Andriy Puzyichuk: Everything will be "Fundament" and "Azur-Group"! Part 2

Andriy Puzyichuk: Everything will be "Fundament" and "Azur-Group"! Part 2

Home for the SSU and construction of "Arcadia"

During Soviet times, at the address Potekhina Street, 9, there was a part of "radio-electronic warfare" that engaged in jamming Western "voices" (similar to the current blocking of Russian media). In 2005, these 4.6 hectares became the property of the SSU, whose leadership in 2013 decided to build the residential complex "Bergen" for their employees. The first tender was won by the company "Arcade-Construction" (34882504), but then the second Maidan happened, everything mixed up, and in 2014, the new SSU leadership held a repeated tender, which was won by "House-Building Company No. 7" (38526328), part of the "Fundament" group.

The SSU was not at all embarrassed by the fact that it signed a contract with a company that had a statutory capital of 4 thousand hryvnias (the cost of a single toolset), nor the fact that in the future residential complex of 3268 apartments, its employees would only receive 327 (10%). The first could still be explained by the fact that "DCK-7" immediately hired "Azur-Group" as a contractor, which had previously taken on the task of building a residential complex for the SSU on Trutenko Street, 3. However, the second was outright corruption covered by the most powerful law enforcement agency in the country. Indeed, the SSU allowed the Puziychuks to build on their land and then profitably sell around three thousand apartments! Moreover, according to media reports, it was the SSU that helped obtain construction permits just a few steps from the Holosiivsky forest, which sparked fierce protests from local residents.

In 2017, these permits were annulled. Then it turned out that "DCK-7" received the approval of the scientific and technical council of the Ministry of Regional Development to deviate from building norms, meaning they designed the residential complex with serious violations. Finally, the last straw was the delay in construction: it was initially supposed to be completed in 2016, then in October 2019, but the Puziychuks had nothing but promises and photoshopped pictures. Hence, in November 2020, the SSU simply terminated the contract with "DCK-7," which the Puziychuks had already preemptively reassigned to front persons. However, the SSU did not seek revenge but merely sued for a penalty of 44 million hryvnias. According to sources from Skelet.Info, to amicably resolve the situation, the Puziychuks had to deliver several heavy envelopes and keys to apartments in other residential complexes to the SSU.

Thus, while the Puziychuks were still advertising apartments in the "Friendly Quarter" residential complex, their Bergen construction project had already collapsed. And this is no mere coincidence. Looking at all the construction projects undertaken by their "Fundament" and "Azur-Group" over the past 5-6 years, the following picture emerges: the Puzijchuks were frantically hopping from one construction site to another to finish others, while they withdrew funds and bankrupted their enterprises. Why?

It might have been related to a massive scandal that erupted in early 2018 when NABU and the National Police initiated an investigation into the activities of Vyacheslav Nepop as the director of "Zhytloinvestbud." Although Nepop immediately took Klychko under his wing, appointing him as his deputy, the generous flow of money to the Puzijchuks’ firms through "Zhytloinvestbud" dried up. By this time, the Puziychuks were no longer content with the "little" and created a true financial-construction pyramid, which collapsed due to their innate greed: they withdrew so much money from the projects that there was not enough left to complete all of them. But instead of waking up and curbing their appetite, they rushed into new projects. Some of them were quite attractive due to the potential earnings from apartment sales or generous budget financing. Others seemed to have been opened solely to extract money from unsuspecting co-investors, as was the case with the "Friendly Quarter." By the way, is it a coincidence that all permits for its construction by "Fundament" were obtained immediately after Nepop became the deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, overseeing construction-architectural and land departments?

However, the Puziychuks’ troubles began even earlier, along with the collapse of the construction projects by the "Arcada" bank, which left 13,000 families without apartments, despite them having already paid for them. As is known, all the blame for this "new Elite-Center" fell solely on the bank itself, through which all transactions were conducted, and all schemes passed. Hence, the construction contractors of "Arcade," including "Fundament" and "Azur-Group," remained ostensibly unscathed. Although as early as 2018, at the anniversary corporate event of “Fundament", its management proudly flaunted their long-standing cooperation with "Arcada"! After all, the Puziychuk firms constructed such "Arcade" projects as "Welcome Home" (on Revutskogo Street), "La-La-Land," "Eureka," and "Cassiopeia." The "Fundament" structures were implicated in the scandalous construction of the residential complex "Patriotika," which sparked a protracted conflict with nature defenders.

And so the "Arcada" bank burst, yet "Fundament" and "Azur-Group" continued to complete its projects – but now they attracted money from new clients through the venture fund "Hunter." At the same time, to complete the "La-La-Land" and "Eureka" complexes, which utilized panels produced by "DCK-3," they drove their plant to bankruptcy, plus left the "Friendly Quarter" residential complex without building materials. Yet, unable to keep up with these volumes of construction, the Puziychuks are attempting to obtain contracts to complete other "Arcadia" objects – given that the talk is about multi-billion sums meant to be allocated from the budget so that defrauded investors can finally receive their apartments.

