dubious LCDs. Currently, Kudryavtsev, according to media reports, is in France with his family.
The joy of investors quickly ended, recalls a member of the initiative group of apartment owners in the residential complex Medovy Yulia Stogniy. “Kyivmiskstroy” according to the law must connect the entire utility infrastructure before putting the house into operation. And he didn’t. It turned out that the residential complex receives current from a temporary substation designed for builders (working connection diagram).
“And so people began to come in for repairs. About 100 apartments began to make repairs, of course, they began to dry the walls, use construction tools. This is where this substation burned down,” Yulia recalls. DTEK explained: in their documents, the residential complex is still listed as construction, the technical conditions for connecting electricity were not met.
After scandals and rallies, the developer installed another substation under the Kyivmiskstroy office. But the number of inhabitants has increased exponentially. The construction of the residential complex “Medovy-2” was also connected to the same substation (now all work has been stopped). The city council had to intervene. The profile commission summoned the DTEK developer to a meeting. The interests of local residents were represented by a deputy from the Solomensky district, Yuri Tikhonovich, but he refused to comment on GLOBAL HAPPENINGS.
As a result, another line was launched in the Medovy residential complex, and the tariff for business was transferred to the tariff for the population (instead of almost UAH 6 per kWh, residents began to pay UAH 1.68). In order to switch to a permanent one according to the temporary connection scheme, says Stogniy, need 130 million UAH. This is money for the project, communications themselves, connection, etc.
“I think Kyivmiskbud hoped that the residents themselves would solve this issue,” Yulia says. Lawyer Svetlana Sarazha, who defends the interests of investors in courts, tells GLOBAL HAPPENINGS: there were similar situations in her judicial practice. Main question: how the developer was able to put the building into operation if he is obliged to connect communications. “If there is a gas project, there must be gasification, there must be a connection of electricity, water supply, sewerage. Without this, it is impossible to put the house into operation. If the house has already been put into operation in any way, now it is very difficult to force the developer to start connecting,” says Sarazh. .
Liquidated DASI did not have the right to put into operation a house that “Kyivmiskstroy” actually did not bring to a living condition. But a few days before closing, the department issued documents. It is the law enforcement officers who have to figure out who exactly and why made such a decision (GLOBAL HAPPENINGS will contact the SBI, the Kyiv city prosecutor’s office with inquiries).
For two years, the housing complex Medovy continued to have problems with electricity. Long before the Russian attacks on the energy system Light was given here according to schedules: sometimes every week, sometimes every three days. Now, thanks to the new line, there is enough electricity. But this is a temporary solution. In order to switch to a permanent connection, and residents to draw up a direct contract with DTEK, they need to find these UAH 130 million somewhere. And here investors will either have to sue Kyivgorstroy or raise funds on their own.
“Kyivmiskstroy” left residents “swamp” and apartments with mold, and documents have to beg for months
Electricity is just one of the many problems that Kyivmiskstroy has left for the residents. IN the second house is not connected to heating and pipes are not laid from the boiler room to the building. As a result, electric heaters had to be used, and mold appeared throughout the house due to temperature changes and high humidity. “There was heating in the first and third houses, it was connected there. And I have a second house, so we had 10 degrees in the winter in the apartment. Imagine what to do when there is no electricity and heating,” complains the owner of the apartment Irina. One of the residents of the residential complex sent GLOBAL HAPPENINGS photos of her apartment. Two years later, mold covered the walls and floor.
“Kievmiskstroy” undertook to repair the road leading to the residential complex, but the work has not even begun. As a result, the only road leading from the residential complex to schools, gardens, transport stops, etc., is broken. And with every rain it turns into a swamp.
The developer did not spend money on parking. According to building codes, even if the residential complex had only one-room apartments (the lowest coefficient applies to them), the developer had to create at least 833 parking spaces. Sosun says that there are places for only 150 cars on the territory of the residential complex (364 in the project). In any case, the number of parking spaces is many times less than the norm. And even now, although the complex is partially occupied, apartment owners are forced to park on the territory of the residential complex.
There are other problems as well. For example, an investor in the residential complex “Medovy” Marina (name changed at her request) since the summer of 2022 can’t get ownership in a house that has been in operation for a long time. Officially, Irina is still an investor, although in reality she has already renovated and moved into her apartment.
“Kievmiskstroy” belongs to the people of Kiev, and the contract is forced to be signed with a private management company
One of the most common complaints of the residents of “Medovoe” is the high tariffs and low efficiency of the management company, the contract with which the developer forced to sign. “To get the right of ownership, you need to sign an agreement with the management company. Of course, I signed. Now they do nothing. The maximum that you can count on is garbage collection and cleaning in the entrance. And for this each apartment pays large sums”, – Complains a resident of the residential complex.
All residents of Medovoye, on the recommendation of Kievmiskstroy, must sign an agreement with ZhK Service Center. Their tariff is UAH 12.66. per square meter. For example, for apartments with an area of 50 square meters, you need to pay 633 UAH per month. While utility companies charge half as much for the same services.
The total area of apartments in “Medovoye” is 113,902 square meters. That is, monthly from the residents of “LCD Service Center” can receive up to 1.4 million UAH (excluding debtors). The amount is decent, but in fact the scheme is more ambitious.
The beneficiaries of ZhK Service Center, in contrast to Kievmiskstroy, are private individuals Sergey Melnik and Alexander Voloshin. Dozens of companies are registered on them. In recent years, all the objects that Kyivmiskstroy leases have been transferred to the management of companies registered with Melnyk and Voloshin. These are “French Quarter 2”, “Air-Fleet Service”, “Tower Service”, “HK “Kiev Service”, “LCD Service Center”, “UK Time Service”, “UK Star Service”, “UK Pechersk Sky”, “UK Obereg 2”, “KK Service 1” and a number of other companies (see the infographic for the full list).
That is, we are no longer talking about UAH 1.4 million per month, but about tens of millions of hryvnia per month. GLOBAL HAPPENINGS found dozens of complaints against these companies. In all cases, residents complain about too high tariffs and the lack of quality services.
“Kyivmiskstroy” gives the object to investors, and the private companies chosen by it continue to earn monthly from the owners of apartments. And until the moment when the residents get to know each other, create condominiums, carefully study the conditions for terminating the contract, several years pass.
Without overcoming corruption in the real estate market, one cannot count on the speedy restoration of Ukraine’s housing infrastructure, the return of millions of refugees and the effective development of cities. And while developers, in violation of the law, can give unfinished objects and impose their services, the situation will not change.
If you have similar stories where the developer has not fulfilled its obligations to investors, write to us [email protected] We will be investigating.
Source: Obozrevatel
I am a journalist who writes about economics and business. I have worked in the news industry for over 5 years, most recently as an author at Global Happenings. My work has focused on covering the economy news, and I have written extensively on topics such as unemployment rates, housing prices, and the financial crisis. I am also an avid reader and have been known to write about books that interest me.
