Shadow of BIONIC Hill: National Police investigate transfer of 147 hectares of Kyiv land to Vasyl Khmelnytskyi

Law enforcement officers are investigating the possible illegal transfer of two land plots with a total area of over 147 hectares from state ownership in Kyiv’s Novobilychi area, where military town No. 136 once stood, and where the infamous BIONIC Hill technopark was later planned to be built.

According to the investigation, the city authorities, without approval from the Cabinet of Ministers, first leased this land to a private company and then allocated it as private property to a housing construction cooperative. The latter was subsequently "reformatted" into a limited liability company (LLC), owned by individuals from the entourage of former MP and businessman Vasyl Khmelnytskyi (pictured in the collage). This land was later used as collateral for the "Khreshchatyk" bank, where Khmelnytskyi was one of the shareholders. Currently, it is also under collateral for loan agreements arranged by companies associated with the same businessman. Previously, neither the Prosecutor General’s Office nor the residents of the buildings located there succeeded in overturning the Kyiv City Council’s decision on this land allocation through the courts. The idea of building the technopark has long been abandoned, so, as is often the case, this large territory is likely planned to be developed with high-rise residential buildings in the future.

As reported by KV, the National Police are investigating possible violations during the privatization of a 147.04-hectare land plot on Ponomariova Street, 1-A in Kyiv (Svyatoshyn district, Novobilychi area near Kotsyubynske village), where the BIONIC Hill technopark was once planned to be built.

The investigation is being conducted within the framework of criminal proceedings No. 42022112320002059, initiated by the Main Investigative Department of the National Police of Ukraine on August 25, 2022. The suspects in this case are preliminarily charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – abuse of power or official position resulting in grave consequences. On August 14, 2023, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv, at the request of the Office of the Prosecutor General (which provides procedural guidance in this case), imposed a seizure on this land – plots of 90.37 hectares and 56.73 hectares. This was done to prevent the owner, LLC "Bionic Land," from disposing of the land while the investigation is ongoing, as it has been recognized as material evidence.

The investigation established that these plots were illegally transferred from state ownership. The issue is that until 2007, they were in use by the Ministry of Defence, after which they were allocated by the Kyiv City Council first for lease and then as private property to private legal entities. However, according to the investigation, this was done without the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine – the only body authorized to dispose of such land. Meanwhile, eight buildings and structures of military town No. 136 remain on this land. According to law enforcement, the preliminary amount of damages resulting from the privatization of these plots, excluding the real estate located on them, is approximately 470 million UAH. However, this figure is based on 2007 data – today, these plots are likely worth much more.

Screenshot of the court ruling on this investigation dated October 14, 2023

Law enforcement officers note that officials from the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Land Resources of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA), the Kyiv City Council, the service cooperative (SC) "Housing Construction Cooperative ’Zhytlobudservis,’" and LLC "Bionic Land" may be involved in these violations.

Background

In July 2006, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine agreed to terminate the right of permanent use of a 146.5-hectare plot on Ponomariova Street, 1-A, and also granted permission to alienate the real estate located on this land, which was on the balance sheet of the Central Specialized Construction Administration (subordinate to the Ministry of Defence). The buyer of these buildings and structures, which belonged to military town No. 136, was LLC "Stolytsia Tsentrobud" (the cost of privatization is not specified in open sources).

Subsequently, on July 12, 2007, the Kyiv City Council, by its decision No. 1054/1715, approved the termination of the Ministry of Defence’s right to use this land, reclassified it from "special purpose territory (territory of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine)" to "territory for residential and public development," and approved its lease to the aforementioned LLC "Stolytsia Tsentrobud" for 25 years with the designated purpose of "construction, operation, and maintenance of a complex of residential buildings with social and public facilities and parking lots." The same decision stipulated that the company must transfer 7% of the residential space in newly constructed buildings to residents of emergency and uninhabitable houses located on this land (including so-called "barrack-type" houses). Notably, at that time, the area of this plot was clarified to be 147.04 hectares.

On November 14 of the same year, a corresponding lease agreement was concluded between the city council and the mentioned company, but it did not last long. The reason was that, by decision No. 1589/4422 of the Kyiv City Council dated December 27, 2007, this agreement was terminated – with the wording "by mutual consent." Less than two years later, on October 8, 2009, the Kyiv City Council, by its decision No. 362/2431, approved the free transfer of the specified plot into the ownership of the Service Cooperative (SC) "Housing Construction Cooperative ’Zhytlobudservis’" with the same designated purpose.

