Nepop Vyacheslav Ivanovich
Official biography
Deputy Mayor of Kyiv and member of the Kyiv City Council from UDAR
Vyacheslav Ivanovych Nepop was born on May 23, 1966 in Artemivsk, Donetsk region.
Education.
After graduating from the 7th school in Artemivsk in 1983, Nepop entered the Kharkiv Aviation Institute named after M.E. Zhukovsky. Zhukovsky Kharkiv Aviation Institute. Six years later he received a degree in mechanical engineering.
Family.
Viacheslav is married to Antonina Nepop (born in 1964). The couple has three children: Maria (1988), Artem (1990) and Daria (1997).
Career.
For nine years (1989-1998), Viacheslav worked in his specialty at the Antonov ASTC (until 1991, the Kyiv Mechanical Plant). In 1998, Nepop headed the TMM construction company.
In 2002, he was appointed to the position of the head of the municipal enterprise for the construction of residential buildings “Zhitloinvestbud — UKB”. At the same time, Viacheslav became Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Solomianka Charitable Foundation. In 2018, Nepop was appointed Deputy Mayor of Kyiv.
Viacheslav has twice served as a pro bono assistant to MPs: in the IV convocation — to Volodymyr Moisyk, a member of the Our Ukraine party, and in the VI convocation — to Yuriy Serbin of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.
Nepop has run for the Verkhovna Rada twice. But both times his number in the electoral list was not a passable one. In 2007, he was 419th in Our Ukraine — People’s Self-Defense, and seven years later he was 155th in the BPP.
Since 2002, Viacheslav has successfully run for the Kyiv City Council from Solomianskyi district five times. During this time, he managed to change several political parties. He was first elected as a member of Oleksandr Omelchenko’s Unity party. Four years later, he was re-elected from the Our Ukraine party.
In 2014, he won in the 55th constituency as a self-nominated candidate, and a year later he was elected in the 108th constituency from the BPP Solidarnist. In 2020, Nepop ran as a candidate of the UDAR party. In the IX convocation of the Kyiv City Council, he is a member of the UDAR faction and the Standing Committee on Health and Social Policy.
Vyacheslav Nepop is a co-founder of the Forest Lake service cooperative and the Solomiansky Charitable Foundation.
Dirt on him
In 2014, Nepop ran for the Kyiv City Council under the banners of UDAR and Solidarnist, plastering Kyiv with his leaflets featuring him in the company of Poroshenko and Klitschko.
And according to Skelet.Info, they knew nothing about it and did not give their official consent to support Nepop — he simply decided to take advantage of their popularity at the time. In 2015, Nepop was officially elected to the Kyiv City Council from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.
Crimes.
The utility company Zhytloinvestbud-UCB, which Nepop ran from 2002 to 2018, has repeatedly been at the epicenter of construction scandals. The media reported that the utility company had transferred “extra” two and a half million budget hryvnias for the construction of a tram line in Troyeschyna, illegally cut down trees, and sold “social housing” at market prices.
The public was outraged by the construction of an office and residential center in the sanitary buffer zone of the Kyiv Zoo and a commercial high-rise in a park on the territory of the National Aviation University without permits, as well as Nepop’s desire to destroy green areas on Kosmonavta Komarova Avenue and the Knyazhyi Zaton residential area.
According to Vitaliy Chernyakhovsky, a civic activist and coordinator of the Kyiv Public Rescue Forum, Nepop’s permissiveness arose because for many years his utility company was not inspected by the financial inspection or the prosecutor’s office. The head of the utility company himself, while receiving a modest salary, became a millionaire.
According to Kyiv «radical» deputy Oleksandr Vovchenko, many majoritarian MPs from UDAR and BPP became a «roof» for Nepop. The director of the municipal utility company used budget funds to make repairs at the polling stations of MPs, and the latter presented these works as their merits. Vovchenko claimed that Nepop sold apartments to the «right» people for less than their value. The «radical» deputy called the decision of the Kyiv City Council to exempt the company managed by Nepop from paying a share contribution to the development of the capital’s infrastructure in the amount of almost five million hryvnias a theft from the budget.
At the same time, according to Chernyakhovsky, Zhitloinvestbud-UCB does not carry out construction on its own, but only hires contractors. Instead, all payments go through the utility company. Thus, the company is actually a shell company created to «launder» money by its head.
