A park featuring Kyiv’s historic and architectural landmarks in miniature may be dismantled if the Kyiv City Administration collects on back rent.
A park that features Kyiv’s historic and architectural landmarks in miniature form may be dismantled if the Kyiv City Administration decides to force park administrators to pay tens of thousands of dollars in back rent.
The park was established on public land by city authorities under the direction of then-Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko at Hidropark in June 2006, along with investments from the owner of a neighboring restaurant complex.
On Jan. 14, the park’s administration received a letter from the city’s Land Resources Administration (Kyivzem) demanding back rental payments for 2007.
While the park was under the direction of the Department of General Direction of Foreign Representatives (GDFR), a government agency in the Kyiv City Administration, Kyiv Miniature Park was allegedly established with non-profit status through a $500,000 investment made by Oleksandr Menshikov, owner of the nearby Mlyn restaurant complex.
Kyiv’s current city administration under Mayor Leonid Chernovetskiy doesn’t approve of Menshikov collecting the park’s entrance fees since its opening, arguing it’s a commercial, for-profit venture on public land.
The City Administration insists the park be subject to future rental payments, and is requiring repayment of nearly nine months worth of back rental payments – an amount Menshikov is unwilling to offer.
On Feb. 11 GDFR, Kyivzem, and Menshikov held a meeting and decided to defer the issue to Chernovetskiy.
Although both GDFR and Menshikov asked the city to resolve the problem several times, the city has yet to schedule meetings, Menshikov said.
“If we cancel the entrance fee in order to have non-profit status, then a question rises – who will pay for running the park?” Menshikov said.
The park earned $17,000 in 2006 and $26,500 in 2007 from entrance fees, according to Menshikov, which was enough to cover maintenance expenses, but not enough to pay rent.
Today’s confusion and disagreement is due to misunderstandings regarding the contract’s provisions at the outset, and the bureaucracy encountered when registering the necessary paperwork.
Although rent was not mentioned in the contract, the land was originally declared commercial and was supposed to be rented from the city, which Menshikov was aware of, said Nikolay Karpenko, a GDFR spokeperson.
As soon as the park investor receives money from the entrance fee, the land is considered a for-profit enterprise according to the City Administration.
The land was initially registered as city-owned under then-Mayor Omelchenko, and didn’t require a rental agreement. However, Chernovetskiy’s administration reclassified the lot as commercial after learning about the entrance fee.
Unfortunately, the process of officially registering the land took too long, and though the park existed since June 2006, the City Council’s decision to demand rent wasn’t known until last summer, while all the paperwork wasn’t filed until now.
The land is technically state-owned, which means that GDFR is also under obligation to make sure the rent is paid.
GDFR, the branch of the City Administration responsible for providing services to the foreign diplomatic corps, has so far footed the bill, paying last year’s back rent of $36,000, although officials insist it is Menshikov’s responsibility.
The park, featuring replicas of the Pechersk Caves Monastery, St. Sophia’s Square, and Independence Square, was “a planned non-profit project from the start, meant to acquaint foreigners attending diplomatic receptions and business meetings with Kyiv’s famous landmarks,” Menshikov claimed.
In order to pay the rent, the park would be forced to increase the entrance fee from $2 to between $20 and $40, Menshikov said.
“It will completely deprive visitors, and Kyiv, of one of the most attractive and interesting spots for tourists, allowing them to learn the city at once,” Menshikov said.
The 2008 rent will be $80,000, according to preliminary calculations by GDFR.
“The sum does not matter,” Menshikov said. “I am not going to pay any amount of rent, as it was not my responsibility by contract. In case the issue is not resolved, I am ready to dismantle the park.”
If Menshikov doesn’t pay rent, the land stands to be transferred to the city.
“The city may consider the possibility of passing the park to KyivZelenbud, the administrator of all Kyiv land, which unlike GDFR, is a privileged city administrative body subject to different regulations, and as such would be free from paying rent,” Karpenko said.
