The National Police is investigating the "Komarnytskyi-Svystunov schemes"

Law enforcement officers have found that a group of officials from the Department of Urban Development and Architecture of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA), headed by its chief Oleksandr Svystunov, are providing Urban Planning Conditions and Restrictions (UPCR) for the design or reconstruction of buildings in the capital for improper monetary rewards.

Currently, there are about five hundred such cases for the period 2020-2021. According to the investigation, these corruption schemes are coordinated by a well-known businessman and self-proclaimed "overseer of Kyiv," Denys Komarnytskyi (pictured right), who controls the work of officials, accumulates the received "income," and distributes it among the participants in the scheme.

As reported by KV, the National Police is conducting an investigation into possible abuses by officials of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) and those close to them in issuing permits in the field of urban planning.

This concerns criminal proceedings No. 42021100000000162, opened by the Pechersk Department of the Kyiv National Police on March 10, 2021. Law enforcement officers preliminarily accuse the individuals involved of committing crimes under three articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

Part 3 of Article 209 - Legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means, committed by an organized group or on a particularly large scale;
Part 4 of Article 358 - Using a knowingly forged document;
Part 2 of Article 364 - Abuse of power or official position that caused grave consequences.

Simple Scheme

Investigators established that officials from the Department of Urban Development and Architecture of the KCSA and the Department (Center) of Administrative Services of the KCSA, with the participation of other persons and business entities, organized the receipt of undue benefits for assisting in obtaining UPCRs, including for the design of reconstruction of apartments into non-residential premises. According to law enforcement, officials deliberately ignored possible document forgery that applicants submitted to obtain these permits.

It’s noted that from January 2020 to March 2021, more than 467 applications were submitted to the Department of Urban Development and Architecture of the KCSA through the Department (Center) of Administrative Services of the KCSA to obtain UPCRs for the design of reconstruction of residential premises (apartments) into non-residential ones. These applications had many common features: the form and text of the applications were identical and differed only by addresses; the designed sketches of future entrance groups were almost identical; there were similar spelling mistakes in the documents for obtaining UPCRs; the same contact phone numbers were indicated in the applications; the relevant documents went through the same employees of the Department (Center) of Administrative Services of the KCSA, etc.

Investigators also have information that officials of the Department of Urban Development and Architecture of the KCSA engaged in actions aimed at extorting and receiving undue benefits from individuals and legal entities for positively resolving other issues. In particular, they allegedly demanded bribes for approving urban planning documentation and architectural planning parts of construction and reconstruction projects.

According to the National Police, this illegal activity involves the director of the Department of Urban Development and Architecture of the KCSA, Oleksandr Svystunov, his first deputy Oleksandr Yastrubenko, as well as his deputy and concurrently head of the administrative services management of this department, Yuriy Tatsiy. Investigators state they use the services of at least eight intermediaries in their illegal activities. The law enforcement does not specify what role these intermediaries play in the implementation of these schemes. However, it can be assumed that they possibly passed documents and money to officials.

According to investigators, the coordination of such a criminal scheme was/is carried out by a person who calls themselves "close to pro-government members of the Ukrainian parliament" and positions themselves as an "overseer." According to law enforcement, this person gives instructions to the mentioned KCSA officials and intermediaries, as well as supervises their activities. They are also responsible for accumulating undue benefits and their further distribution among the participants in the scheme.

It’s important to note that there is almost no information in the court rulings on this case about who exactly is the aforementioned "coordinator." However, it can be confidently stated that it refers to Denys Komarnytskyi — a scandalously known businessman and a member of the Kyiv City Council of the VI convocation from the "Leonid Chernovetskyi Bloc," who has repeatedly been called the "overseer of Kyiv" by public figures, journalists, and MPs from the head of the Office of the President, Andriy Yermak.

A direct confirmation of his involvement in the aforementioned scheme is the fact that one of the searches within the investigation was conducted at Denys Komarnytskyi’s primary residence in Kozyn, Kyiv region, in a house on land plots that as of November 2021 belonged to his wife Iryna (cadastral numbers-3223155400:03:023:0030 and 3223155400:03:023:0031). Incidentally, this is where law enforcement conducted a search as part of a criminal investigation into possible "budget cuts during the construction of the Podilsko-Voskresenskyi bridge crossing.

Prospects for Sentences

It’s hard to predict the outcome of the investigation concerning the "UPCR issuance for money scheme" at this point. The latest court ruling in this case is dated June 8, 2022 — at that time, Denys Komarnytskyi’s lawyers tried to cancel the arrest of funds seized from him during a search. However, neither the defence side nor the law enforcement appeared at the court session where the corresponding application was considered. Therefore, investigative judge Serhiy Vovk rejected the lawyers’ demands.