In April 2015, MP Ihor Lutsenko wrote a deputy appeal to Mayor Klitschko asking him to dismiss Nepop from his position as head of Zhytloinvestbud-UCB as the organizer of corruption schemes in the Kyiv City Council. However, Nepop held on to his position as director of the utility for three more years, and then the mayor of Kyiv appointed him as his deputy. No less scandalous was Zhytloinvestbud’s attempt to build up Kachyne Lake in the Darnytsia district. The capital’s media reported that, with the support of the Kyiv administration and ignoring the opinion of the public and deputies, the director of the utility company tried to roll the lake in concrete and disrupt the ecological balance of the district.
The prosecutor’s office intervened in the case and found a large number of violations of the law during the construction of the 1,276-apartment high-rise. At the request of law enforcement, the district court arrested the site of the proposed construction. At the beginning of 2019, the Chesno civic movement reported that the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption had found signs of a corruption offense in Viacheslav Nepop. This happened during a full audit of Klitschko’s deputy’s 2016 declaration.
The official failed to indicate in his declaration a residential building in Brovary district of Kyiv region and a land plot in Kyiv-Svyatoshyn district. As a result of the full audit, the NACP suggested that Viacheslav Nepop submit a corrected declaration for 2016. Although in a similar situation with Kyiv City Council member Serhiy Kharchuk, the anti-corruption agency saw signs of a criminal offense
In the summer of 2019, Kyiv’s Security Service opened a criminal investigation into the fact that KCSA officials, together with the heads of the capital’s utilities and employees of private companies, created a scheme to misappropriate and embezzle budget funds and transferred apartments from Zhytloinvestbud-UCB and Spetszhilofond to intermediaries, who retained 20-30% of the funds.
Був замішаний у незаконній забудові парку «Нивки»:
He also tried to «fit in» a high-rise near a kindergarten.
“ZHILINVESTBUD” DIVERTED A BILLION IN FAVOR OF FIRMS CLOSE TO ITS HEAD
Following the results of tenders in 2008-2010, Zhylinvestbud (Kyiv) concluded a number of agreements for construction works worth UAH 1.018 billion with KZhBK LLC and Azur Group LLC, which are associated with the head of the utility Vyacheslav Nepop, as well as the former head of the Kyiv City State Administration’s Construction and Housing Department Mykhailo Holitsa and his son-in-law, Kyiv City Council deputy Mykola Negrych, Nashi Hroshi online publication reports.
KZhBK LLC (“Kyiv Housing and Construction Company”) was founded in 2001. The first owners were Oleksandr Yarosh and Andriy Puziychuk. In 2005, Oleksandr Yarosh was replaced by Nadiia Yarosh, and Andriy Puziychuk by his father, Viktor Puziychuk. This company actively won construction tenders until early 2012. Later, it was re-registered to Gennadiy Seredyuk. Until 2010, according to Youcontrol, Andriy Puziychuk was the head of Kyiv Housing and Construction Company LLC.
Azur Group LLC was founded in 2010. Marina Zapalska and Lyudmyla Mazur. While they were the owners, nothing was known about the company. However, in January 2012, the owner became KZhSK, i.e. Viktor Puziychuk, and in March Azur started winning tenders.
Viktor Puziychuk’s son, Vitaliy Puziychuk, is a co-owner of PJSC Fundament (23%). Another 23% of the shares belong to Angelika Kovaleva, known as the head of the administrative and personnel department of Zhilinvestbud. Until this spring, another 23% stake in Fundament was held by Viktor Shuster, a business partner in Mykola Negrych’s Kyivbudmontazh construction company.
Negrych is the son-in-law and business partner in Geos Development LLC of Mykhailo Holytsia, former head of the Kyiv City State Administration’s Construction and Housing Department, to which Zhilinvestbud is subordinated. “From its inception to the present day, Zhilinvestbud has been headed by Vyacheslav Nepop, a business partner of Mykhailo Holytsia’s wife Valentina in the Capital Construction Management Company UKB LLC and the Lesnoe Ozero service cooperative.
They have been waiting for the promised for 12 years: Vyacheslav Nepop deceived the hopes of investors in the Novodarnitsky residential complex
For 12 years, investors in the capital’s Novodarnitsky residential complex have been waiting for their apartments, as the commissioning of the facility has been constantly postponed.
