After weeks of preparation and planning, an empty building wrapped in green vines in 1979 was transformed into a stylish glass-walled office in Kiev. The workers found themselves surrounded and equipment confiscated: the project now faces an uncertain future.
On July 12, militants stormed the scene under the guise of protecting their past packages. Some people praised the demonstration as a brave and triumphant action orchestrated by young people who tried to protect a unique Soviet-era building from reconstruction.
However, lawyers from Rockwill Group, the company behind the redevelopment, claimed that the building is not in the register of architectural monuments and can be changed. However, media reports stated that the real estate developer’s plan had not been pre-approved by the Ministry of Culture.
“This building cannot resist the monsters embedded in the government and exercised by its allies of corrupt machines. The company currently owns properties and buildings, owned by British and Czech investors, and waiting for all necessary permits to avoid bribery to speed up the reconstruction process Alexey Pyshny, the managing partner of Rockwill Group, said that the approval of licenses and legal documents has exceeded 1.5 years. “Now, when the reconstruction project has just begun, all actions have been completely stopped, and the local courts where buildings and properties have been corrupted have no further Seizure and arrest without notice. “
Nonetheless, critics say that the plan still has a lot to pay attention to.
“Organized criminal groups specializing in extortion and attacks on construction companies operate in Ukraine under the cover of the government,” said Igor Egorov, a former government employee, who now runs his headquarters in Kiev Anti-Corruption Entrepreneurship Front (ACF). Protect the interests of Ukrainian private companies. “It’s like a mafia. Everyone is connected. They are judges, their families, big developers, police, and parliamentarians. These are pseudo-radicals employed by these big construction companies.”
In addition, Ukrainian business supporters worry that the continuous barrage will not only drive out foreign investment needed to improve critical infrastructure, but will also create a dangerous and destructive vortex for Ukraine’s future.
“The construction company was attacked to squeeze the business and offer to buy the project cheaply,” Yegorov explained. “In Ukraine, construction sites are attacked almost every day.
Some developers argued that given the continuous attacks from the public, they have not even entered their development sites for several months, and the authorities have offered little help. Sometimes, shocks can trigger strikes and further hinder development projects.
In Yegorov’s view, the beginning of these movements was quite innocent-local residents were frustrated with the “uncontrolled activities of construction companies”, which led to small-scale demonstrations. But over time, such protests were basically hijacked and evolved into wealthy extortion activities with deep-rooted relationships with officials.
Critics like Yegorov also claimed that the protests had become a regular payday, with rival companies paying “demonstrators” to block websites and strikes. In some cases, protesters demanded ransoms of tens of thousands of dollars to be paid to “charities.”
In a statement in April this year, Ukrainian private developer Intergal-Bud lamented that “several unidentified people” attacked several of their construction sites in Kiev at the same time, “taking the houses and using force to prevent their work.” , And issued a personal threat to the workers.
“However, the’activists’ cannot answer which formal, honest and clean public organization they belong to and the interests that the people of Kiev defend. Although it is clear that they are following the orders of organized crime representatives,” the company said. “Also noted that when extortion, threats and vandalism are used to aggressively try to interfere with the company’s activities. The consequences are weakening investors’ confidence in our country and destroying the country’s investment environment.”
Intergal-Bud and other anti-corruption fighters describe these blueprints as something similar to “economic terrorism.”
According to Yegorov, the police and the authorities usually do not intervene because they have also been rewarded. In many cases, parliamentarians promoted attacks on construction projects for financial gain. On the contrary, demonstrations were incited by social media, and conversation heads were implanted through the media, he continued, to “manipulate public opinion.” Then, once an ambush occurs, even though the company has all the legitimacy and permits, a lawsuit will be filed against the developer, and then the court will suspend the project because the lawsuit is conducted through the legal system.
Demonstrations can range from a few hours to a few weeks or even months. In the process, it will not only damage the bottom line of the developer, but also damage the reputation in the process.
However, it may be ordinary Ukrainians who feel the hottest.
