The Metropolitan National Police is investigating violations during the construction of a residential building on the street. Khvoynoy, 12-A. Law enforcement officers have already established that this is actually a residential complex being built on land intended for the construction of an “ordinary private house”, and that during the implementation of this project a number of DBNs were ignored.
The developer, an individual Maxim Gantsev, denies all accusations: according to him, he is building his “own” house, and law enforcement officers are putting psychological pressure on him and local residents are illegally obstructing the work. In turn, the Bortnichi community points out that this development can lead to negative consequences - deterioration of electricity supply, problems with water supply, environmental problems, and the like. In addition, local residents claim that the developer is intimidating them and their family members. Gantsev is also credited with a number of other similar buildings in this area. This may clearly indicate the systematic nature of such schemes for the development of capital lands with the support of the Kyiv City State Administration.
As it became known, law enforcement officers are studying facts of possible violation of the law during the construction of a housing complex (LC) on the street. Khvoynaya, 12-A in the Darnitsky district of the capital (Bortnichi microdistrict).
The corresponding investigation is being carried out within the framework of criminal proceedings No. 12024105020000342, which was opened by the Darnytskyi Department of the National Police of Kyiv on February 22, 2024. The defendants in the case are preliminarily charged with committing a crime under Art. 356 of the Criminal Code (CC) of Ukraine – arbitrariness. This case was opened after law enforcement received a collective appeal from residents of the Bortnichi microdistrict, who informed the National Police that unidentified persons were committing arbitrary actions on a land plot with cadastral number 8000000000:90:230:0135 with a total area of 0.1 hectares.
What the police found out
During the investigation, law enforcement officers learned that the specified site has a designated purpose “for individual residential, garage and country house construction. For the construction and maintenance of a residential building and outbuildings,” and according to its functional purpose, according to the General Plan of Kyiv, it belongs to the territory of residential estate development. However, as investigators found out, in fact, a multi-apartment residential complex is being built on it - this, according to law enforcement information, is evidenced, in particular, by the fact that on the Internet there are advertisements for the sale of one- and two-room apartments with separate bathrooms in this complex and about the possibility of investing into this construction. At the same time, there is evidence that by March 28, 2024, within the framework of this residential complex, it was planned to build 40 rooms and 8 parking spaces, and as of April 1, the design decisions were adjusted - the construction of 20 rooms and 15 parking spaces is planned.
During the investigation, inspections of this area were carried out three times. So, on March 18, 2024, law enforcement officers actually “kissed the lock” - the land was fenced off with a metal fence, and the iron entrance gate was closed. Subsequently, on April 24, law enforcement officers already fixed the pit for the foundation, along the perimeter of which formwork and reinforcement were installed. After this, on May 30, investigators once again “visited” this site - this time with a land surveyor. Then the law enforcement officers, with the help of this specialist, established facts of violations of a number of State Construction Standards (DBN) during the implementation of this development.
Thus, it turned out that the distance from the current construction to the metal fence at different points is 0.97 m, 0.91 m and 0.85 m, which is significantly less than the distance defined in DBN B.2.2-12:2019 “Planning and development." The point is that the specified standards indicate that when developing for fire trucks, driveways with a width of at least 3.5 m or lanes with a width of at least 6 m should be provided, “which must be designed for the appropriate loads from the fire truck.” . Also, according to the investigation, the developer violated the standards of DBN B.2.2-12:2019 Fire safety of construction projects. General requirements that do not allow the placement of apartment buildings in estate development areas.
During the investigation, law enforcement officers sent inquiries regarding this development to the State Inspectorate of Architecture and Urban Planning (DIAM) and the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA). GIAM informed investigators that this inspection does not have documents at its disposal regarding the applications of individuals or legal entities to obtain permission to build an apartment building. In turn, in the relevant department of the capital’s mayor’s office, the investigators were told that on March 28, 2023, they were provided with urban planning conditions and restrictions (MUO) for designing the development of the site at the specified address, but they spoke about “individual residential building (estate type) )” – that is, the developers did not receive permission to build the residential complex.
Law enforcement officers also questioned as witnesses members of the initiative group opposing this construction. They, among other things, told law enforcement officers that the illegal construction of an apartment building at this address could lead to various negative consequences both for residents of the Bortnichi microdistrict in general, and for residents of houses on nearby streets in particular. According to members of the initiative group, these consequences may be expressed in deterioration of electricity supply, problems with water supply, environmental problems, since there is no centralized sewerage system on this street, etc.