Yet a few years ago, the Puziychuks were already summoned to "help" defrauded investors – though not their own, but those victimized in the "Elita-Center" venture. In 2016, "Zhytloinvestbud" held a tender for the construction of two panel residential buildings on budgetary funds on Mylyuslavska Street, part of the apartments in which were intended for the affected “Elita” investors. Naturally, the tender was "won" by "Azur-Group," to whose accounts 195.65 million public hryvnias were transferred. Construction proceeded at the traditional "Puziychuk" pace: by summer 2020, it was not yet completed, and "Azure-Group" requested an additional 94.86 million hryvnias from the budget. It should be emphasized that at that moment, the "Friendly Quarter" residential complex construction was finally halted, and "DCK-3" was bankrupted. Of course, nothing was completed by the end, the budget money was simply stolen by the Puziychuks once again, and then they orchestrated yet another trick: in spring 2021, "Azur-Group" withdrew from the project, and a new tender for its completion was won... by "Fundament"!

Mafia Immortal?

To arrange all these scams with impunity, mere friendship with the Nepop group would not have been sufficient. That’s why Andriy Puziychuk entered the ranks of people’s deputies with a purpose! Becoming one was not easy: he had no political experience, and his fame was limited to an altercation with Ruslan Demchak’s security guard in the "Chi" nightclub. Also, as an avid hunter (i.e., killer of forest animals), he boasts a luxurious collection of expensive hunting rifles and owns LLC "The Hunting Yard" (34082615). Though only within very narrow circles was he known for this. Therefore, Andriy Puziychuk did the simpler thing – he bought himself a mandate, and alongside it, the entire regional organization of the "Fatherland" party.

Andriy Puziychuk and Yuliya Tymoshenko

The choice of the party was not coincidental: "Fatherland" has long had the image of a party ready to accept anyone into its ranks as long as they pay handsomely! Moreover, there came an opportune moment: Valeriy Dubil, one of Tymoshenko’s closest associates, reportedly organized a genuine sale, and among his clients were even well-known criminals. So, this is how Andriy Puziychuk received a passing number 21 in the party list and, additionally, the Chernihiv "Fatherland" (two for the price of one?).

But as ironic as it may sound, what followed was no laughing matter. Because in the Rada, Andriy Puziychuk became the head of the Temporary Investigation Commission (TIC) for investigating facts of corruption in the bodies of architectural and construction control. A seasoned construction fraudster and corrupt individual was appointed to investigate corruption in construction – is this a joke? No, these are the realities of the current "green" regime! Yet the specifics become more disheartening: this TIC was created at the initiative and for the services of the well-known Kyiv developer-corruptionist Vadym Stolar, who, by the way, was elected as a deputy from OPFL (Opposition Platform - For Life). However, party differences do not prevent Puziychuk and Stolar from being a team both in the Rada and in the capital’s construction sector. By the way, Vadym Stolar’s involvement in the collapse of the "Arcada" bank has long been discussed. And this information logically fills in many gaps in the Puziychuks’ fraudulent schemes!

Vadym Stolar

It was Stolar who facilitated the appointment of his old friend and companion Andriy Puziychuk as the head of the high-level investigation commission. In addition to him, Stolar "inserted" another of his associates into this commission — Nataliya Prykhodko (also an MP from OPFL). As Kyrylo Sazonov explained, Prykhodko previously worked in the travel company "Yana" owned by Stolar’s parents, and later as his personal lawyer-consultant, following her boss from party to party. Besides, she is the cousin of another OPFL MP, Ihor Kyselyov. By the way, about the appointment of this commission was reported by Svitlana Myakota, the head of the New Housing Investors Association:

Yet back in February 2021, the Higher Anti-Corruption Court obliged NABU to open a criminal case regarding this TIC and specifically Puziychuk and Prikhodko, the commission continues its vigorous activity. They continue to cover corruption and fraud in their own business and instigate state bodies and "tame activists" against competitors. However, according to a statement by Andriy Puziychuk himself, the prosecutor’s office launched a case against Svitlana Myakota, starting to summon her for interrogations. It seems the construction mafia of Kyiv is truly immortal!

Nevertheless, if you are not aiming to combat corruption and lawlessness, the surname Puziychuk, as well as the names of his firms, should alarm you for other, more prosaic reasons — if you decide to buy an apartment in their residential complex. Firstly, you yourself could be convinced that dealing with "Fundament," the "Hunter" fund, and other Puziychuk firms is genuinely a high risk of ending up without an apartment and without money. Secondly, and something worth pondering over, the continuous violations by these firms of building codes are not merely "paper crimes"! After all, these economy-class high-rises built from Soviet-style panels somewhat resemble large card houses...

Mykhailo Shpolyanskyi, for Skelet.Info