The last time, the housing construction company Zhytlobudinvest-UCB told the apartment owners without explanation that they had to wait another 2 years. This is despite the fact that the money for the completion of the long-term construction project was allocated from the capital’s treasury long ago and has probably already been “successfully” used. Investors in the residential complex suspect, and it looks like it, that Vyacheslav Nepop, the permanent head of Zhytlobudinvest-UCB, is simply waiting for the next tranche from the city budget to continue the work, and he has no hurry. In addition, the municipal developer has already installed elevators in the building that are cheaper than those that investors originally paid for, and is trying to save money on utilities.
This became known from the appeal of investors of the Novodarnitsky residential complex to KV journalists.
Sale of apartments in SBU buildings
The former chairman of the board of Kyivmiskbud, Mykhailo Holytsia, and a Kyiv City Council member from Solidarnist, developer Vyacheslav Nepop, are suspected of selling apartments in SBU buildings being built in Holosiivskyi district on defense land.
In the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv, near the Holosiivskyi National Nature Park, a serious drama is unfolding. Residents of the surrounding houses are empty-handedly going to stop concrete mixers and other equipment, fighting with security guards and “titushky”. There is a serious confrontation going on here.
The locals are opposed to the Security Service of Ukraine and the developer chosen by this service. The land here has a special purpose — military. However, a whole town of skyscrapers is being built.
The company that was elected in 2014, that is, under the new government, is building. And it is building with violations.
Conflicts are constant here. Local residents block the construction. The construction of the residential complex was ordered by the Security Service of Ukraine. The security agency received this land for permanent use as a training base, and eventually transferred it for high-rise residential development in exchange for apartments for its own employees.
“We are building 13 houses and 90 parking spaces. There will be parking in the forest. This is 100%,” complains local resident Natalia Klymenko.
When journalists began to look into the conflict and investigate the construction for legality, the SBU made it clear that they would not assist them.
According to the functional restrictions of the Kyiv General Plan until 2020, the plot at 9 Potekhina Street is a special purpose area. This means that residential development is prohibited here.
Data from the public cadastral map indicate that the intended use of the plot is not for residential construction. This is defense land. According to the state act, the land is to be used for the maintenance and operation of buildings and structures of the military unit E +6642. The Kyiv Department of Land Resources reported that the SBU had received permission to develop a land management project, which indicates the intention to change the purpose of the land, but this was never done.
«The Kyiv City Council’s decision No. 322/8606 of November 1, 2012, granted permission to develop a land management project for the allocation of a land plot to the Security Service of Ukraine. The decision of the Kyiv City Council of 01.11.2012 No. 322/8606 is not a permit for construction work,» the response reads.
Now, the developer’s representative, Yuriy Sokolnytsky, cannot explain exactly why the SBU tried to take the land for housing construction. He claims that it is possible to build without it. There is a special order signed by Mykola Azarov on October 2, 2013. «You see the address Potekhina, 9 in the list.
Most likely, and this is just my guess, the customer tried to change the purpose of the land until this order was issued,» Yuriy Sokolnytsky, deputy director of Domostroitelnaya Kompaniya No. 7, told reporters.
The construction of the Bergen residential complex has begun, and a passport for the future facility, eight residential buildings of 25-27 floors, hangs above the fence of the former military unit and training base.
The tender to select a developer, which resulted in the selection of Domostroitelnaya Kompaniya No. 7, was organized by the SBU in 2014. But there was another tender, with a different winner and a different result, and there is no information about its cancellation.
Two results, with different winners. In one, the right to build housing at 9 Potekhina Street was granted to Arkada-Budivelnytsia LLC in exchange for 332 apartments with a total area of 20,000 square meters for the special service. The other is Domostroitelnaya Kompaniya No. 7 LLC. In exchange for 327 apartments with a total area of 17,500 square meters.
There is no information on the website about the cancellation of the results of any of the tenders. However, immediately after journalists sent letters to the relevant authorities asking about this incident, one of the announcements on the SBU website disappeared, declaring Arkada-Budivnytstvo the winner. However, the information remained in the “cache”.
It was the information that was supposed to give the special service 2,500 square meters more housing than DBK7. In terms of money, this loss for the SBU is equal to UAH 32.5 million.
There are several other violations committed by the developer.
According to urban planning conditions and restrictions, he was allowed to build 144.5 thousand square meters of housing. However, according to the project passport, there will be 233,500 square meters.