In the summer of 2011, the Prosecutor General’s Office initiated a lawsuit aiming to return this land to the state. Law enforcement officers filed a claim with the Economic Court of Kyiv to declare invalid the Kyiv City Council’s decisions on leasing this plot to LLC "Stolytsia Tsentrobud" and its subsequent transfer into the ownership of SC "Housing Construction Cooperative ’Zhytlobudservis.’" However, the prosecutors did not succeed – on September 23, 2011, the court denied their claim.

Law enforcement officers argued that the Kyiv City Council had no right to lease this land to a private company or change the designated purpose of the plot, as it was classified as defense land and remained state property. In other words, this land allocation should have followed a different procedure, which was not adhered to in this case. Additionally, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, SC "Housing Construction Cooperative ’Zhytlobudservis’" had no right to free privatization of this land. It was noted that housing construction cooperatives indeed had the opportunity to acquire plots without payment to the budget, but only for housing construction for their members. In this case, according to the prosecutors, this was not the intent – the cooperative had only 4 members, yet it was allocated 147 hectares of land designated for multi-apartment development (meaning the territory was excessively large for just 4 individuals).

After this lawsuit, SC "Housing Construction Cooperative ’Zhytlobudservis’" divided the specified land into two plots – one with cadastral number 8000000000:75:564:0005, covering 90.37 hectares, and another with cadastral number 8000000000:75:564:0004, covering 56.73 hectares. In July 2012, SC "Housing Construction Cooperative ’Zhytlobudservis’" was "transformed" into LLC "Bionic Land" (i.e., the legal entity changed its organizational and legal form and name), and thus, the specified plots ended up in the ownership of a private company rather than a cooperative. By that time, the buildings and structures of military town No. 136 were already "in the same hands" – on October 13, 2009, they became the property of SC "Housing Construction Cooperative ’Zhytlobudservis,’" and later, correspondingly, LLC "Bionic Land."

How the technopark began

In March 2012, the BIONIC Hill technopark project was presented in Kyiv, intended to be located on this land and positioned as "Ukraine’s Silicon Valley" or "Ukraine’s Skolkovo" (at that time, it was still common in Ukraine to "look up to Russia’s achievements"). Its implementation was to be handled by the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA), then headed by Oleksandr Popov (currently a Kyiv City Council deputy elected from the banned "OPFL" party), in collaboration with the development company UDP owned by businessman Vasyl Khmelnytskyi. A corresponding memorandum was signed during the Kyiv Investment Forum.

Initially, it was planned to open by the end of 2014, then "within the next two to three years," and according to the latest data, the deadline was set for the end of 2020. UDP reportedly intended to invest 1 billion USD in this construction, and in April 2012, the KCSA signed memoranda of cooperation with 11 American investors representing Silicon Valley venture funds for the implementation of this project. In turn, funds from the city budget were to be allocated for preparing engineering networks and the territory, etc. Such expenses for the city community were supposed to be recouped – according to preliminary calculations, technopark residents would pay at least 600 million UAH to the Kyiv treasury, referring only to personal income tax. This was expected due to the employment of about 35,000 people at the technopark.

"BIONIC Hill is designed to create an innovative ecosystem based on the concept of ’Live, Work, Learn, and Relax.’ The goal is to create a unique platform for business development and ensure comfortable living and working conditions for high-tech specialists. The park focuses on the development of information and communication technologies, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, energy conservation, and clean energy. The project envisages the placement of Ukrainian and international companies, project teams, showrooms, R&D centers, demonstration laboratories, and clean high-tech production. Additionally, it plans to create optimal conditions for the development of startups," as stated on the BIONIC Hill Wikipedia page.

The technopark was to consist of several parts: business infrastructure (business centers with an approximate area of 330,000 sq.m., a research and training center with the placement of BIONIC University, high-tech production facilities, a hotel, a conference hall, etc.), social infrastructure (total area – 120,000 sq.m., including a kindergarten, school, hospital, restaurants, shops, fitness center, and dormitory), and housing for employees and their families (total area – 450,000 sq.m.). Additionally, a large recreational area with valuable tree species and an artificial lake was planned in the park.

