Not good life by Igor Mazepa: the story of elite construction on a dam and detention at the border

On January 18, famous Ukrainian businessman Igor Mazepa was detained by law enforcement officers while crossing the border. The very next day, the court quickly chose a measure of restraint for him in the form of detention with the possibility of release on bail of almost 350 million hryvnia. He is suspected of land fraud and not just anywhere, but on the dam of the Kyiv Reservoir, which is a strategic site. So what did Mazepa do and why did the previous President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko suddenly come to his defense?

Igor Mazepa is the head of the investment company Concord capital. He began his career at the investment firm Prospect Investments, associated with Russian-American capital. In 2004 he founded Concord capital, which he still heads today.

He is also connected with Russians by his work at Alfa Bank, where he was a member of the supervisory board in 2014. In addition, he ran for the Verkhovna Rada from the party of former member of the Party of Regions Sergei Tigipko.

Interestingly, as of March 2022, Igor Mazepa was one of the ultimate beneficiaries of Madera Development LLC, part of the Smart-Holding group of companies. His companion was the most pro-Russian ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, Vadim Novinsky.

However, unlike another businessman, Evgeny Chernyak, who was recently reported on suspicion of possibly working for an aggressor state, Igor Mazepa is not charged with anything related to the Russian Federation.

From the official report it became known that the investigation considers Mazepa to be the organizer of a scheme for the illegal acquisition of lands on which hydraulic structures of critical infrastructure - the Kyiv hydroelectric power station - are located. Moreover, this case has been dragging on for several years, but only recently details have appeared in it.

Data from the court registry of Ukraine indicate the following: the suspect, together with his accomplices, may have had the intention of seizing free land plots located on the territory of the left bank protective dam of the Kiev Hydroelectric Power Station between the villages of Khotyanovka and Lebedevka, Vyshgorod district. The goal was to build an elite cottage community on a picturesque site. To implement his plan, as the investigation notes, Mazepa and his accomplices organized a search for “students” who, for small funds, registered plots of land for themselves for gardening, and subsequently transferred the right of use to a “criminal organization.” Also involved in the scheme were officials from the State GeoCadastre, the State Forestry Agency and the State Water Agency.

On January 18, famous Ukrainian businessman Igor Mazepa was detained by law enforcement officers while crossing the border. The very next day, the court quickly chose a measure of restraint for him in the form of detention with the possibility of release on bail of almost 350 million hryvnia. He is suspected of land fraud and not just anywhere, but on the dam of the Kyiv Reservoir, which is a strategic site. So what did Mazepa do and why did the previous President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko suddenly come to his defense?

Igor Mazepa is the head of the investment company Concord capital. He began his career at the investment firm Prospect Investments, associated with Russian-American capital. In 2004 he founded Concord capital, which he still heads today.

He is also connected with Russians by his work at Alfa Bank, where he was a member of the supervisory board in 2014. In addition, he ran for the Verkhovna Rada from the party of former member of the Party of Regions Sergei Tigipko.

Interestingly, as of March 2022, Igor Mazepa was one of the ultimate beneficiaries of Madera Development LLC, part of the Smart-Holding group of companies. His companion was the most pro-Russian ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, Vadim Novinsky.

However, unlike another businessman, Evgeny Chernyak, who was recently reported on suspicion of possibly working for an aggressor state, Igor Mazepa is not charged with anything related to the Russian Federation.

From the official report it became known that the investigation considers Mazepa to be the organizer of a scheme for the illegal acquisition of lands on which hydraulic structures of critical infrastructure - the Kyiv hydroelectric power station - are located. Moreover, this case has been dragging on for several years, but only recently details have appeared in it.

Data from the court registry of Ukraine indicate the following: the suspect, together with his accomplices, may have had the intention of seizing free land plots located on the territory of the left bank protective dam of the Kiev Hydroelectric Power Station between the villages of Khotyanovka and Lebedevka, Vyshgorod district. The goal was to build an elite cottage community on a picturesque site. To implement his plan, as the investigation notes, Mazepa and his accomplices organized a search for “students” who, for small funds, registered plots of land for themselves for gardening, and subsequently transferred the right of use to a “criminal organization.” Also involved in the scheme were officials from the State GeoCadastre, the State Forestry Agency and the State Water Agency.

We are talking about the lands where the Goodlife Park town has been built since 2013. Igor Mazepa’s company “Concord capital” is building luxury buildings, and he has housing. According to him, it was here that he met a full-scale invasion.

Let us note that part of the Vyshgorod district was under occupation in the first days of the war, but this did not affect elite buildings near the Kyiv Dam.

The publication “Economic Pravda” writes that, based on materials from the DBR, during 2012-2021, local governments in the Kiev region made a number of decisions on the allocation of land plots into private ownership “at the expense of the territories on which the hydraulic structures of the Kyiv hydroelectric power station are located.”

“With this scheme, land plots on which luxury real estate Riviera Village, KyivSea, Shelest, GoldFish, Good River, Goodlife Park were built, with a total area of ​​more than 300 hectares, with a total area of ​​more than 300 hectares, were taken over,” the materials say.