It is easy to calculate that the developer is building an extra 89,000 square meters. And this means from 700,000,000 to a billion hryvnias of dubious income.
Yuriy Sokolnytsky, deputy director of Domostroitelnaya Kompaniya No. 7 LLC Yuriy Sokolnytsky began to calm down: “Most likely, some additions, changes.” But he did not provide journalists with any other urban planning conditions or restrictions.
As a result, the special service employees will receive 17536 square meters of housing. The rest, 2,942 apartments, are already being sold to everyone — under the brand of the Fundament construction group.
Not only local residents, but also KyivPost journalist Vlad Lavrov was asked about the activities of Fundament.
The foreman, Yuriy Kovalenko, smashed his phone.
According to the online publication Nashi Hroshi, the Foundation is controlled by the former chairman of the board of Kyivmiskbud, Mykhailo Holytsia, and a member of the Kyiv City Council from the Solidarnist party, Viacheslav Nepop. And if this is the case, these are the people who will profit from the Bergen project. The journalists were unable to contact Holytsia and Nepop.
Nepop’s billions: The National Police is investigating questionable purchases by Zhytloinvestbud-UCB
According to the investigation, the capital’s utilities illegally gave most of the budget contracts to companies associated with the former head of this utility, deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration and Kyiv City Council member from the mayoral party UDAR Vyacheslav Nepop. It is not yet known how much money was transferred to the accounts of these companies, but at least three companies received contracts totaling more than UAH 1.63 billion. Among other things, law enforcement officers were interested in the third stage of reconstruction of the Kyiv Zoo worth over UAH 802 million. It seems that the management of Zhytloinvestbud-UCB decided before the tender that these works would be performed by Fundament, a company clearly linked to Nepop.
As KV has learned, the General Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine will investigate criminal proceedings No. 12020100100002504 at least until September 16, 2022.
The decision to extend the term of this investigation was made by the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv on September 15, 2021, and this document was published in the State Register of Court Decisions on October 5.
The above-mentioned proceedings were opened on February 11, 2020, over possible violations of the law by officials of the Housing Investment Construction Company-UCB. Initially, the investigation was conducted by the Investigation Department of the National Police of Kyiv, but later the materials were transferred “upstairs” to the General Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine. Initially, the investigation charged the defendants with abuse of power or position (Part 1 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), but now law enforcement officers are developing a version that it is a more serious crime — abuse of power or position that caused grave consequences (Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
How Lutskyi and Nepop are building up NAU land with housing
Officials and deputies doubt that the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate (SACI) had any reason to allow the construction of 14 residential nine-story buildings on the site of the stadium, sports grounds, and park on the last day of its work (the unfinished Vidradny-2 residential complex already stands on the same land plot). The rector of the National Academy of Sciences, Maksym Lutskyi, is clearly assisted by Vyacheslav Nepop, the specialized deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA), in building up the university’s land with residential apartment buildings.
As KV has learned, the head of the State Inspectorate of Architecture and Urban Development (SIAU) Semen Kryvonos said on his Facebook page that SIAU construction supervision inspectors would check the legality of the planned construction of 14 residential high-rise buildings on the NAU’s land from October 18 to 28, 2021. He promised that “based on the results of the inspection, the necessary measures will be taken as provided by law.”
The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science, and Innovation is also concerned about the feasibility of future residential development on the NAU’s land, and will reconsider this issue at its meeting in the second half of November. MP Roman Hryshchuk (Servant of the People faction) initiated the consideration of this issue. In his opinion, it is necessary to take measures to cancel the permit for new residential development of NAU land issued by the SACI on October 14, 2021, as it “has corruption signs.”
“Forest Lake” for a select few
In a forested area near Rozhivka near Kyiv, with a separate entrance and fenced territory, there is a cooperative called the Public Association “Forest Lake”. A limited and select number of people live there. According to the youcontrol analytical system, only 36 people are beneficiaries of this cooperative.
In addition to Viacheslav Nepop, the cooperative’s beneficiaries are: Valentyna Holitsa, wife of his business partner in construction Mykhailo Holitsa; Olga Negrych, daughter of Holitsa (wife of former Kyiv City Council deputy and Nepop’s business partner Mykola Negrych); Nastia Ochkolda, daughter of Mykola and Iryna Ochkold, owners of the Legitimus law firm, which covers Nepop and Co. in legal matters.
