The former mayor of Kyiv Leonid Chernovetsky has been under investigation for a year now. He is accused of encroaching on territorial integrity. From the first days of the full-scale war, the former politician justified the occupier and actually called on Ukraine to abandon its territories in favor of the aggressor. According to the law, he faces not only imprisonment, but confiscation of property.
Read about what assets in Ukraine are associated with the odious politician and what can be confiscated from him in the material by OBOZREVATEL.
Chernovetsky denied Russian aggression and actually supported Putin. For this, his property may be confiscated
“There has never been and never will be a war between the Russian Federation and our country. “Military operation” in order to intimidate idiots and start negotiating. It passes,” the scandalous ex-politician said on his social networks. From the first days of a full-scale war, the former Kiev city mayor actually took the side of the Russian Federation.
“This is just a show of force and attacks on military targets. Recognize the borders - everything will end immediately. At that very second! This could and should have been done 8 years ago, instead of bombing civilian targets and intimidating the population,” Chernovetsky wrote on his Facebook page.
In fact, Chernovetsky spread Russian propaganda and called for changing the state border of Ukraine. There is criminal liability for this. “According to the conclusions of a forensic linguistic examination, this publication contains public calls to change the boundaries of the territory and state border of Ukraine,” said the Office of the Prosecutor General.
He is charged with encroachment on territorial integrity (Part 1 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code). The sanction of the article provides for up to 5 years of imprisonment with or without confiscation of property. Criminal cases do not frighten Chernovetsky. Back in 2017, the SBU put him on the wanted list, but the case never ended. Then law enforcement officers investigated the participation of the ex-politician in the construction of a helipad on Parkovaya Road in Kyiv. Chernovetsky himself advised the Security Service of Ukraine not to look for him where he is not.
But this is far from the only scandalous and dubious decision of Chernovetsky. For example, the Kyiv Terminal company is trying to sue $100 million in the capital for the reconstruction of Kharkov Square, which was never done. The agreement was signed with the Kyiv authorities during the time of city mayor Leonid Chernovetsky back in 2007. Later the parties agreed to terminate the agreement.
Chernovetsky has been abroad for a long time (he is either in Georgia or Israel). The Ukrainian law enforcement system will not get to him. However, thanks to the possibility of conducting the case in absentia, without the participation of Chernovetsky, if he is found guilty, his property in Ukraine can be confiscated.
What does Chernovetsky and his family own?
Leonid Chernovetsky has officially stopped making money in Ukraine, but his family still has an entire business empire - Chernovetsky Investment Group. Now most of the companies officially belong to his son Stepan. Stepan Leonidovich is a dollar multimillionaire; last year he took 18th place in the ranking of the richest Ukrainians according to Forbes.
Some of the companies were founded by the odious former city mayor of Kyiv, and after that his son became the beneficiary. For example, according to Youcontrol, the founder of Chernovetsky Investment Group LLC, Commercial Systems LLC, and Holding City was Leonid Chernovetsky, and now the companies belong to Stepan.
Services in which the Chernovetsky family invested money (according to Forbes):
- Busfor – online service for searching bus tickets;
- Zakaz.ua – delivery of products from supermarkets;
- Megogo is a media service for watching videos.
In addition, Stepan Chernovetsky invested money in a number of residential complexes and business centers. Some of them still belong to him:
- Residential complex Comfort Town;
- BC IQ Business
- Center101 Tower
- Residential complex SvitloPark
- White Lines
- Edeldorf
According to Forbes, the son of the former mayor owns 120 thousand square meters of retail and office space, and he has also invested in various areas of the economy. Stepan Leonidovich also owns a fleet of vehicles, including three Porsches and a Ferrari.
Stepan Chernovetsky's interests are not limited to Ukraine. In 2016, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office detained him in Spain. Then he was suspected of laundering at least 10 million euros of illegal origin, invested in the purchase of real estate for laundering and based mainly in Cyprus and the Virgin Islands.
“Among the detainees, mainly citizens of Ukraine and Russia settled in Barcelona... Among them is the son of the former mayor of Kyiv (Ukraine) Stepan Chernovetsky. The detainees are charged with a criminal organization, money laundering, forgery of official documents, as well as crimes against the State Treasury,” wrote the Spanish publication Elmundo. Chernovetsky was released. By the way, in Cyprus he has at least registration (Cyprus, Limassol, Onisillos Street (complex number 2), 3, apartment 5C).
In order to confiscate Chernovetsky’s property, law enforcement will have to establish whether he really transferred his companies to his son and continues to influence the business and receive dividends. The only way to punish the odious former mayor is to confiscate his property, sell it at auction and use the proceeds for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Our publication contacted law enforcement agencies with a request about the progress of the investigation into Leonid Chernovetsky, who continues to broadcast the ideas of the collapse of Ukraine with impunity.
