How Petro Olenych made his fortune on land fraud as Klychko’s deputy

How Petro Olenych made his fortune on land fraud as Klychko’s deputy

Kyiv mayor and head of the Kyiv City State Administration Vitaliy Klychko always pretends that he knew nothing about anti-corruption journalistic investigations into his subordinates.

Take his reaction to the latest high-profile investigation into the enrichment of Viktor Brahinskyi, the head of the Kyiv Metro, who had been in office for 10 years, just like Klychko himself, and was also a member of the Kyiv City Council from his UDAR party. Vitaliy Klychko called the pile of luxury real estate registered to Brahinskyi’s relatives an "unpleasant discovery". I wonder what he will say about the land fraud of his deputy Petro Olenych?

Meet Petro Olenych, who has been the Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration for the exercise of self-governing powers in the field of digital development, digital transformation and digitalisation since 2 April 2021. He has been in the KCSA structure for the last 7 years, three of which he held the position of Director of the Department of Land Resources - a "tasty" place where, if you want and have no conscience, you can get rich. Olenych has been an official all his life and has never owned a business. But this did not prevent him from "growing up" to a lifestyle that is not commensurate with that of a civil servant. It turns out that this is not very difficult if you have been responsible for managing communal and state-owned land for half your life.

As Klychko’s deputy, Petro Olenych received half a hectare near Kyiv as a gift

On 20 April 2015, Petro Olenych was appointed acting head of the Main Department of the State Land Agency in Kyiv region. This happened just after he, the head of the State Land Agency in Sumy region, was accused of carving up 110 hectares of land near Sumy in favour of the head of the Sumy regional state administration, Volodymyr Shulha. It was during his time in charge of the Kyiv region that Petro Olenych became the happy owner of four land plots in the village of Bohdanivka, Brovary district. But no, he didn’t buy them with his official salary, he was... given them as a gift.

All four plots are 0.15 hectares in size, located next to each other on the same street, Novobohdanivska, and have numbers 10, 11, 17 and 21. Olenych received them within one week - from 20 to 28 January 2016, when he had been head of the Main Department of the State Land Agency of Kyiv Region for almost a year. The donors were four individuals: Iryna Pohrebnyak, born in 1994, Lyudmyla Melnichenko, born in 1992, Oleksiy Prymak, born in 1990, and Yana Karpenko, born in 1991. All of them live in the Troyeshchyna and Voskresenka neighbourhoods of Kyiv. And all of these people received state-owned land plots in the village of Bohdanivka into private ownership two months before they all decided to donate them to Petro Olenych - three of them were registered on 5 November 2015 and the fourth on 23 December.

Interesting, isn’t it? Young people aged 21 to 26, seemingly unrelated to each other and to Petro Olenych himself, having received land plots located next to each other on the same street in the same village with a total market value of about USD 33,000 from state to private ownership, decide to donate them to the head of the Kyiv regional department of the State Land Agency. Have you heard of such charity before?

It seems that Petro Olenych, as the beneficiary of this story, used his official position for personal enrichment by transferring 6,000 square metres of land from state ownership to private front men, who then transferred it to Olenych almost overnight. These plots of land are listed in his declaration, but the source of their acquisition is delicately omitted. For some reason, the biography of Petro Olenych on the official website of the Kyiv City State Administration does not mention his tenure as acting head of the Kyiv Regional State Land Agency. Is it because of the story with the land gifts? We hope that the NACP and NABU will take an interest in this.

How Petro Olenych turned green areas into buildings

Land fraud in the Sumy and Kyiv regions was not the pinnacle of Olenych’s success on his path to personal enrichment. The real "gold mine" opened up for the official when he got to the Kyiv City State Administration, namely, as the director of the Department of Land Resources in 2018. Now, the experienced land official is in control of the capital’s communal and state lands, which are a source of concern for both large Kyiv developers and those willing to pay generously for the solution they need.

Thus, in October 2019, the Department of Land Resources, in violation of the procedure (a month after the lease expired), submitted a submission to the Kyiv City Council’s land commission signed by Olenych, on the basis of which the members of the Commission renewed the lease of a 1368 square metre plot at 72 Zvirynetska Street for the construction of the multi-storey Edelweiss residential complex with underground parking without a decision of the Kyiv City Council, despite the fact that this land plot, according to urban planning conditions and restrictions, had the status of being without the right to capital development.

Contrary to the General Plan of Kyiv, the Edelweiss residential complex appeared on the Pechersk hills. All thanks to Petro Olenych

The Department of Land Resources of the Kyiv City State Administration under Olenych’s leadership has been involved in the switch more than once. In 2020, Olenych signed an explanatory note to the Kyiv City Council regarding a 1.6193-hectare plot of land on Shchuseva Street near the Syrets metro station, which is currently a green zone. In the note, he stated that it was municipally owned land, while in fact the land was state-owned and intended for a public garden. In this way, Olenych effectively "raided" a large piece of land from the state. Why did he do it? To change the designated purpose of this land plot in the future.