But recently, a rather extraordinary situation occurred. Vyacheslav Nepop decided to sell his 478.5 square meter house and more than 13 “acres” of land to Andriy Tarasyuk. According to the submitted amendments to the 2021 declaration, Nepop sold this property for 5 million 863 thousand 950 hryvnias. However, in addition to the price of the property, the buyer’s identity, Andriy Tarasiuk, is of interest. He is the son of Yuriy Tarasiuk, the founder of Forest Lake, and he also works as a “servant of Themis,” or rather, as a courtroom clerk at the Kyiv Commercial Court.
Unlike Nepop, Tarasiuk indicates a separate price for both the house and the land. According to Andriy’s amendments to the electronic declaration, he bought 13.62 “acres” in the Lesove Ozero cooperative for only 162,120 hryvnias, which is slightly more than $325 per “acre.”
The sale of Nepop’s house in Lesove Ozero raises a lot of questions, as this transaction can be seen as a bribe to an employee of the Kyiv Commercial Court, which is key in cases brought in the past or in the future against Nepop.
The fact is, however, that the market value of a similar house near the Forest Lake is at least UAH 10 million. On the other hand, one wonders where Andriy Tarasyuk could get so much money from while working in the insignificant position of secretary of the Kyiv Economic Court. After all, according to the 2020 declaration, Andrii Tarasiuk’s salary was 170,299 UAH and he had no other income, nor did he indicate any loans to buy Nepop’s house. And according to the declaration, Andriy had only 40 thousand dollars and 700 thousand hryvnias in savings, which is clearly not enough to buy the estate.
Nepop’s water for kaffirs
Nepop’s attitude towards Ukrainian citizens is dismissive, but it’s quite different for the Kafirs in Crimea, whom he supports, literally, by providing them with spring water. The fact is that Vyacheslav Nepop, along with the wife of his longtime associate Mykhailo Holytsia, was one of the founders of the Alushta Food and Flavor Factory. Nepop did not close this enterprise after the Russian occupation of the Crimean peninsula, but quickly re-registered it in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation and regularly pays all taxes to the federal budget.
“Vyacheslav Nepop’s Alushta Food and Flavor Factory is headed by Olena Raspopa, a native of Alushta. Until 2018, Nepop and Raspopa were supplying the occupiers with mineral water with a name that was quite “binding” for Russians — “Monastyrskaya”.
When Kherson farmers blocked the Crimean Canal on their own to deprive the occupiers of their main resource — water. Vyacheslav Nepop only increased the production of bottled water in Alushta.
The occupation’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Crimea, Volodymyr Diyuk, boasted that in 2015, the Alushta Food and Flavor Factory increased its water production by 184%.
It was only in mid-2018 that Nepop, who was a member of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction in the Kyiv City Council, withdrew from the founders, although Alushta residents in a telephone conversation with journalists from the Bulava Center for Media Investigations assured that Vyacheslav Nepop simply “ordered” and his “withdrawal” from the founders had signs of fictitiousness.
Vyacheslav Nepop distributed dozens of apartments to relatives and mineral water to the occupiers
A hundred apartments for Nepop’s family for the money of Kyiv residents
In 2015, a building was commissioned at 20 Komarova Avenue (now Huzara Street), and the apartments in it were to be given to ATO veterans and low-income groups. Viacheslav Nepop pushed through the Kyiv City State Administration to allocate land for his Solomianka charity foundation for the construction of social housing, which was supposedly built by companies associated with him at the expense of the capital’s budget.
However, the apartments in the building were never distributed among those to whom they were originally intended, but ended up in the hands of his family. According to civil society activist Serhiy Brigadier, the apartments were distributed among Nepop’s family members, friends and business partners.
