A real estate developer has begun to knock down the Soviet-era modernist building “Flowers of Ukraine” in Kyiv, drawing outrage from activists who flocked to the site to block the demolition.
The fate of the building at 49 Sichovykh Striltsiv Street, has become the focus of a battle between activists who want to preserve the building and the developer, also called PrJSC Flowers of Ukraine, which wants to knock it down to erect an office center.
The modernist building was designed in the early 1980s by architect Mykola Levchuk and built in 1985.
Protesters block the demolition of the Flowers of Ukraine building in Kyiv on July 12, 2021. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
The lower part of the atrium was demolished as of 1:30 p.m. Shortly after, activists broke the fence and blocked the construction vehicles. Police were called to the scene.
“The urban planning conditions and restrictions are illegal, the owner has no right to build, we are opening a criminal case,” Dmytro Gurin, a lawmaker with the 244-member Servant of the People faction, wrote on Facebook.
Protesters called on the Ministry of Culture and the local Department of Cultural Heritage to give the building protected status. Culture minister Oleksandr Tkachenko wrote on Facebook that he agrees with the protesters that the legality of the construction is questionable. He criticized city officials for handing out construction licenses in historical parts of the capital.
Activists with the movement “Save Flowers of Ukraine” said they recently met with the developer’s representative, Olga Solovei, who offered to discuss further building’s fate with mediators.
However, Solovei reportedly told the activists on July 11 that demolition would not be halted.
Kyiv developer PrJSC Flowers of Ukraine has begun to demolish the modernist building Flowers of Ukraine in Kyiv on July 12, 2021 in Kyiv, planning to build an office center in its stead. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
