In the spring of 2022, when the Ukrainian Armed Forces expelled the occupiers from the Kiev region, the whole world was shocked by how much the region had been mutilated. One of the towns that suffered greatly from the actions of the Russian invaders was Makarov.
But, as a journalistic investigation showed, not everyone in the Makarovsky region were opponents of the Russian world. The owner of 46 plots of land in the village of Gavronshchina, on which an elite golf club is located, Lev Goldberg is closely associated with businessman Yuri Ivanyushchenko, who is close to the fugitive President Yanukovych, and does not refuse to cooperate with citizens of the aggressor country.
Lev Goldberg is known for being the founder of the now bankrupt Green Bank and Artem Bank. During the reign of Yanukovych, both structures were associated with former MP and businessman Yuriy Ivanyushchenko. The first bank was created back in 1992 and was called “Olympic Ukraine”. Since 2008, one of the founders of Green Bank was the Artem Investment Construction Company, which would later become the developer of the territory of the Artem defense plant.
Artem Bank was created in 2002. Among its founders were the State Joint-Stock Holding Company "Artem", PJSC "Plant Universal-A", PJSC "Aura" and LLC "Paradigma". Since 2003, Lev Goldberg and his business partners Arkady Kozerovsky and Valery Kozyrenko have been among the founders. The latter was quickly removed from the bank’s management, and at the end of the material it will become clear why.
Since 2008, when related businesses, such as construction, began to appear around Artem Bank, a scheme was launched in the mentioned territory of the Makarovsky district involving 30 close associates to obtain land plots of 50 hectares. An elite golf club, GolfStream, began to be built on this territory, where, until the full-scale invasion, international competitions and even diplomatic tournaments were held. Even the criminal proceedings opened on the fact of illegally obtaining the right to own land did not prevent them from being carried out.
The same founder of Artem Bank, Lev Goldberg, was called the ideologist of the construction of the GolfStream golf club. But he can hardly be considered an independent figure. And the registers prove his connection with the mentioned Yuri Ivanyushchenko and Russian money at the same moment.
One of the founders of Artem Investment and Construction Company LLC, which, in particular, was engaged in the construction business involved in Artem Bank, was the limited liability company Almagama. His registration address coincides with the main office of Artem Bank on Sichovykh Streltsov Street, 103. This same premises, by the way, is still owned by Lev Goldberg.
Subsequently, one of the founders of Almagama was Brenda Patricia Cocksedge from South Africa (she was a resident of the UK and now lives in Dubai). Her name is mentioned, among other things, in the leak of information from the Panama papers, and the woman was also one of the managers of the British company Fitzalan Limited.
In 2015, Cypriot Kristina Palala worked for this company, with the help of whom in 2014-2015 Yuri Ivanyushchenko received a significant stake in one of the largest markets in Ukraine, “7 kilometer”.
Christina Palala worked for another British company - Addison Alliance Limited, which through a rather long chain of connections leads to Rolexa Limited. According to reports published in March 2015, the owners of the company were Irina and Diana Ivanyushchenko. This is the wife and daughter of ex-Verkhovna Rada deputy Yuriy Ivanyushchenko.
If the connection with Ivanyushchenko is too obvious for golf lover Lev Goldberg, then with the Russians it is a little more complicated. For example, the mentioned Brenda Patricia Cocksedge at one time was in the management of a huge number of companies with Russian capital. To check this, just write a search query in Google with this name in combination with Russia.
At the same time, Golf and Country Club LLC, which is now managed by Goldberg’s wife Lyudmila, was managed by Liverpool resident Kelly Stephen John. He was one of the founders of the company Boily Systems Limited, along with a Russian citizen who became part of the high-profile Magnitsky case.
Well, the most important thing that connects Lev Goldberg with the Russians is the same Artem Bank. The court decision dated February 2023 on the criminal proceedings that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are conducting regarding the seizure of bank funds describes a scheme of how, with the help of controlled companies, the structure issued loans for the purchase of land. Firm prices were inflated several times. According to the conclusion of the State Audit Service of Ukraine dated November 2021, losses of Artem Bank were established in the amount of UAH 181,696,274.20.
The same decision mentions the following: “During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that the former actual owner of Artem Bank was involved in the commission of these criminal offenses, who made key decisions regarding the activities of the bank, including the issuance of significant amounts of loan funds by the bank. ... It was established that his business partner, a citizen of the Russian Federation, was involved in the commission of these criminal offenses, who, in particular, is a co-founder of S-Vklad LLC, as well as a director and co-founder of the Kiev Golf Club Golfstream NGO and the Kiev Golf Club golf Club".
The only person who is a co-founder of all three of these companies is Lev Goldberg’s business partner Valery Kozyrenko, mentioned at the beginning of this material.
On January 27, 2023, on the basis of a resolution of the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv, a search was conducted at the place of residence of a person with Russian citizenship. Based on the results of the search, among other things, “documents and objects were discovered and seized that directly indicate the latter’s relationship to the activities of Artem-Bank JSC, in particular, agreements on opening bank deposits, cash and products made of precious metals, as well as other documents and items of evidentiary value in criminal proceedings.”
Recently, information appeared in the media that Lev Goldberg allegedly sheltered invaders on the territory of a golf club during the Russian army’s offensive in the Kyiv region. It was not possible to find evidence of this, and the club itself is not yet operating, collecting funds for restoration through the established charitable foundation. But even if Goldberg did not help the Russians in the winter and spring of 2022, his long-standing connection with the citizens of this country and with the former plunderers of the state from the time of Yanukovych could be traced beyond doubt.