Photo: a house at 20a Liubomyr Huzar (Cosmonaut Komarov) Avenue As the media reported, after the land was allocated to the Solomianka Charitable Foundation, a house was built at 20a Liubomyr Huzar (formerly Cosmonaut Komarov) Avenue. The customer of the housing construction was the utility company Zhytlobudinvest-UCB, which was headed by Vyacheslav Nepop from 2002 to 2018. The contractor for the execution of the order at the expense of the capital’s budget was PJSC Fundament, which, again, was controlled by Viacheslav. From 2008-2012, Nepop served as the chairman of the supervisory board of PJSC «Fundament», but after his dismissal from this position, he retained control over the company at least until 2016 through a certain Valentyna Hradil. In 2015, she was listed as an assistant to Nepop, a deputy of the Kyiv City State Administration, and, according to the youcontrol analytical system, remained a beneficiary of Fundament PJSC until July 2016. As of 2018, 30 apartments in the building belonged to Pavlo Chyslovskyi, a deputy of Zhylinvestbud-UCS and Nepop’s partner; 10 apartments in the building belonged to Lyudmyla Kovaleva, Nepop’s secretary (a person with this name and surname is listed on the KCSA website as an assistant to Viacheslav Nepop). Nepop’s wife Antonina had 33 apartments registered in her name
Another 33 apartments were owned by Nepop’s son, Artem:
That is, out of 144 apartments in the building, at least 106 apartments were owned by Nepop’s family or the developer’s inner circle.
In October 2018, the Ministry of Internal Affairs opened a case on the illegal appropriation of apartments, and Vyacheslav Nepop’s name appeared in the case, and in 2019, the Security Service of Ukraine became interested in the case of illegal appropriation of apartments in the building at 20 Komarova Avenue.
However, neither the Ministry of Internal Affairs nor the SBU managed to bring Nepop to justice. However, after the scandal was publicized in the media and law enforcement agencies became interested, the number of apartments owned by Viacheslav Nepop “significantly decreased” and as of 2021, according to the register of real rights to real estate, only Viacheslav’s daughter Daryna owns apartments in the building. She now owns 11 apartments in the building.
The National Police is interested in how Nepop and Komarnitsky built housing for Kyiv Metro employees
Since April 2021, the National Police has been investigating the alleged misappropriation of budget funds during the construction of a 25-storey residential building for employees of Kyiv Metro and Kyivmetrobud at 74 Holosiivskyi Ave.
Since 2016, these works have been performed by Skybud Group LLC, a company allegedly linked to businessman Denys Komarnytskyi (pictured left), at the request of Spetszhylofond. According to the investigation, the defendants in the case could have “painted” additional work that would have cost more than UAH 19 million. Apparently, Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) Vyacheslav Nepop (pictured in the center), who is in charge of this construction, is facing “difficult days”: recently, law enforcement officers have been increasingly paying attention to the dubious activities of the municipal enterprises under his control.
As KV has learned, law enforcement officers are currently investigating possible abuses during the construction of a residential building for employees of Kyiv Metro and Kyivmetrobud.
The Main Directorate of the National Police of Kyiv opened criminal proceedings №42021102010000015 on the fact of a possible crime under Part 2 of Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of another’s property by abuse of office) on April 15, 2021. On June 10, 2021, the Holosiivskyi District Court allowed investigators to access documents in the possession of the ME “Spetszhyllofond” (the construction customer) and Skybud Group LLC (the contractor) (*). We are talking about design, estimate, executive and reporting documentation, consignment notes, delivery notes, acceptance certificates, etc.
It should be noted that the case file does not contain the names of the said ME and its contractor. However, the court rulings, in particular, specify the cost of the works, the procurement code in the Prozorro system and other data that make it easy to identify the defendants in this proceeding.
KV decided to analyze how the construction was unfolding and how budget funds could have been stolen.
The management of Zhytloinvestbud-UCB is suspected of large embezzlement of budget funds for school repairs
Zhytloinvestbud-UCB has once again become a subject of criminal proceedings: the prosecutor’s office suspects that the company’s management, which has been headed by Vyacheslav Nepop since 2002, has unreasonably embezzled budget funds. This time, it is more than UAH 7 million that the management of the utility company paid to its contractor Pluton-S LLC for the repair of the stadium and facade of school #256 at 2 Ozerna Street in the Obolon district of Kyiv. Investigators found out that the paid work was not performed, and the municipal enterprise Zhytloinvestbud-UCB is already planning to spend about UAH 40 million more on similar “services.”