One of the "old" renders of BIONIC Hill

In August 2012, BIONIC Hill was included in the national project "Technopolis: Innovative and High-Tech Infrastructure," and two and a half months later, in October, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the preliminary technical and economic justification of the project. Thanks to this, in 2012, the State Enterprise "State Investment Company," under the management of the State Agency for Investment and National Projects Management, transferred a 50 million UAH loan to one of the companies involved in implementing this project – LLC "Bionic Development." These funds were provided on preferential terms (interest rate – only 3.75% per annum) for 15 years. The collateral was defined as property rights to part of the technopark’s buildings under the approved construction project of the first phase.

Looking ahead, it should be noted that almost nothing of what was planned was implemented – some of the reasons will be discussed below. In fact, the only achievement was the opening of the aforementioned BIONIC University in December 2013, which operated for some time at the National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy," then at the territory of the innovation park UNIT.City (also a project by UDP), until it was closed in 2018.

In the initial stages, events developed quite rapidly. On November 13, 2013, the Kyiv City Council, through its decisions №649/10137 and №650/10138, changed the designated purpose of the respective land plots. Thus, for the plot with an area of 56.73 ha, the designated purpose was established as "for the construction and operation of an industrial park and construction objects within its limits as part of the implementation of the BIONIC Hill project – a component of the national project ’Technopolis’ – the creation of infrastructure for innovative development and high technology", and for the plot of 90.37 ha – "for comprehensive development and operation of residential, public, administrative facilities, social infrastructure objects, and parking within the framework of the BIONIC Hill project implementation. In fact, this was where the city authorities ceased to support this project.

Unfulfilled dreams

Shortly before these decisions were made, in May 2013, another lawsuit was filed in the Kyiv District Administrative Court (KDAC) by a group of Kyiv residents to declare illegal the decision of the Ministry of Defense from July 20, 2006, regarding the termination of land use rights for the specified plot, as well as the Kyiv City Council’s decisions to lease this land to LLC "Capital Centre Construction" (including the decision to change the designated purpose) and to transfer ownership to the Cooperative Housing Construction Association "Housing Construction Service".

In particular, the plaintiffs stated that as of 2006, the Ministry of Defense had used land measuring 117.6 ha, and documents confirming the transfer of plots measuring 28.9 ha to it or its subordinate structures were not available at that time. Therefore, the ministry could not dispose of a 146.5 ha plot, including relinquishing it. In addition, the citizens reported that LLC "Capital Centre Construction" did not own all the real estate located on the disputed land - in particular, at the time of this court case, 8 residential buildings were still under the control of the Central Specialized Management, and some of the plaintiffs lived in these buildings. As of January 2014, two such buildings were dismantled by the aforementioned company. These facts, according to the plaintiffs, affected their rights, as these land allocations implied their resettlement.

On February 5, 2014, KDAC completely refused to satisfy the citizens’ lawsuit. One of the reasons being that "the case concerns the transfer of a land plot, not the violation of the plaintiffs’ rights during resettlement". However, on August 4 of the same year, the Kyiv Appellate Administrative Court partially satisfied the plaintiffs’ demands. It was then recognized as unlawful the Kyiv City Council’s decision to transfer this land to the ownership of the Cooperative Housing Construction Association "Housing Construction Service", but only in the part of the land on which the aforementioned 8 houses are located (the area is not specified in the relevant court ruling). Also on the same day, the same court issued a separate ruling informing the Prosecutor General’s Office about the situation surrounding the demolition of buildings that were on the Ministry of Defense’s balance "to take measures to eliminate the reasons and conditions that contributed to the violation of the law".

Land plots on the map (outlined in yellow)

Interestingly, later, after the completion of this court case, the Prosecutor General’s Office achieved a review of the above-initiated lawsuit for newly discovered circumstances– precisely those concerning the 8 buildings. Law enforcement officers even managed to achieve success in the first two instances - the capital’s economic court and the Kyiv Appellate Commercial Court in 2014-2015 satisfied the prosecutors’ claims.

However, on February 4, 2016, the cassation economic court satisfied the complaint of LLC "Bionic Land" and overturned these court decisions. Thus, the company convinced judges that the mere presence of buildings owned by the Ministry of Defense could not be a reason for canceling the land allocations– especially since the decision of the Kyiv City Council to lease the plot to LLC "Capital Centre Construction" provided for "compensation" to the residents of these buildings in the form of their relocation to new houses. Therefore, according to the lawyers of "Bionic Land", in this case, there was no need to review the "previous" court decisions.