On June 13, 2024, the Darnytsia District Prosecutor's Office sent a petition to the local district court to seize the property on the street. Khvoynoy, 12-A. This was explained by the fact that the land was recognized as material evidence in this investigation, so law enforcement officers needed to obtain a ban on its sale and use (for example, construction work). However, on June 20, the Darnitsky District Court refused to satisfy such a petition. Obviously, the investigator and judge were convinced by the arguments of the owner of this plot, who opposed the seizure.
In particular, this individual drew attention to the fact that he was constructing a “private”, that is, “own” house. The owner of the site also noted that law enforcement officers did not provide evidence of “causing significant harm to the interests of citizens or state interests” as a result of this development, although, they say, they should have done this, because a criminal offense under Art. 356 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine should have such a component. At the same time, the citizen emphasized that in order to preserve the site as material evidence, it is necessary not to seize it, but to properly care for it - clean it, mow the grass, etc. In addition, this person pointed out that stopping the construction of a house at the stage of unfinished construction will lead to its damage and destruction due to adverse atmospheric influences, precipitation, wind, erosion, etc.
We also note that this person in court voiced a number of accusations against law enforcement officers and local residents. Thus, according to him, the prosecutor and National Police investigators abuse their procedural rights and put psychological pressure on him. In turn, members of the above-mentioned initiative group, they say, “do not like the construction of a house by the owner [of the site], and therefore they are constantly making attempts to prevent [development] by blocking the entry of equipment to the construction site, preventing the unloading of materials, placing concrete blocks, burying marigolds on access roads to a land plot,” etc.
Background and some details
On April 27, 2001, the Kiev City Council, by decision No. 311/1288, agreed on the allocation of a land plot on the street. Kominterna, 12-A in the Kharkov district of the capital (currently Khvoynaya Street in the Darnitsky district) into private ownership of citizen Viktor Podlesny “for the construction and maintenance of a residential building and utility buildings.”
Subsequently, for more than two decades, this land was virtually unused. At the end of last 2023, on December 5, the individual Maxim Gantsev became its owner on the basis of a purchase and sale agreement. And just three weeks later, on December 28, the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the Kyiv City State Administration issued him the above-mentioned MOU for designing the construction of an individual residential building (manor house type).
This document stipulated that the maximum number of storeys of a given house should not exceed 3 floors or 15 meters excluding the attic, and the maximum percentage of development of the site should not exceed 50%. At the same time, the Municipal Organization also noted that, according to the DBN, “the placement of multi-apartment (sectional) buildings in estate development blocks is not allowed.” Among other things, “Grodnostroy” stated that “in the absence of city sewerage networks, it is necessary to provide sewerage for estates using local treatment facilities,” etc.
On February 2, 2024, the project for this house was already ready. According to it, the height of this building should be 13.67 m - that is, 3 floors plus an attic. The total area of the house should be 895.4 sq.m., and the total area of living quarters should be 286.6 sq.m.
Subsequently, during February-June 2024, Maxim Gantsev tried more than ten times to register with the Department of State Architectural and Construction Control (GASC) at the Kyiv City State Administration a notice of the start of construction of an individual residential building (manor house type) on the street. Khvoynoy, 12A, but in all cases officials returned the corresponding application for revision. Among the reasons given was the fact that, despite the requirements of the Municipal Organization, the design documentation for this development was developed in the absence of “technical conditions of the relevant services” (which ones were not specified. - KV).
However, on July 2, 2024, the above department nevertheless registered a message about the start of construction work under No. KV051240626556 - with the initial data that was indicated in the project.
Shortly before this, on April 11, 2024, at the request of residents of Bortnichi, a meeting was held at the Darnitsa District State Administration (RGA) regarding this development, as well as development in the lane. Propolisny, 13, in which, according to citizens, the same developer is involved. Then he announced that he would stop construction work while inspections were carried out and relevant conclusions were received from all bodies and services involved in the inspection. The developer also promised not to interfere with access to the site if it is inspected by the relevant authorities or services. However, as reported on the Facebook page of the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center (KECC), such promises were not fulfilled.
