After the EuroMaidan Revolution, which deposed President Viktor Yanukovych on Feb. 22, 2014, Kyiv citizens gave extremely high level of credibility and trust to newly elected Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
He lost that credibility and trust completely during the last five years.
Ukrainians believed that he, a legal millionaire, would not steal from the city budget, that developers will not seduce him by any profit. People hoped that Klitschko would do his best to leave a mark in Kyiv history and turn it into a truly European city.
Alas, none of these expectations has come true. Instead of introducing European values: protection of historical monuments and preservation of the city’s unique outlook, Klitschko did his best to turn Kyiv into one continuous construction site of gigantic, barbaric scale.
Let’s consider Podil, whose history dates back to Kyivan Rus times:
– Monster house on Nizhniy Val Street. The mayor personally promised that the whole house or its extra floors will be demolished. Nevertheless, the building is already partially inhabited.
– Construction of a hotel on Kyiv’s historic Andriyivsky Uzviz street. Though Klitschko promised to ban this project, the construction is more than 30 percent ready.
– Residential quarter Podol-Grad at Gonchary-Kozhemyaky natural boundary. This is one of the densest residential constructions without a single parking place. It has been built, despite the city residents’ protests, despite the fact that the police launched two criminal proceedings and stopped the construction as illegal.
– Poshtova Ploshcha. Klitschko promised to ensure the safety of Kyivan Rus artifacts, to establish a museum, to stop construction of a shopping & entertainment center. And this promise has been not fulfilled.
– And the latest one – Podol-Grad Vintage, monstrous multistoried residential quarter charging unbearable burden on city traffic and other infrastructure. The construction continues despite the legal persecution and social protests. Klitchko ignores Kyiv citizens’ appeals to stop it.
Why do Kyiv citizens protest?
Because the construction was launched in the central historical area, in the archaeological reserve and in the State Historical and Architectural Reserve “Ancient Kyiv” on the territory, which is a part of the “historical landscape of the Kyiv mountains and the valley of Dnipro.” In addition, it is the territory of the local archaeology monument.
According to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the ministry has not provided any confirmation of construction projects, renovations, permits to execute any construction works at this address. This means that the construction is carried out in violation of the Law of Ukraine “On the regulation of urban planning,” “On the protection of cultural heritage” and many other legal acts.
According to the activists who do not give up hopes to stop the dubious construction, the slopes behind the construction site had not been previously strengthened. At any moment a landslide could happen, under the rubble of which anyone would be caught: house residents, pedestrians and the drivers, who are “lucky enough” to be nearby at that moment.
Kyiv citizens are so desperate to reach the mayor that they have to apply to the president, to the world community, to UNESCO just to stop the transformation of Kyiv into a concrete jungle with a dead infrastructure.
While Klitschko is selling the city to developers, there are still people standing for Kyiv heritage and they need our support.