As Nashi Hroshi wrote, the Kyiv City Council was developing a draft decision to grant permission to develop a land management project for a green zone for the Kyivzelenbud utility company on this site. But at the same time, Olenych’s department secretly developed and registered with the State Land Cadastre a land management project for this land... for residential development. Currently, the purpose of this land plot under the number 8000000000:91:009:0029 is "for the construction and maintenance of an apartment building with retail, entertainment and market infrastructure". Meanwhile, the draft decision to allow Kyivzelenbud to arrange a park there was eventually withdrawn by Petro Olenych from consideration by the Kyiv City Council. This fraud turned more than 1.5 hectares of the park from a park into another residential complex.

Interestingly, in all cases, Olenych always managed to stay in the shadows. Even when law enforcement officers became interested in the story of the land plot on Shchuseva Street, they asked questions of Olenych’s immediate superior, Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration Mykola Povoroznyk, and it was he who was served with the suspicion. Although it was Olenych who signed the documents.

But Olenych was not always so lucky, as he managed to do a lot more during his tenure as head of the KCSA land department. At the end of 2018, the Kyiv City Council adopted the City Target Programme for the Use and Protection of Kyiv Land for 2019-2021, which appointed Olenych’s department as the responsible executor of the programme and the main spending unit for its implementation. Almost UAH 1.5 million was allocated. For this taxpayers’ money, the department was to conduct an inventory of Kyiv land, most of which - UAH 1.28 million in 2019 - was to be spent on the development of technical land management documentation for land inventory and filling the State and City Land Cadastre.

There was only one caveat - all this had already been done under the previous programme for 2016-2020. That is, Olenych "sold" the deputies the same services that had already been provided by his predecessors. As a result, the money was withdrawn through a number of utility companies and LLCs, and then disappeared: neither money nor inventory. Therefore, the Main Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine has taken up this case and is currently conducting a pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings No. 12022000000000468 on the embezzlement of local budget funds by officials of the Department of Land Resources of the Kyiv City State Administration under Article 191 (5) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

But in the case of the Nyvky Park development, the NABU and the SAPO even managed to notify Olenych of suspicion of abuse of office. According to the investigation, Petro Olenych, Director of the Department of Land Resources, again resorted to a substitution that led to the withdrawal of the green zone for residential development. In 2019, Olenych submitted to the Kyiv City Council a land management project for a 0.6-hectare plot in Nyvky Park, which included its development. In the explanatory note to the project, Olenych stated that the plot did not belong to the nature reserve fund, which, of course, was not true and could be easily refuted by information from the city land cadastre database, which was under the jurisdiction of the department.

Petro Olenich illegally gave part of the Nyvky park for development. Photo: Glavkom

As a result, the Kyiv City Council approved a decision to allocate part of the park to Ukrainska Marka LLC for the construction of a residential and office complex, and Kyiv residents lost the right to use it as a nature reserve. Tree felling and construction began, which has now been suspended by law enforcement. The Northern Commercial Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the City Council, recognising it as illegal, and the lease agreement was declared invalid. Finally, in November 2023, Petro Olenych received a suspicion for his actions.

How Petro Olenych leads a beautiful life during the war

We are sure that these are not all the illegal cases that Petro Olenych was involved in while heading the land department of the Kyiv City State Administration and that have become known today. To make sure that Olenych did not commit fraud with land on Zvirynetska, Shchuseva and Nyvky Park for a simple "thank you" from developers, it is enough to analyse his official income and expenses. And you will see a big gap in them that cannot be explained.

To begin with, it should be said that Petro Olenych’s wife, Iryna Bisyk, has been a public servant all her life, just like her husband. She was an assistant to the Minister of Justice Oleksandr Lavrynovych, who is now suspected of treason, then from 2016 to 2019 she was the deputy head of the Personal Data Protection Department of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and then moved to the State Self-Supporting Foreign Trade Enterprise Spetstechnoexport as the director of legal affairs.

As of 2016, when Olenych’s first declaration as a candidate for the KCSA appeared, his family’s annual income (including his wife) was $37,000, and they had $83,000 in cash assets. Today, Klychko’s deputy has about UAH 7.5 million in savings.

*according to the official declarations of Petro Olenych

The main increase in savings was observed in 2020, when Olenych’s family allegedly managed to save USD 67,000 out of a total of USD 112,650 earned. That is, Olenych and his wife had to spend $45,650 in a year, according to the arithmetic they declared in their declaration.

But. According to the Register of Real Property Rights, on 8 October 2020, Iryna Bisyk purchased a land plot of 1153 square metres in the village of Novi Petrivtsi near Kyiv. The contractual purchase price was $11,950 (UAH 283,211), which is 4.5 times lower than its market value, which is currently $50,700.