Render of the future residential complex on the street. Khvoynoy, 12-A (screenshot from the KECC page)
“In fact, after the meeting, the developer intensified construction work in the lane. Propolisny, 13 and connected electricity to the street. Khvoynoy, 12-A. This situation caused even greater indignation among local residents, who began to protest against illegal actions. To suppress community resistance, the developer began to intimidate active local residents and their family members through death threats, blackmail and slander. The developer also sends a detachment of ten to twelve athletic young people to the site of illegal construction, who behave aggressively towards the protesting citizens - they humiliate, intimidate, physically impede movement, and unauthorizedly enter the territory of neighboring houses,” notes the KECC.
By the way, there is little information about the aforementioned Maxim Gantsev in open sources. At the same time, residents of Bortnichi also attribute to him an attitude towards the developments in the lane. Lugovoy, 14A and 14B, on the street. Lugovoy, 56A and st. Rodnikova, 61. The corresponding plots belong to the same Grantsev and Artem Chaplygin and are also intended for the construction of “private houses”.
How “individual residential complexes” are built in the capital
As the media have repeatedly reported, scandals regularly arise in the capital over the construction of multi-apartment residential buildings on lands where only private houses “for one owner” or country houses can be built. Most often, unscrupulous developers receive “legal” permits for the construction of “blocked houses” on several floors, but in fact they build full-fledged residential complexes, the apartments in which are registered, for example, under the guise of “part of a household.” Often such developments are opposed by local residents who live in “real” private houses and are afraid of the potential proximity to apartment complexes. They point out that such territories are simply not intended for residential complexes - due to the lack of the required number of schools, kindergartens, inadequate engineering infrastructure (in the territories of estate development there is no centralized sewage system, and therefore people use so-called “cesspools”), etc. .d.
At the same time, the metropolitan municipality often “facilitates” such developments by issuing the appropriate MDUs. This was the case, for example, in October 2021, when the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the Kyiv City State Administration allowed the service cooperative Kievstroy-2 to design the construction of a three-story semi-detached residential building with an attic on the street. Kazatskaya, 55-E, S, I, Zh. These “city developments” actually legalized the construction of a high-rise building on four land plots with a total area of 0.4 hectares that had already been prepared for development (green spaces on them had already been demolished and a foundation pit had been dug), which a pit has been dug). are located in a landslide zone and are intended for residential estate development.
A similar situation occurred in December of the same year, when the same department of the capital’s city state administration granted Osokor Development MOO LLC to design the reconstruction of a residential building of 91.6 sq.m. on the street. Zavalnoy, 2-D for a functional complex with underground parking. The height of this complex was set at 24 floors - despite the fact that the land plot is intended for the construction and maintenance of an ordinary residential building (garden plot) and utility buildings, and is also located in flood and flood zones.
In some cases, law enforcement agencies pay attention to such developments. For example, this was the case with the Parkland residential complex in the Zhulyany microdistrict (Solomensky district) - a project of the development company ZIM Group, which is associated with the people's deputy of the VII and VIII convocations of the Verkhovna Rada Dmitry Andrievsky (elected from the Batkivshchyna VO and Peter's Bloc Poroshenko”). This complex was built on 12 plots with the intended purpose “for individual residential, garage and country house construction.” During the investigation, which began in June 2020, law enforcement officers received confirmation of violations of the requirements for compliance with the intended purpose of this land from the Main Directorate of the State GeoCadastre in Kyiv. However, to date this case does not seem to be under investigation - the last court ruling on it is dated June 23, 2021.
The post of director of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the Kyiv City State Administration has been occupied by Alexander Svistunov since November 1, 2016. Since June 29, 2021, the Department of Land Resources of the Kyiv City State Administration has been headed by Valentina Pelikh (served as the head of this structure since April 2, 2021). From July 27, 2018 to April 1, 2021, this department was headed by Petr Olenich (in the collage on the left), who since April 2, 2021 has been holding the position of Deputy Chairman of the Kyiv City State Administration and oversees land and urban planning issues in Kyiv.
Since January 13, 2020, Oksana Popovich has been heading the Department for State Civil Inspectorate Affairs at the Kyiv City State Administration. Since 2018, the activities of this department have been controlled by the Deputy Chairman of the Kyiv City State Administration Vyacheslav Nepop (on the collage to the right).