As the investigation established, on October 4, 2017, Zhytloinvestbud-UCB (*) announced a tender for the overhaul of the facade of school No. 256 at 2 Ozerna Street in the Obolon district of Kyiv. The expected cost of the works was UAH 16 million 190 thousand. Pluton-S LLC (**) (UAH 15 million 381 thousand) and Arsenal Trade Ltd (***) (UAH 15 million 765 thousand) submitted their bids at the open tender. The bidders did not lower their bids during the bidding process. As a result, Pluton-S LLC (***) was recognized as the winner. On November 6, 2017, the management of the Municipal Enterprise “Zhytloinvestbud-UCB” entered into agreement No. 4/1229 with it.
Subsequently, on November 3, 2017, Zhytloinvestbud-UCB announced a tender for the reconstruction of the stadium of school No. 256 at 2A Ozerna Street in the Obolon district of Kyiv. The expected cost of the service was UAH 36 million 833 thousand. The same Pluton-S LLC (UAH 35 million 888 thousand) and IT Stroy Plus LLC (****) (UAH 36 million 459 thousand) submitted their proposals for the open bidding. Again, the bidders did not lower their bids during the bidding process. As a result, Pluton-S LLC was again recognized as the winner. On December 4, 2017, the contract No. 4/1243 was signed between the ME and the said contractor. According to the information of the Unified Web Portal for the Use of Public Funds, on December 21, 2017, the ME «Zhytloinvestbud-UBK» transferred UAH 11 thousand 582 to the accounts of LLC «Pluton-S» with the purpose of payment «for the planned payment for the overhaul of the school». On December 26, 2017, Zhytloinvestbud-UBK made 3 payments to this company in the amount of UAH 2 million 400 thousand, UAH 2 million 400 thousand and UAH 2 million 511 thousand, respectively, for the ordered reconstruction of the stadium. That is, in fact, the contractor received UAH 7 million 323 thousand in 2017.
Later (the date is not specified in the criminal case file), the Kyiv Local Prosecutor’s Office (Shevchenkivskyi district) received a report from the operative of the Economic Protection Office in Kyiv of the Economic Protection Department of the National Police of Ukraine. The investigator reported that the already paid for repairs to the facade and stadium of school No. 256 had not been actually completed. These facts came to light during the inspection.
In this regard, on February 19, 2018, law enforcement officers of the Shevchenkivskyi Prosecutor’s Office of Kyiv registered criminal proceedings No. 42018101100000072 dated February 19, 2018 under Part 3 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Officials of the Communal Enterprise “Zhytloinvestbud-UCB” are suspected of embezzling budget funds during the repair work on the facade and stadium of school No. 256 by prior conspiracy with officials of the contractor, Pluton-S LLC. They face restriction of liberty for a term of three to five years or imprisonment for a term of three to eight years, with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years.
On the day the criminal proceedings were opened, February 19, the prosecutor’s office sent several requests to Zhytloinvestbud-UCB to provide information related to two procurements — for the repair of a school and a stadium. Officials of the said ME refused to provide the prosecutor’s office with the necessary materials.
Stanislav Tonkatsov, a prosecutor at the Obolon Prosecutor’s Office and a first-class lawyer, went to court to request permission to seize them. The law enforcement officers needed copies of the documentation for these two procurements through the Prozorro e-procurement system with annexes, contracts, documentation confirming payment for the work performed, acts of completion, and acts of acceptance of the work performed. In addition, the prosecutor’s office had to examine the bids of the bidders and the minutes of the procurement committee that selected the winners.
Investigating judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court Iryna Makarenko, having examined the prosecutor’s motion, decided to grant it in full.
In addition, the judge ruled to explain to the officials of Zhytloinvestbud-UBK that in case of failure to comply with the decision on temporary access to things and documents, the judge has the right to issue a decision to authorize a search of the utility.
Nepop’s favorite contractor will finish the capital’s bicycle track for UAH 26 million
Immediately after the auction, Zhytloinvestbud-UCB announced its intention to conclude a contract with Inbud for the final restoration of the bicycle track on Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street. For this, Inbud will receive another 26 million budget hryvnias; it is not the first time that the company has received money from Zhytloinvestbud-UCB for the reconstruction of a bicycle track. By the way, given that the opening of the cycle track has been postponed for the fifth time, it is not certain that the funding for the ongoing reconstruction will end there.
As KV previously reported, Inbud is a favorite contractor of Zhytloinvestbud-UCB. Since 2012, this company has won more than UAH 497.4 million worth of tenders from this utility company.