In addition, based on Iryna Bisyk’s declarations, since 2020 she has been renting a 133.6 square metre house located at 11 Budivelnykiv Persha Street, Novi Petrivtsi village (across the plot from the one she purchased). The rent for this property costs between UAH 39,000 and 50,000 per month, i.e. USD 1,450-1,860.

Thus, in fact, in 2020, the Olenych family had to spend approximately $73,500 on the purchase of land and rent of a house in Novi Petrivtsi alone. This is already $30,000 more than declared, but somehow he and his two children were supposed to live, eat and dress for another year.

The year 2021 was even more successful for the family of then Deputy Vitaliy Klychko. With a total income of $165,500, their savings increased by $73,000. At the same time, the Olenych family continued to acquire new assets. Another land plot of 769 square metres in the same Novi Petrivtsi (cadastral number 3221886000:03:165:6221) was purchased by Olenych’s wife on 22 March 2021 for $2,573, according to the declaration, with a market value of $33,800.

In 2021, Iryna Bisyk also bought a new Volkswagen Arteon 2021 for $54,000. In addition, the family began construction of a house on the purchased plot in Novi Petrivtsi, for which, according to estimates based on its market value and construction time, Klychko’s deputy had to spend at least $100,000. Again, not taking into account the costs of food, transport, living expenses, etc., Olenych’s illegal income could have been more than $100,000 per year.

2021 Volkswagen Arteon. The family of Petro Olenych purchased two such cars in 2021 and 2022

In the military year of 2022, the family actually recorded expenses of $115,000. At the same time, Olenych almost completed the construction of the house, which means he spent about $100,000 more during the year, still rented the house ($22,800), bought another Volkswagen Arteon in April 2022 for $34,000, and thus apparently went into the red again, which could only be covered by the official’s illegal income.

By the way, the official value of the newly built house with a total area of 202 square metres, which in February 2023 was assigned an address in the village of Novi Petrivtsi, 15 Budivelnykiv Persha Street, was also underestimated by Petro Olenych’s family by 3.5 times, indicating in the declaration its value at a modest $75,630 (UAH 2 million 840 thousand), while its market value as of 2024 was $260 thousand.

House of Klychko’s deputy Petro Olenych in the village of Novi Petrivtsi near Kyiv

Despite already having his own fleet of two brand new Volkswagen Arteons, in the midst of the war, Olenych decided to spend money on another car and rented a 2022 Tesla Model Y - apparently, he finds it more elite to arrive at his new home in a Tesla than in a Volkswagen. Klitschko’s deputy did not indicate in his declaration how much he spends on renting the car, which costs $43,000. Although, perhaps not at all (in which case the NACP should have questions), because he rents this car from his adviser and director of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies of the Kyiv City State Administration, Oleh Polovynko. Who, by the way, like his boss, clearly does not live on a salary of UAH 370,000 a year, having a large 632 square metre estate, several land plots, apartments (one of which is in the Netherlands) and another JAGUAR I-PACE.

2022 Tesla Model Y. Deputy Mayor of Kyiv Petro Olenych drives one of these

Petro Olenych had enough money for foreign holidays during the war

A person who has once used his power and official position for his own personal benefit often cannot stop afterwards. Apparently, this was the case with Petro Olenych. In addition to a new house during the war and a few cars, he needed quality foreign holidays to be completely happy.

According to our data, since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when all persons liable for military service were banned from travelling abroad, Olenych has miraculously managed to make as many as 8 trips, mostly to Europe. Sometimes it was a "long weekend", sometimes a full-fledged holiday for a week or 10 days, sometimes he allowed himself such trips in a month, sometimes every month.

For the New Year’s holidays of 2022-2023, for example, he left on 24 December through the Krakivets checkpoint and returned to Ukraine on 8 January. The reasons for such trips have not yet been established. Interestingly, his last trip took place on 12-17 June 2023. In August 2023, as you know, the SBI detained an official of the Kyiv City Military Administration who organised an illegal trip abroad for money. It is worth noting that after that, Olenych never travelled abroad again.

As is, unfortunately, already the case in our country, corruption scandals often do not throw a person out of the system, but, on the contrary, only push them higher up the career ladder. Petro Olenych was involved in land schemes at least as far back as his time in Sumy Oblast in 2016. When he received four land plots of more than half a hectare near Kyiv as a gift in one fell swoop, no one raised any questions. On the contrary, after that, the "valuable personnel" went to the Kyiv City State Administration, where it was already being "sold out".

This once again shows that, firstly, the anti-corruption system in Ukraine is so imperfect that it does not notice what lies on the surface. In any Western country, a person like Olenych would have been thrown out of government and budget funds long ago. Secondly, the story of Petro Olenych shows that the system of state power itself is built in such a way that people like Olenych are not only undesirable in it, but on the contrary, because they enrich themselves in this system by selling their powers, not individuals, but the entire system and all its members - from councilors to mayors. Otherwise, Vitaliy Klychko, why hasn’t Petro Olenych been fired yet?