The fight for Protasov Yar: the mafia of developers and the City Council against the public?

For several months now, the Kyiv City Council has not included two draft decisions on the protection of the Protasov Yar landscape reserve named after Roman Ratushny on the agenda of plenary meetings.

Both initiatives are aimed at canceling the change in the category of land from a recreational zone to “for development”, which took place back in 2004, activists of the Honest Movement note.

The other day, the second meeting of the development company, the public and the City Council took place, which was initiated by the chairman of the commission on land issues, Mikhail Terentyev. The key goal is to discuss “problematic issues” that may arise when considering draft decisions on the protection of Protasov Yar.

Representatives of the public, in particular the NGO “Defend Protasov Yar,” noted that this has “signs of informal agreements behind the back of society.” Indeed, the draft decisions have already been supported by one of the two specialized commissions of the Kyiv City Council - on environmental policy.

What is the importance of the draft decisions on Protasov Yar and what is the result of sudden meetings with the developer, says Movement HONESTLY.

“We directly with the city mayor reached a consensus that any movements along Protasov Yar must be consistent with society” - this is an excerpt from a conversation between activist and defender of Protasov Yar Roman Ratushny and CHESNO from 2021.

Roman Ratushny died in June 2022 in the Izyum direction. At his farewell to the public figure, Kiev mayor Vitaliy Klitschko noted that “Roman’s dream will come true - Protasov Yar will remain a green area of ​​his native and beloved city.” A month later, the Kiev City Council finally decided to create the Protasov Yar landscape reserve. And in November 2023, the green zone was named after Roman Ratushny.

However, in 2024 the situation with the conservation of the reserve is again disappointing. In addition to court cases, the consideration of initiatives that would ensure the existence of the green area as a completely recreational area is regularly postponed. But a precedent is being formed for communication between representatives of the City Council and the developer at the stage when draft decisions should already be submitted to the session hall. The most critical thing is that previously such meetings took place without public participation at all.

The essence of the projects

Now there are two draft decisions that provide for assigning the status of the Protasov Yar landscape reserve named after Roman Ratushny to the tract - No. 653 and No. 654. Both initiatives were registered back in May, and a month later they were supported by the relevant commission on environmental policy.

At the same time, the website of the Kyiv City Council indicates that the standing commission on land relations returned the draft decisions to the subject of the submission - European Solidarity deputy Leonid Yemets. This probably created room for “maneuver” and the appointment of additional meetings, despite the public’s expectations that decisions would be made.

The risk of developing Protasov Yar arose back in 2004, when the Kyiv City Council during the time of Alexander Omelchenko adopted a number of decisions giving permission to destroy the natural landscape of the capital. Among them, in particular, is the transfer and sale of land plots to Protasov Yar LLC for the construction of a residential complex and a change in the category of land plots from “recreational zone” to “public and residential development”.

But the new draft decisions aim to recognize these decisions as those that “do not meet the interests of the territorial community of Kyiv” and to approve the statement of the Kyiv City Council on the status of a landscape reserve of local importance - that is, to document the existence of a green zone and take appropriate organizational and legal measures to implement this decision .

The importance of making these draft decisions is not only to save the capital from yet another high-rise building. The Protasov Yar tract is a green zone in which the natural landscape and vegetation have been preserved. Accordingly, its destruction and development can lead to erosion, sliding of slopes, further harm to the environment and an increase in the load on infrastructure, as activists have repeatedly said.

Now there is hope that thanks to publicity, decisions will finally be made at the next plenary meeting, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday, September 19. However, so far there are no draft decisions on the agenda, and the list of “urgent” issues has not yet been published on the City Council website.

“What problematic issues arose when the draft decisions had already been agreed upon by everyone and were supposed to be put to a vote, Mr. Terentyev did not explain,” the publication says.

It also became known that the developer’s representative had a separate meeting with deputies of the City Council, which took place without public participation, which directly contradicts the observance of transparency in the process of protecting the tract and the promises of the capital’s authorities to preserve the green zone.

“Instead of a meeting of the land commission, in fact, there was a presentation of the incomprehensible, vague position of the developer,” noted after the first meeting, the chairman of the NGO “Defend Protasov Yar” Yulia Bartle. In addition, it was emphasized that the developer has a clear intention to develop the Protasov Yar clearing - a site where film screenings and the Protasov Yar festival in memory of Roman Ratushny are now regularly held.

Obviously, the content of the draft decisions, which should soon be considered by the City Council, directly contradicts the intentions of the developer. Right now, the company isn't offering any specific plan, just "hypothetical ideas." And even under such conditions, Mikhail Terentyev is not on the side of the public, but on the contrary, “he is trying to help the developer achieve their development goals.”

The public quickly responded to the situation around Protasov Yar. Two events have already taken place under the Kyiv City State Administration to support the preservation of the reserve, and another wave of indignation has risen on social networks regarding the risk of developing a green area. Therefore, the attention of Kiev residents is focused on the upcoming vote of the City Council, and especially on recent meetings with the developer.

We emphasize that resolving land issues in the format of scheduling such meetings at a stage when draft decisions should have already been considered by the City Council is a dangerous precedent for other development initiatives. The main problem is that this creates additional leverage for companies to influence the relevant commissions of the City Council, even when such procedures are not provided for.

The City Council intends to buy land plots

On September 17, the secretary of the Kyiv City Council and deputy of the UDAR faction, Vladimir Bondarenko, published news on his social networks: the Kyiv City Council is initiating the process of purchasing land plots that were included in the Protasov Yar nature reserve named after Roman Ratushny.

Let us remind you that by decision of July 14, 2022, the Kyiv City Council officially adopted the creation of the reserve. However, it also included territories that are private property and belong to Protasov Yar LLC - in fact, this is one of the basis for the conflict in the development of the tract.

According to Bondarenko, negotiations with Protasov Yar LLC have reached a dead end, because the owner of the plots intends to use them at least partially for development, which the public categorically disagrees with. The solution was a potential purchase of land plots, which the developer side agreed with.

Covering the costs of purchasing the land should be carried out from revenues to the capital's budget, and consideration of the corresponding draft decision is expected tomorrow, at the next plenary meeting of the City Council. At the same time, Vladimir Bondarenko said nothing about other important initiatives regarding the conservation of the reserve. Therefore, the reliability of their consideration in the future remains unknown.

It is noteworthy that over the past few days in the UDAR faction there has been a clear divergence of positions regarding Protasov Yar and its preservation: Mikhail Terentyev plays along with the developer during initiated meetings, but the next day Vladimir Bondarenko announces the intention of the Kyiv City Council to buy the plots owned by the developers. And the subject of this draft decision is Vitaliy Klitschko.

The movement HONESTLY promises to follow the progress of the meeting of the City Council, especially in the aspect of preserving Protasov Yar named after Roman Ratushny from development.