“The attacks on construction companies not only harmed Ukraine’s business, but also harmed Ukraine’s investment environment and economy,” Yegorov asserted. “Ordinary people, who bought apartments in housing estates under construction, were also attacked by construction sites, and were attacked by gangs. Assuming that the conflict situation at the construction site is delayed. In this case, these people may not be able to receive them. Of apartments, because developers may go bankrupt due to blocked facilities, or people will receive their apartments after the scheduled date for the building to be put into operation.”
Dorochinsky Pavel Olegovich is an engineer and economist who has worked in the Ukrainian construction industry for more than two decades. He agrees that ordinary Ukrainians-due to the country’s corruption and inability to overcome it-“become the poorest people in Europe. And in terms of development and prosperity, Ukraine ranks last in the world.”
“Based on an average salary of US$500 per month, Ukrainians lose an average of about US$1,150 per month due to corruption. The same money ends up in the pockets of government officials,” he speculated. “The motive of the Ukrainian corruption plan is simple; it is to do nothing, and you can get a lot of money if you don’t follow the general rules and laws.”
On August 24, Ukraine will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the nation. Although the Eastern European enclave is one of the active representatives of getting rid of autocracy in the past towards democracy, it has been fighting severe corruption for a long time.
The construction industry has become a sign of this distortion.
“The level of corruption in Ukraine has only increased in recent years. It will continue to grow until the country finally collapses,” Oregovich lamented. “The Ukrainian people cannot fight this corruption on their own.”
Soon after taking office in 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky launched a “big construction” project to transform the country’s backward infrastructure. The president vowed to repair more than 4,000 miles of roads, hundreds of schools, stadiums, and emergency rooms in the first year alone.
However, the ambitious goals seem to be blocked by internal violations, disputes over the allocation of funds, lack of transparency in the bidding process, and the huge threat of personal attacks on the project itself.
“The real estate development and construction business in the Ukrainian capital has been monopolized and operated by several large developers for a long time,” Pishny lamented.
Some of these real estate developers are run by government officials; other developers maintain and fund entire political groups in Parliament.
In the post-attack statement dating back to 2018, the company lamented the perpetrators “arsonically burned temporary residences for developers to live, damaging construction machinery and equipment”, and concluded that “the attack was carefully planned and organized,” and “ It has nothing to do with residents in neighboring areas.”
This issue once again became the focus of a government meeting in March 2020. Zelinsky inferred that the National Bureau of Building and Construction Supervision will be liquidated, and emphasized that in recent years, officials have made many “arrangements” to use corrupt industries to improve their bottom line.
But with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the matter has been shelved and needs urgent attention-perhaps only Washington can cause concern.
In the fall of 2019, when a whistleblower revealed a private conversation between Zelensky and President Trump, most people in the United States and the international community were familiar with the wider corruption problem that plagued Ukraine. As a result, although his father-then Vice President Biden-was responsible for the Ukrainian policy of the Obama White House, he lacked experience and Trump pushed for Hunter Biden’s appointment to the board of directors of Ukrainian energy company Brisma. Figure’s appointment to investigate.
The conversation led to the failure of President Trump’s impeachment trial, but it also raised key issues surrounding widespread corruption in Ukraine. According to its latest 2020 index, Transparency International ranks the country as the 117th (out of 180) most corrupt country in the world.
During his visit to Kiev in May, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeatedly referred to internal corruption as the main opponent of the country’s economy. According to estimates by the National Reform Commission of Ukraine, the country loses 37 billion U.S. dollars each year, accounting for almost a quarter of its entire GDP.
President Biden is scheduled to receive Zelensky at the White House on August 30, where “fighting corruption” has been listed as the top item on the agenda.
However, it remains to be seen whether there will be real changes.
“The United States can monitor cases of corrupt Ukrainian officials and politicians infringing on the property rights of foreign and Ukrainian companies,” Yegorov added. “If such cases are discovered, the United States should impose sanctions on such officials and politicians.”