It is also noteworthy that the state register of court decisions lacks rulings that would indicate information about law enforcement’s investigative-operational actions in this case, apart from the aforementioned search. That is, such decisions may exist, but they were either not made public or deleted. Furthermore, all details of this investigation are described in only one court ruling from February 18, 2022. This document was published in the court register only on June 6, 2022.

Such "delays" and "non-publication" of court decisions are usually due to one of several factors: either investigators and the judiciary try to prevent information leaks necessary for investigations, or these documents are not published at the request of case figures, backed by "material benefits" for law enforcement and court system officials.

By the way, possible manipulations with the court register were established by journalists of "Slidstvo.Info" in 2019 — they learned that during 2018, 229.6 thousand court rulings disappeared from this "public base."

What the Figures Are Known For

Oleksandr Svystunov has held the position of Director of the Department of Urban Development and Architecture of the KCSA since November 1, 2016, and before that, he temporarily performed the duties of the head of this structure for five months. His activities are regularly criticized by Kyiv City Council deputies, journalists, and public figures, and also attract the attention of law enforcement agencies.

The most painful topic, of course, is the issuance of UPCR for the design of construction or reconstruction in Kyiv, which occurs with numerous violations of urban planning documentation and legal frameworks (it is said that such documents are issued by the relevant department of the KCSA to developers only for a financial reward.-KV). Such UPCRs from the KCSA then allow developers to obtain building permits and erect whatever they want wherever in the capital.

For example, Kyiv City Council deputies, experts, and law enforcement have repeatedly recorded that this structure, contrary to legislative prohibitions, provides developers with UPCR for designing objects within sanitary-protection zones. In addition, the urban planning department of the KCSA often ignores the restrictions on building heights in different areas. For this reason, for instance, developers are allowed to construct high-rise buildings in the historic center exceeding the 27-meter limit set by the Master Plan.

Svystunov’s last name is almost always mentioned in general discussions about the "construction chaos" in the capital, as well as during talks about specific cases of dubious constructions. But despite loud accusations, protests by public activists near the walls of the KCSA demanding the resignation of Oleksandr Svystunov, and law enforcement’s interest in his person, this official manages to remain in his position.

Also note that the Detailed Plans of Territories (DPT) prepared with the participation of the department headed by Svystunov are almost always approved by the Kyiv City Council amidst scandals and contradiction to the current General Plan of Kyiv. This involves violations of the procedures for developing these documents, as well as their focus on "densifying" Kyiv construction: when, for instance, DPT legalizes high-rise buildings on industrial and other non-residential territories, but does not take into account the General Plan’s requirements regarding the number of places in kindergartens, schools, hospitals, etc.

These and other facts have been repeatedly investigated by the National Police, but in all cases, the matter never even reached the stage of issuing suspicions. Often, the Kyiv public attempts to challenge approved Detailed Plans of Territories in court. Among such examples is the DPT of the Minsk array, which, according to lawyers and activists, involved converting agricultural land into high-rise residential areas and whose implementation could lead to a collapse of the social infrastructure in the northern part of the Obolon district.

The management of the Department of Urban Development and Architecture of the KCSA is also often accused of inactivity. For example, only in February 2022 did this structure begin allowing Kyiv residents to convert country houses into residential ones, despite the fact that the relevant Order was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers back in April 2015.

Denys Komarnytskyi holds a considerable position in the Kyiv political and large business landscapes. Over the past few years, he has been attributed with interests in residential complex construction markets, state fund allocation for various infrastructure projects (including the construction of the Ring Road and the aforementioned Podilsko-Voskresenskyi bridge crossing), and sand extraction in Kyiv.

The operations of companies within his circle in these fields are often accompanied by scandals and legal disputes due to various legal violations. Civil activists and media have repeatedly reported that Denys Komarnytskyi has significant influence over different structural units of the KCSA, including the Department of Urban Development and Architecture.

Komarnytskyi gained particular notoriety in May 2020. At that time, a scandalous audio recording of a phone conversation between him and KCSA Deputy Chairman Vyacheslav Nepop appeared online, during which Komarnytskyi disparaged and humiliated the official. Journalists from Bihus Info speculated that this businessman allows himself such statements because a number of Kyiv municipal enterprises, which fall under Nepop’s domain, had for years awarded billion-dollar contracts to intermediary firms within Komarnytskyi’s orbit.

Moreover, the Department (Center) of Administrative Services of the KCSA has been led by Nataliya Shamrai since April 2015. Previously, this official had not been involved in public scandals.

KyivVlada