Oligarch Zlochevskyi, convicted of bribery, buys up luxury real estate in Kyiv

Oligarch Zlochevskyi, convicted of bribery, buys up luxury real estate in Kyiv

Oligarch Mykola Zlochevskyi, who was convicted of bribery, is buying up luxury real estate in Kyiv for hundreds of millions of hryvnias. The family of the former Minister of Ecology (he had long ago signed over the business to his daughters Hanna and Karina) is expanding its wealth in a new area amid a high-profile corruption case and during a major war. They buy worthwhile and attractive real estate in the Ukrainian capital.

It was publicly known that the family had bought the building of the bankrupt Arkada bank, located in the heart of Kyiv. The office was sold on 10 October at a "Dutch" auction (where the price is reduced from the starting price). The starting price was UAH 971 million. The auction was won by Systemoilengineering LLC with an offer of UAH 351 million, which corresponds to $700 per sq m. This company had two competitors who offered even smaller amounts - Inter Wei Capital LLC (UAH 342 million) and Mont Blanc Finance LLC (UAH 302 million). "Sistemoilengineering is owned by the Cypriot company Diloretio Holdings, which, in turn, is owned by other Cypriot companies - Serminara Limited and Glasimo Limited - daughters of the well-known gas producer Mykola Zlochevskyi. The ultimate beneficiary of the first company is Karina Zlochevska, and the second is Hanna Zlochevska.

In early 2023, Baranov sold the property where Food Market was located. This is a 1,800-square-metre building and two plots totalling 0.27 hectares. The land belongs to the state, but it comes with the property.

All this property was registered in the name of Ukemoti LLC. The company, named after the Japanese goddess of food, was registered at the time of the transaction to an apparently fake Kyiv resident who had no other business. But in the spring of 2023, Ukemoti officially became the property of Anna and Karina Zlochevska. The price can start at $2,000 per square metre. This is the market value. How much a particular Food Market could cost depends on its profitability. But if we focus on the mentioned 2,000 dollars, the entire Food Market should have cost the new owners at least 3.6 million dollars.

Zlochevskyi also acquired the Kliuyevs’ office on Riznytska Street. After the change of government in 2014, Ukrpidshchynnyk went bankrupt. Its building in Pechersk was put up for auction. In October 2023, a 3,000-square-metre office centre with office equipment was sold for UAH 200 million.

This is about a third of the money Zlochevskyi and his family paid to get rid of the high-profile and lengthy bribery trials. Two companies came to compete for the debtor’s property. The winner offered only one kopeck more. This winner, the financial company Montblanc Finance, is registered to a 28-year-old resident of Kryvyi Rih, Vladyslava Borzdova. Borzdova, according to social media and the court register, is raising two young children at home, drives a VAZ sedan and does repairs to her simple private house.

"Monblan" describes itself as a team of specialists specialising in lending and factoring operations, but it is impossible to contact them. The woman is now or was previously listed as a founder of several other companies. One of them has the contact number of Zlochevskyi’s manager, and in another, the former minister’s daughters personally replaced Borzdova in the ownership structure.

Her data is probably used by the asset management company Bonum Group, which is involved in the Zlochevskyis’ business. Bonum manages 12 funds. Among them are two officially owned by the Zlochevskyi. The phone number of the head of Bonum Group, Oleksandr Kirimov, which is listed in the registers, does not work.

Before buying the office on Riznytska Street, "Monblan" had participated in only one auction - in autumn 2022, together with the Zlochevskyi.

It was then that the ex-minister’s company set its sights on the Arkada Bank building on Instytutska Street. Zlochevskyi bought it for UAH 351 million, just $600 per square metre. Competitors did not try to outbid her. After the purchase of the office on Riznytska Street, a real estate company was registered in the same Borzdova name.

Zlochevskyi, through his companies, also acquired ownership of the mansion at 25 Sahaidachnoho Street. The State Export-Import Bank put up for auction a part of the building located on the corner of the street in 2021. It was not sold on the first attempt, but a buyer was found after the price was lowered.

These 5,500 square metres of historic Podil buildings went under the hammer for UAH 334.9 million. The owners of the investment company Comfort Capital, which currently owns the property, officially include the Zlochevskyi sisters, as well as the Poltava Drilling Company, a member of the Burisma group. The Skyfall investment fund, managed by the aforementioned Bonum Group, is registered here. Using this fund, in 2023, the Zlochevskyi sold one of their assets - river sand mining.

This business was registered with several LLCs, in whose ownership structure and contacts Kovalska Group or its representatives appeared in 2023. Kovalska itself officially announced the acquisition of this business in the summer, without naming the other party to the deal. A source in the market confirmed that it was a purchase of the Zlochevskyi assets.

Also, the company of Andriy Kuchkov, whom the media call Zlochevskyi’s son-in-law, has offices at 25 Sahaidachnoho Street. He runs the business on which the former minister once built his empire - gas.

In 2023, one of the companies listed here, "Ukrgaztrading", took off in government contracts. According to the YouControl system, from September to December alone, it won tenders worth UAH 4.987 billion. Before that, it had never received a single government order. This gas supplier is registered to Viktor Denysovych. He works for Kuchkov’s companies and has contacts leading to the Burisma group.

Zlochevskyi’s own gas business has not gone into oblivion over the years either. In 2023, while the tycoon was negotiating a deal with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, his empire once again stumbled over a criminal case. But he just stepped over it and moved on.

At the beginning of the year, Zlochevskyi’s companies suddenly appeared in a case conducted by the Bureau of Economic Security, which had previously concerned a completely different business, the tobacco industry. Detectives suspected his "Gazvydobuvannya" of tax evasion on a particularly large scale, and the aforementioned "Bonum Group" of involvement in money laundering.

In the spring of 2023, "Gazvydobuvannya’s" accounts were seized. It is striking that this happened on 29 March. And the next day, judging by the secret verdict against Zlochevskyi, he made his first donation to the Defence Forces.

Only the three purchases mentioned in this text amount to at least about 680 million hryvnia. This amount does not take into account the costs of renovation of buildings. But it is already greater than the donations of the Zlochevsky family, which saved them from a harsh sentence.