However, in the materials of the case in which Igor Mazepa, his brother Yuri, also detained, and a number of other defendants are now involved, one can find slightly different information. In particular, we are talking about 2019, when a businessman was allegedly involved in implementing land seizure schemes with the participation of government agencies. 50 people were found whose plots were recorded and who received from 500 to 2000 hryvnia for this. Subsequently, these people signed a power of attorney for the transfer of land.

According to the conclusion of the land appraisal examination dated October 5, 2023, the actual market value of the land plots is 15 million hryvnia, while the dummies received from the “schemers” from 30 to 54 thousand hryvnia.

It is obvious that Mazepa is accused of seizing only part of the land on the Kyiv Dam, namely 7 hectares, while the case from 2014 refers to almost 300 hectares.

The fact is that since 2014, law enforcement officers have suspected not only Igor Mazepa of seizing land in an elite area. For example, the above-mentioned cottage town Riviera Village belongs to another investment businessman - Tomas Fiale and his investment company "Dragor Capital". The village is located just 5 kilometers from the Mazepa development and, in fact, can also threaten the safety of the Kyiv hydroelectric power station dam.

At one time, it was actively discussed that at the address, which completely coincides with the location of Riviera Village - p. Lebedevka, st. Sagaidachnogo, 50, registered private enterprises “Lebedovsky Lesovichok” and “Lebedovsky Lesovichok Plus”, closely associated with the deputy from the now banned “Opposition Platform - For Life” Yuri Boyko. In particular, one of the founders of the mentioned private enterprises were Vladimir Limakov and Igor Tarabakin, who, due to a complex chain of other companies, are connected with Boyko, and with the former head of Naftogaz, Yevgeny Bakulin, and, oddly enough, with Tomas’ Dragon Capital Vials.

Igor Mazepa can also be partially associated with Naftogaz, although not with the period when Boyko “ruled” there. In the cottage town of Goodlife Park, which the investigation took up, the property of one of the former leaders of the state oil and gas giant, Andrei Kobolev, is owned. The same one who received a 229 million award for the court case against Gazprom and sent it to his mother in the USA. It is precisely because of the issuance of these bonuses that Kobolev is now also a defendant in a criminal case.

A day after Mazepa’s arrest, Andrei Kobolev wrote a “loud” post on Facebook in defense of his comrade, in which, according to good tradition, he accused the authorities of returning to the times of Yanukovych.

But the most interesting of Mazepa’s defenders turned out to be the previous President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko. “The detention of Igor Mazepa is not his personal case. There are a lot of such cases, it’s just that the names of the victims of selective justice are not so loud and well-known. Representatives of the business environment themselves are increasingly talking about the return of the practices of 2010-2013 (remember, at that time Poroshenko was both the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Economy - Ed.). This was also mentioned in the statement of the public movement “Manifesto 42”, initiated by Mazepa,” Poroshenko writes on social networks.

Firstly, why did Poroshenko even begin to defend Mazepa, and secondly, what is this mysterious Manifesto 42? The first one is very easy to figure out - the businessman is friends with the former head of Poroshenko’s Administration, Boris Lozhkin, as both have repeatedly stated. He was also often seen visiting Bankova during the time of the previous president.

The second one is more interesting. An organization with the strange name “Manifesto 42” was created in the summer of 2023 by a number of businessmen. In addition to Igor Mazepa, it includes: Chairman of the Association of Entrepreneurs of ATO Veterans Sergei Poznyak, co-owner of the Nemiroff vodka business Yakov Gribov, CEO of OKKO gas stations Vasily Danilyak, President of the Obolon beer company Alexander Slobodyan, co-owner of the Dobrobut clinic Oleg Kalashnikov (owned by Igor Mazepa – Ed.), head of the pharmaceutical company “Farmak” Filya Zhebrovskaya, head of the agricultural company “Astarta” Viktor Ivanchik, etc.

On January 22, the organization exploded with a loud statement. They say that if “the authorities do not stop putting pressure on business, all founding companies will suspend their work on February 1 for one hour.” The social movement will wait for answers from the state leadership until 12:00 on February 1, 2024. Among the demands is the adoption of the bill developed by Manifesto 42, which should stop the arbitrariness of law enforcement agencies, as well as the creation of a commission “government - law enforcement agencies - business associations” to promptly respond to the arbitrariness of the rear security forces in relation to business.”

Frankly, during a war, it is extremely unprofitable for the authorities to quarrel with businesses that pay taxes. Therefore, it will probably be necessary to organize a meeting with entrepreneurs. The same cannot be said about the requirements for changes in legislation, etc. Moreover, the case with the detention of Igor Mazepa in no way concerns his business.

In the Mazepa case, another problem arises that is almost impossible to solve. According to specialized websites, 86 houses have already been built on the site where the Googlife Park cottage is located. Another 10 are under construction and 20 are in the design stage. How can one imagine that the owners of luxury buildings could be evicted from there? Almost nothing.

The same may apply to Tomas Fiala's luxury villas nearby. Even if the investigation proves that the land was allocated illegally, and the buildings may pose a danger to the dam of the Kyiv hydroelectric power station, in practice this can only result in a prison sentence for businessmen.