However, by that time, the implementation of the technopark construction project on the specified land was no longer being discussed. Thus, as early as August 2014, the aforementioned Vasyl Khmelnytsky stated that the construction was frozen, as the capital’s authorities were not fulfilling their obligations regarding the construction of engineering and other communication networks. In this regard, the businessman stated that he saw "no reason to invest in a scientific town that cannot be reached", but emphasized that the business fulfilled its part of the obligations. There were even rumors that investors were considering the possibility of "relocating" the technopark to one of the major cities - Kharkiv, Dnipro, or Lviv. However, this did not happen.

At the same time, the situation of "unable to reach the technopark" was quite interesting. It was because only one old road led to the "projected technopark". But LLC "Bionic Land" lost the right to use it precisely because of losing in a court case with the residents of high-rise buildings located on the specified land - it was near those that this highway passed. The media mentioned some order №906 of Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klychko, which approved the road construction project and the communications to the technopark - all this would cost the budget 337 million hryvnias. However, in 2014, "Nashi Groshi" reported that there were no funds for this in the city treasury, and Klitschko told the publication that he did not have information concerning Kyiv’s obligations and the road construction but supported private investors.

Moreover, there were public scandals over the use of funds that Vasyl Khmelnytskyi’s companies received from the state, specifically regarding the aforementioned 50 million hryvnias. It was noted that by 2014, investors spent only 20 million (the funds went to project documentation and preparation for the first phase of construction), while 30 million hryvnias were in the account at the "Khreschatyk" bank, part of which Khmelnytsky then owned. The media concluded that since "Khreschatyk" bank provided loans at rates from 15% to 32% per annum, "this allows earning significantly more on state funds than the interest paid to the state" for using the loan. It was suspected that instead of using the funds for technopark construction, investors were "running" them through the controlled bank, providing loans with these funds, and earning interest from borrowers.

Nevertheless, the media also reported that the issue of residents’ relocation from buildings on the specified land was resolved. In 2016, it was reported that the company "Capital Centre Construction" managed to relocate 24 families by purchasing 26 apartments for them. At that time, 10 un-relocated families from barrack-type houses also began to receive housing.

Interestingly, according to the state register of rights, at least one plot (90.37 ha) is currently mortgaged to two banks - "Ukrgasbank" and the "European Investment Bank". This happened under loan agreements amounting to 25 million euros and 100 million euros, concluded in July between the mentioned financial institutions and LLC "Unit Holdings". At the same time, LLC "Bionic Land", which owns this land, acted as the mortgagor - essentially, this company is the guarantor. The term for fulfilling the obligations for these loans is until 2031 and 2032, respectively.

It should be noted that this plot has been mortgaged before. In 2010, it, along with a 56.37 ha plot, was mortgaged to the "Khreschatyk" bank under a loan agreement signed with LLC "MDM-Invest Systems" (loan amount - 144.2 million hryvnias), and in 2018 the mentioned bank approached the Economic Court of Kyiv to demand the foreclosure on the mortgagor - all the same, "Bionic Land". At that time, the debt reached 407.7 million hryvnias. This fact also interested law enforcement officers in the above criminal case - investigators noted that the loan amount was significantly lower than the land value, valued at 352 million hryvnias at the time (why this amount is less than the previously mentioned damage is unknown). Moreover, law enforcement officers clarified that this plot was later bought by the owner of the "Khreschatyk" bank after its liquidation, but this information seems incomplete or inaccurate, as de jure, it remained the property of "Bionic Land".

The final point in the story around BIONIC Hill was put by the Cabinet of Ministers - on March 15, 2014, it, by its order №234, excluded it from the register of industrial parks. This meant that this technopark could no longer claim various benefits, preferences, or other types of support from the state, including financial support.

What is known about the beneficiaries

According to the Youcontrol analytical system, LLC "Capital Centre Construction" (former tenant of the land) was registered in Kyiv in June 2004. Its director, founder, and ultimate beneficiary is listed as Kyiv resident Vladyslav Sazykin.

The Youcontrol system states that the company earlier belonged to the corporate group of the Senchenko family, which unites about fifty business entities engaged in construction, real estate, production of building materials, etc. A key person in this group is Andriy Senchenko - a businessman, leader of the "Sila Prava" party, member of the Ukrainian Parliament from the V to VII convocations (elected from the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko) and acting deputy head of the Presidential Administration from March to August 2014.

His "former" connection with this company is evidenced by the fact that since the establishment of LLC "Capital Centre Construction" and until April 2024, its founder was LLC "Technochimkomplekts Association", which the Youcontrol system refers to as the "Senchenko group".

