Donetsk "Mezhyhirya" of Tetyana Bakhteyeva

Donetsk "Mezhyhirya" of Tetyana Bakhteyeva

At a time when the police in Donetsk calmly watch people being killed at rallies, and when the Donetsk region is torn apart by unrest, there are politicians who find the time both for negotiations with separatists turned bandits and for solving their personal problems.

On December 25, 2013, out of the blue during a session of the Donetsk City Council, it was announced: «At the request of People’s Deputy Tetyana Bakhteyeva and others (unnamed), we ask to remove from the session’s agenda three issues regarding the allocation of land to three private individuals for the construction of individual residential houses. Issues 2.78, 2.79, 2.80».

Deputies voted and, at Bakhteyeva’s request, excluded three issues from the agenda. We kept asking for a long time: what was that? Without argumentation, Bakhteyeva simply directs by voice who gets land plots in Donetsk and who doesn’t?

Apparently, our bewilderment became known to the affected parties themselves, and four months later they approached us with a question: could you help us figure it out? We agreed. And then we were informed from all sides that there’s no need to tackle this, no need to offend Tetyana, as her relatives live there, and construction nearby is an inconvenience. They tried to explain to us that Tetyana should be spared, and those three individuals should find plots elsewhere. We didn’t take their word for it and started checking where Bakhteyeva’s relatives might live.

Not far from the city center, in the Kuybyshevskyi district, lies Vareykis Street. It was there that Bakhteyeva somehow prevented three Donetsk residents from getting less than 10 acres of land each. The three individuals were denied again on April 18, 2014, during the Donetsk City Council session. The issue was included in the agenda again because the paperwork had been processed for four years, and there was no reason not to allocate the land plots. And once more, Deputy Prozorov requested the denial. They voted indiscriminately. A decision wasn’t made, but many stated that it was unclear what they were voting for: whether the allocation of land plots or the refusal of it. Deputies weren’t allowed to revote. Later, we were told for a long time that there was some communist complaint. In Google’s search, if you carefully look at the 3D street plans (Google maps have such a wonderful function), it becomes clear that true communism has indeed arrived on Vareykis Street in Donetsk.

The urban planning cadaster didn’t clarify the situation but only confused it – communism had indeed arrived on Vareykis Street, but in some fifth dimension because officially, the land was allocated in the entire block only for four plots (marked in orange), while large new houses stand on half of the land. But the Donetsk City Council had only made decisions about land allocation for these four plots of 10 acres each. There you have your poltergeist. There’s even a scheme where, in 2009-2011, one could (and sometimes can still) allocate land without the city council through court, obliging the State Land Committee to issue an act. But in this case, it’s not coming together at all. See for yourselves. 

Land was allocated only for four plots in the block, and only two owners received permits (notice or declaration) for construction – Vareykis 96 and Frunze 77. Moreover, Frunze 77 has construction documents formalized, but the land was not allocated by the city council. 

This is all great, but where might Bakhteyeva’s relatives live? There’s no smoke without fire; it must be checked. We found an interesting house (I would call it a mansion, but there are luxurious chambers, a gazebo, and many, many buildings, meaning it’s not one house but many together). Judge for yourselves.  

But it’s unclear: the land on which all this «wealth» with characteristic national ornamentation is located was only allocated by Donetsk City Council to citizen Mariya Lebedyeva in 2009, measuring 843 m². And only Lebedyeva filed a notice for construction commencement. Yet the construction is located within a whole complex of buildings, including M. Lebedyeva’s plot on half a hectare. And it seems these lands were either allocated or got stuck in the process of allocation to citizens V. Prysyazhnyuk, S. Voronkova, A. Kuba, and H. Rudenko. But the fence around the entire half-hectare is one.

Yet to prevent the allocation of 30 acres of free land nearby to three Donetsk residents, Donetsk City Council Deputy A. Prozorov stated during the session on April 18, 2014, that resident-neighbors were so outraged, so outraged about the prospect of land allocation to someone, claiming there’s a stream flowing there, hence no construction should be done. I cannot comment on the stream. These «neighbors» are trying to turn a stream into a river and unsuccessfully apply the State Building Codes (SBC) concerning setbacks from water bodies. There’s nothing to comment on here. But who are these «neighbors»? We searched and searched… Regarding Frunze 81, the city council did not decide to allocate land, no construction notice was submitted, yet a new house stands there. Svitlana Direnko formalized all construction documents at Frunze 77 and put it into operation back in 2011, but… the city council didn’t allocate the land for her. 

But there are more interesting neighbors – «Six in One,» namely – Vareykis 86, 88, 90, 92, 94, 96, all fenced in one enclosure. It’s a complex consisting of several buildings. Could Bakhteyeva’s relatives be living here? Documents show that all this «wealth» is located, once again, on 843 m². Another possibility is that the complex is located simultaneously on 5 land plots if they were somehow allocated without the city council’s decision. Only a small house at the edge (Vareykis 96) has been put into operation. How should this be understood? You may ask, why would Bakhteyeva cause such a scandal if the documents were so messy? You see, there are people who believe that whatever they do, nothing can harm them because they are big, they are the owners, they are the main ones in the area. It’s unfortunate when people with this level of intellect come into leadership, get into politics, and start making decisions for others.

ORD