Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Dmitry Verbitsky lives in a house in the elite cottage town "Konik" in Kyiv, which his nephew purchased by proxy from an Odessa businessman for more than 2 million hryvnia - which, according to market prices, is undervalued by 6 times. This was found by “Schemes” (Radio Liberty project).
Previously, the DBR opened criminal proceedings against the developer of the cottage town "Konik", in which the procedural management is carried out by the Office of the Prosecutor General, where Verbitsky is the deputy chairman. Currently, there are no active actions in this case; the arrests on the developer’s property have been lifted, the investigation says. Verbitsky himself, when asked about the reduced price for a townhouse, stated that he knew “only the price specified in the contract.” In the criminal case, the Deputy Prosecutor General noted that prosecutorial supervision of SBI investigations “is not within his powers.”
In his property declaration for 2023, Deputy Prosecutor General Dmitry Verbitsky indicated that from November 3, 2023 he has been renting a house with an area of 155 square meters. “Schemes” found out that the house in which Verbitsky settled was a two-story townhouse in the elite cottage town “Konik” in Kyiv.
The developer’s website states that this two-story cottage, called QDRO tetra, “designed using modern technologies, using environmentally friendly materials”
The owner of the townhouse is businessman Viktor Pavilch from Odessa, where Verbitsky previously worked as a deputy regional prosecutor. Pavilch owns companies engaged in the extraction of decorative and building stones, providing property for rent and operation.
As “Schemes” established, on October 26, 2023, Pavilch gave Verbitsky’s nephew Evgeniy a power of attorney to represent interests, and the very next day, October 27, Evgeniy Verbitsky registered ownership of the townhouse along with the land named Pavilch.
The transaction amount is 2.8 million hryvnia: 2 million hryvnia for the house and 800 thousand hryvnia for the land, according to the purchase and sale agreements that Schemes have at their disposal.
The seller under the contract is Alexandra Marakhovskaya, whose interests were represented by proxy by Oksana Yatsina, who is the head of the founding company “ZV Development”, the developer of the Konik cottage community.
Dmitry Verbitsky himself was present at the signing of the agreement, as evidenced by recordings from surveillance cameras of the cottage town for that day, obtained from Schemes sources with access to these videos.
Journalists drew attention to the value of the property - more than 2 million hryvnia, despite the fact that the market price of the same townhouse is about 470 thousand dollars - according to advertisements for the sale of similar housing in this cottage town and advertising promotions.
In Ukrainian currency today this is more than 18.5 million hryvnia.
The market price of the same townhouse is about 470 thousand dollars
Journalists also contacted a representative of the developer to clarify the cost of such a property with an area of 155 square meters, to which she replied that “below 200 thousand dollars” such houses in Konik “definitely are not sold.”
“If there is a significant difference between the value of the property in the contract and its market price, this can be said to be a marker of a tax optimization scheme,” says independent expert and real estate consultant Evgeniy Polunov.
Since May 2020, the DBI has been investigating criminal proceedings for the illegal alienation of land plots that were in the municipal ownership of Kyiv and on which the Konik cottage community was subsequently built. The Prosecutor General's Office is leading the proceedings in this case.
The last court hearing in this case took place in November 2022, during which the Pechersky District Court canceled the seizure of property belonging to the developer of the cottage community.
According to Schemes’ sources in law enforcement agencies who were informed of the situation, no investigative actions were taken in this case over the past year, nor were any suspicions reported.
In a comment to Schemes, Verbitsky noted that “he only knows the cost specified in the contract.”
“According to the law, an assessment of the property specified in the contract is always carried out,” added the Deputy Prosecutor General.
When asked if he considered possible tax evasion, the purchase by his nephew of real estate, six times cheaper than the market value, by proxy, he replied: “The said house has a number of shortcomings and needs additional financial investments.”
Verbitsky explained his presence on the day the agreement was concluded by saying that the son of the owner of the house, Viktor Pavilch, Maxim, with whom he had known “since his student years” and was family friends, asked him to “personally come and see if everything was done correctly, namely, or all documents have been issued.”
“Maxim Pavilch was abroad at that time, and his father was an elderly man, and therefore Maxim Pavilch asked for help in purchasing a house for his family, which is why his father wrote out a power of attorney for my nephew, Evgeniy Verbitsky,” noted Verbitsky.
Subsequently, according to the Deputy Prosecutor General, he decided to settle there because it was “not far from work” and it was a “fenced, safe area.”
Verbitsky emphasized that neither Viktor Pavilch nor his family turned to him for help that would require his “prosecutorial powers”.
Regarding the criminal proceedings against the developer of the Konik cottage town, the Deputy Prosecutor General noted that this case began “long before his appointment” and, according to the distribution of responsibilities, prosecutorial supervision of SBI investigations “is not within his powers.”
Separately, journalists sent a request to the DBI regarding this investigation.
The owner of a townhouse in Konik, Viktor Pavilch, commented to reporters: “The family chipped in with money, why not buy it?”
As for the undervalued price of the house, he explained this: “I was offered to buy it at that price, and I bought it at that price. I think the price is quite normal." Pavilch declined to say who offered him the townhouse. “If there is any information that you are interested in, let law enforcement agencies invite me, I will give all the explanations,” he noted.
He also confirmed that his son Maxim Pavilch was involved in the purchase of real estate. “My son provided me with this information and said: “Dad, there is such an opportunity, you can buy it for the future.” How they got in touch (with Deputy Prosecutor General Dmitry Verbitsky - Ed.) - I don’t know.”
“Schemes” also contacted the seller of the townhouse, Alexandra Marakhovskaya. She did not respond to requests for comment.
Oksana Yatsina, who represented Marakhovskaya by proxy, answered a similar question: “You shock me with your very questions, why should I answer you anything? I don't even know who you are or what you are.
Special attention is drawn to the business connections of the Pavilchev family, who purchased a townhouse in Konik at six times the market price, where the Deputy Prosecutor General eventually settled.
As Schemes found out, the long-term business partner of Maxim Pavilch (son of Viktor Pavilch) is Odessa businessman Dmitry Dimarsky. He was a suspect in the so-called “Galanternik case” regarding the illegal acquisition of land plots in Odessa in 2016-2019.
Dimarsky, as the owner of an Odessa development company, according to investigators, “provided an unlawful benefit” – namely an apartment – to the then head of the prosecutor’s office of the Odessa region, Oleg Zhuchenko, in exchange for “favorable conditions” for the construction of residential complexes on lands allocated by the local prosecutor’s office, which he also received suspicion. At that time, Zhuchenko’s subordinate was Dmitry Verbitsky, the current deputy prosecutor general.
Schemes has not yet been able to contact Maxim Pavilch.
Dmitry Verbitsky became Deputy Prosecutor General Andrei Kostin in September 2022. Before that, he worked in the prosecutor's office of the Ivano-Frankivsk, Odessa and Nikolaev regions. From 2020 to 2022, until his appointment to the position in the UCP, he was deputy head of the Odessa Regional Prosecutor's Office.
On the day of Verbitsky’s appointment, Prosecutor General Andrei Kostin said that the new deputy would focus on combating economic crimes and tax evasion, customs duties, as well as protecting investments and the environment.
