My ISTIL Group has made several important acquisitions this year. The Kyiv Post newspaper is one of them. The landmark Leipzig Hotel near Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gate) is another. And yet another big investment that gives us pride is the purchase of the historic Kinopanorama theater on 19 Shota Rustaveli Street.
I am making these investments because, as a British citizen who first came to Ukraine in 1974 as a university student from Pakistan, this nation has been great to me. I have spent most of my professional life here in the steel industry based in Donetsk. But now I want to be part of developing real estate, media and entertainment in this beautiful and ancient capital that I and my Ukrainian wife, Kamaliya, love so dearly.
So it is with this desire in mind that we bought the Kinopanorama in good faith. Our intention is to invest into the building, which was destroyed during World War II and rebuilt in 1957. We want to convert the place into a modern entertainment center, right in the heart of the city.
Unfortunately, as it turned out, we were in for an unpleasant surprise. The acquisition was followed by a dispute that raised historical issues. The Jewish Religious Community in Kyiv, representing more than 25,000 faithful, argues that the current location of the cinema used to hold a prayer house. It has repeatedly appealed to the city authorities with requests that the cinema be converted to its original religious purpose.
In addition, following the 2008 privatization of the property by the city government,Jewish organizations filed lawsuits to resolve the issue. As a result, ISTIL Group, as the new owner of the cinema, found itself bogged down in a legal battle.
Unfortunately, sometimes in the heat of business battles, harsh words get said and your own words are presented by the news media in harmful ways.
Somehow, this disagreement got tangled up and was misrepresented to the public as a religious dispute, which it is not. I am Muslim. But religion has nothing to do with what is purely a business and legal dispute. I have great admiration for the Jewish faith and its followers, as I do of all other worshippers, regardless of their beliefs. This world needs more religious tolerance and understanding, not less.
Nonetheless, this ownership dispute over the Kinopanorama took a nasty turn last fall, shortly after my ISTIL Group closed on the purchase. When it did, I publicly expressed concern over the methodsemployed to win control of the cinema. I now regret the negative emotional comments I made about the respected leader of the Jewish community, Rabbi Moshe Asman of the Choral synagogue, which is just down the street from the Kinopanorama.
In legal terms, I am certain that the acquisition of the Kinopanorama by ISTIL Group is without any violation or flaw. But to Rabbi Moshe Asman and other Jewish leaders, I propose negotiations to resolve this dispute out of court. Litigation is long and unpleasant.
The only victims of such a prolonged court battle would be Kyiv’s intellectual cinemagoers, who are already lacking quality movies on the city’s big screens. My ISTIL Group seeks a constructive solution to this disagreement that is now costing everyone involved time, money and negative publicity.
The Kinopanorama is now showing movies again, as it has since 1957, and that is great for movie lovers in Kyiv. But this building has so much more potential. However, we are prevented from making improvements to the property while litigation is pending in court.
This is why, as a goodwill gesture, my ISTIL Group offers to meet with the Jewish Religious Community in order to work towards a constructive and positive agreement which will put this unfortunate episode behind us, once and for all, so that we can move forward as friendly neighbors.
Mohammad Zahoor, owner of ISTIL Group, is the publisher of the Kyiv Post.