Last year was particularly successful. In March 2016, Zhitloinvestbud-UCB ordered Inbud to build a residential building in the Dniprovskyi district for UAH 135 million. And in June last year, Inbud received as much as UAH 74 million from Zhytloinvestbud-UCB for the restoration of the Kyiv bicycle track.
MP Nepop gives contracts to his own pocket company
Zhytloinvestbud-UKB, a company run by Kyiv City Council member Vyacheslav Nepop (former head of the Kyiv City State Administration’s Department of Construction and Housing) and Mykhailo Holytsia (former director of Kyivmiskbud), held five tenders to complete the construction of residential facilities in the 11th district of the Northern Osokorky residential area (Kyiv).
As a result, the largest plot was awarded to the contractor Azur Group Construction Company: it is obliged to complete the construction of 26-storey buildings No. 1-4 at 15 Solomii Krushelnytskoi Street for UAH 219.3 million.
A much smaller share (UAH 34.08 million) went to Vector Construction and Installation Trust, which is to complete building No. 5. Ukrpromzhytlobud and the Ukrainian Holding of Construction Projects also took part in the tender, and the more expensive proposal from Kyivmiskbud-3 was rejected due to the lack of an extract from the VAT register. It is noteworthy that Azur Group is indirectly linked to Viacheslav Nepop through proxies, as well as the offshore companies Amber Ruthenia Limited, Foundation Development, and Kisetorn Limited. According to observers, in this way, the director of Zhytloinvestbud-UCB actually moved a quarter of a million between structures from his own business orbit.
Nepop allocated about half a million hryvnias for advertising to a company he knew
On July 6, Zhytloinvestbud-UCB, a residential construction company headed by Vyacheslav Nepop, a member of the Kyiv City Council from the Solidarnist party, signed an agreement for advertising services with Luvers LLC. The deal was worth UAH 410,040.
KV learned about this from the Public Procurement Bulletin.
According to the Bulletin, the contractor undertakes to provide advertising services to the municipal enterprise Zhytloinvestbud-UCB until the end of 2016.
According to the Unified State Register, the founders of Luvers LLC are currently Oleksandr Noshchenko and Lyudmyla Zakrevska.
As KV has learned, Zakrevska, as a member of UDAR-Solidarity, used to be a member of the Kyiv City Council’s Standing Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture together with Viacheslav Nepop when Volodymyr Prokopiv was the chairman of the committee. And in 2006, Noshchenko was a colleague of Nepop’s, being a member of this commission.
Voter bribery
Nepop actively handed out kulichi with his name on it, and sweet gifts for children.
The declaration
In June 2020, Viacheslav Nepop published an electronic declaration of his income for 2019.
The deputy mayor and member of the Kyiv City Council owns a plot of land (1362 sq.m.) and a residential building (478.5 sq.m.) in Rozhivka village, Kyiv region, an apartment (151.5 sq.m.) and a parking space (23.2 sq.m.) in Sevastopol, and two parking spaces (25.1 sq.m. each), a garage (36.2 sq.m.) and an apartment (237.8 sq.m.) in joint ownership in Kyiv.
Viacheslav’s wife owns a land plot (1470 sq. m.) and a summer house (476.8 sq. m.) in the village of Vita-Poshtova in Kyiv region, an apartment (121.1 sq. m.) and three parking spaces (16.8, 14.3 and 15.5 sq. m.) in Kyiv.
Nepop owns two wristwatches: Breguet and Bovet. Viacheslav drives a 2008 Lexus LX 570. He also owns a 1969 GAZ 21 car and a trailer. Antonina Nepop drives a 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser.
Nepop’s only source of income was the salary of the deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration. In 2019, he received UAH 626 thousand. Viacheslav keeps 2.9 million hryvnias and 202 thousand dollars in cash. His wife has 2.7 million hryvnias and 145 thousand dollars in cash.
Resume.
Viacheslav Nepop has been involved in Kyiv’s construction for over 15 years. Illegal construction. Unfortunately, he brings considerable benefits to Kyiv’s mayors, because as soon as elections come, Nepop repairs entrances and playgrounds for a pittance for many officials, and deputies pass it off as their work. Everyone is happy, everyone benefits. Instead, Nepop builds up protected areas, disrupting the city’s ecosystem, builds its skyscrapers close to kindergartens and schools, posing a danger, and profits from construction tenders through front companies. And, unfortunately, Mayor Klitschko turns a blind eye to this, because he is also in on the action.