Kyiv City Council authorities backed by activists and supported by young, fit men have removed the security fence on what they allege is illegally taken territory on Frolivska Street in the historic center of Kyiv.
The construction company Markon Stroy received the order by the city authorities to remove the building crane and portable toilets on the site.
The city authorities and the activists received support from Dmytro Bilotserkovets, a member of the 135-member faction of President Petro Poroshenko’s block. Bilotserkovets is also an advisor to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
During the actual removal of the fence, the site was filled with stakeholders: the developer and his representatives, heads of the public organizations concerned with preserving the cultural heritage, police enforcing the order, and Bilotserkovets.
Employees of the city-owned enterprise Kyivblaogoustriy dismantled the fence.
The event drew representatives of major media outlets as well, such as ZIK TV channel, 1+1 Channel, 7th Channel and others. Due to massive press coverage, the heated discussions — during which smoke bombs were set off — were largely in front of the cameras and thus directed to the public. But the conflict was limited to heated debate.
Bilotserkovets accused the construction company of breaking an agreement with the city council to renew the construction permits requiring another round of discussions with the City Construction Council.
This discussion with professional architects and city planners would propose a new concept solution for the hotel complex.
Valeriy Pavlyuk, director of Markon Stroy construction company, said that he was not obligated by law to go to the City Construction Council discussions for a second time.
A representative of Kyivblagoustriy, Oleksandr Zelenetskiy, handed the order to remove the crane and the toilets to Pavlyuk, saying he was following an oral directive from the City Council, citing the need to stop construction because of social unrest around the construction site.
Part of the controversy involves Kyiv Post owner Adnan Kivan, one of the largest builders in Ukraine and owner of the KADORR Group in Odesa, which has constructed 62 apartment buildings, shopping malls and a mosque.
KADORR’s lawyer Svitlana Tsvyk denied that the company is involved in the project.
Serhiy Melnychenko, a coordinator of the union of public initiatives called Shtab Oborony Kyiva, or Kyiv Protection Headquarters, stated that KADORR is still involved because the company is mentioned as a party in a recent court decision dated Oct. 29. That court decision ordered that the security fence must remain and that the building crane could operate, allowing the street to be temporarily closed.
Olha Rutkovska, co-chair of public organization The Community of Andriyivsky Uzviz Street, told the Kyiv Post that she will drop her opposition to the project if Markon Stroy redrafts its plans to lower the height of the building to nine meters only facing the Uzviz Street.
The developers want the height to exceed 12 meters and were planning to build four stories plus an attic.