At the same time, the above-mentioned Vasyl Khmelnytskyi was or is still connected with "Capital Centre Construction". Specifically, from 2004 until April of last year, another co-founder of this company was an interesting Cypriot firm "Densec Limited" - at various times, it was a co-founder of a company that the media associates with Khmelnytsky. Moreover, the officials of LLC "Capital Centre Construction" were previously officials of companies that the Youcontrol system has or had connected with Vasyl Khmelnytskyi’s UFuture investment group: it refers to both the current head Vladyslav Sazykin and former head Oleksandr Didyk. Sazykin, by the way, was also the head of LLC "MDM-Invest Systems" - the company that took out a loan under the specified land collateral in 2014-2017.

LLC "Bionic Land" (current land owner) was registered in August 2009 (until 2012 - Cooperative Housing Construction Association "Housing Construction Service"). Currently, its manager and ultimate beneficiary is noted as resident of the village of Sofiivska Borshchahivka in Kyiv region Denys Oliynyk, and its founders are LLC "Center "Invest Resource" and LLC "Property Management Systems".

"Bionic Land" is more than evidently associated with Vasyl Khmelnytskyi’s entourage. Thus, the Youcontrol system indicates that LLC "Center "Invest Resource" is linked to the same UFuture investment group. It is also connected to the agricultural LLC "Buzivske", headed by the previously mentioned Denys Oliynyk.

As for LLC "Bionic Development" and LLC "Unit Holdings" (the companies that took out loans under the mortgaged "BIONIC Hill" of this land), things are more straightforward - their official owner is Vasyl Khmelnytskyi. He is notably known as a Member of Parliament elected five times (from the III to VII convocations, being elected from the "Party of Regions" in the last two). The UFuture group, which de facto belongs to him, has a diversified portfolio of assets in various sectors - from real estate, infrastructure, and industry to innovative parks, renewable energy, and pharmaceuticals. Among UFuture’s highlight assets are Kyiv International Airport named after I. Sikorsky and the developer company "UDP" (which built the "Horodok" shopping center, the Ocean Plaza shopping and entertainment center, etc.).

Vasyl Khmelnytskyi’s orbit companies have repeatedly appeared in high-profile "land" and "development" scandals.

Mind, in September 2023, the Cassation Economic Court returned two land plots totaling 375.18 ha in Troieshchyna, on which the right to permanent use was registered in 2020 by Ltd. "New Ukraine", formerly and currently owned by and appearing tied to the entourage of the Brovary developer "BZBK" and the infamous Vasyl Khmelnytskyi. Note, however, that the related registration was carried out without a Kyiv City Council decision - thanks to a private notary who entered relevant data in the State Register of Property Rights. Although shortly before that registration, the Kyiv City Council included part of this land in the newly created Troieshchyna Meadows Reserve.

Recently, a decision was also made in the contentious issue surrounding the return of a 16.03 ha plot on Akademika Zabolotnoho St. to the Kyiv community, a plot that appeared in the notorious "Komarnytsky’s notes" as land for residential development. The Cassation Economic Court, upon request from the Prosecutor’s General Office, overturned the illegally recorded lease right in 2022 for Ltd. "Agrocombine Khotivskyi", which leased the plot in 2004-2007 and remains part of Khmelnytskyi’s orbit. Law enforcers convinced the judiciary that eighteen years ago, de jure the noted company itself refused this land in favor of one of the residential cooperatives, which afterwards lost that land through court proceedings. Also, the court agreed that the agro-combine managed to change the plot’s designation virtually by itself (initially contemplated for agricultural use) and that this land has special status due to being in the park "Feofania" protected zone and near the "Pyrohiv" museum.

The Kyiv City Department of Land Resources has been headed by Valentyna Pelykh since April 2, 2021. The department’s activities are currently overseen by Deputy Head of the Kyiv Municipal State Administration Vladyslav Andronov. Earlier, as of April 2021, Petro Olenych, as Deputy Head of the Kyiv Municipal State Administration for Self-Governing Powers, was overseeing this area until he was dismissed in March 2025 after being suspected in the aforementioned "Clean City Health" case.

Since July 17, 2025, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine has been Denys Shmyhal. His predecessor was Rustem Umerov (from September 6, 2023), replacing Oleksiy Reznikov (from November 4, 2021). Since 2007, when the land "changed hands", the Ministry of Defence has had 12 heads.

Author: Oleksandr Hlazunov