The capital’s epic «pavement instead of army aid» continues and is gaining momentum. For almost 136 million hryvnias, the Kyiv Directorate of Construction of Road and Transport Facilities ordered the continuation of the construction of the access road to Kyiv Airport, which stopped working on the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The Kyiv authorities intended to build this transportation artery before Euro 2012.
They didn’t manage to do it, but budget money was spent on it until the end of 2018, after which the unfinished road was stupidly destroyed by natural factors. The reason for signing a fresh contract was probably the will of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA), which recently increased the cost of construction from UAH 737 million to UAH 2.34 billion. As a result, the project has risen in price almost tenfold since the start of its implementation and has «good» prospects for further growth.
As it became known to KV from the announcement of the ProZorro electronic system, on October 9, 2023, the Kyiv Road Construction Directorate* signed an agreement with Shlyakhbud Invest LLC** for the construction of the 2nd stage of the access road from Valeriy Lobanovsky Avenue (near the junction of Volodymyr Brozhko Street)*** to Kyiv International Airport (Zhulyany) in the Solomyansky district of Kyiv. The contract price amounted to UAH 135.93 million.
Under the terms of the contract, the contractor shall, in particular, perform road works, organize traffic, relocate a gas pipeline, lay utility networks, arrange stormwater drainage and outdoor lighting, and perform landscaping and gardening by the end of April 2024.
There were no other bidders for the contract, except for Shlyakhbud Invest LLC. And since the procurement was conducted through «open bidding with special conditions,» the contract was signed with this contractor.
Unrealized dreams
The story of the new road to Zhuliany Airport has been going on since at least January 2010, when the Kyiv City State Administration adopted Resolution No. 20 of January 25, 2010, on its construction in preparation for Euro 2012. At that time, the Kyiv City Administration even set up a special commission to «timely resolve issues related to design and construction» headed by the then Deputy Head of the KCSA and consisting of the highest ranking officials of the capital. To build the new street, significant green spaces were axed — KCSA resolutions #2540 and #226 in 2011 allowed the contractor to cut down 3,300 trees.
In February 2011, the Kyiv City State Administration approved the project of the construction (Order No. 171 of February 8, 2011), according to which the new road was to be 4.3 km long (2 phases). The total cost of the work was estimated at UAH 224.07 million.
However, after that, the total estimated cost was changed upwards three more times, while the total length of the road, the area of local passages and sidewalks remained unchanged, with only the area of the main passage increasing (from almost 53 thousand square meters to 73.7 thousand square meters). Thus, in 2016, the total cost of construction more than doubled to UAH 531.54 million (KCSA Resolution No. 874 of 20.09.2016), and in 2017 — to UAH 737.23 million (KCSA Resolution No. 137 of 07.02.2017). And more recently, by the order of the Kyiv City Administration dated September 14, 2023, No. 711, this figure has rapidly increased to UAH 2.34 billion.
The road, which was supposed to relieve the traffic on Sevastopolska Square and Valeriy Lobanovsky Avenue, was clearly not completed in time for Euro 2012. After that, the capital’s authorities offered different versions of the completion date. For example, in 2016, the then deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, Oleksandr Spasybko, stated that the road would be completed by the end of 2017, adding that the construction was hampered by the garages of the Stoyanka-17 motorists’ association, which occupied part of the site for the road construction. Later, the same Spasibko promised a new road by the end of 2018.
It should be noted that the ProZorro system was launched only in 2016, so it was not possible to track the progress of the funds for the construction of the road from Valeriy Lobanovsky Avenue to Zhuliany in the first years. At the same time, the first tender was held through this system only in 2017. As a result, in March, the Kyiv Directorate for the Construction of Road Transport Facilities signed a contract with PJSC Ukratomenergobud, with a price of UAH 200.54 million and payment in full of UAH 137.69 million. According to published documents, the contract was completed by the end of 2018.
However, in the spring of 2019, Kyiv activist Pavlo Avdokushyn checked the progress of the road and found one section with a rough version that was yet to be paved with asphalt, and on the rest of the sections, a dirt road where no work had been done at all.
At the end of 2019, Denys Kostrzhevsky, chairman of the board of directors of Kyiv International Airport, said that the airport had built a new terminal in preparation for Euro 2012, and the city authorities, in turn, had committed to building a new road to the airport, which was not done. According to him, as of 2019, the road was almost completed, and 60% of the planned funds were invested in it. At the time, he also emphasized that if the road was not completed, the money invested would be lost due to precipitation, wind, and temperature changes.
In October 2020, Mayor Vitali Klitschko (pictured in the collage on the right), speaking about his «road» plans for 2021, briefly mentioned the construction of this road. He did not mention any deadlines, only that the construction would continue.
At the same time, in February 2022, activists discovered that on the sections of the road where asphalt had been laid earlier, many pits had appeared, which had actually consumed the millions of budget funds allocated for this construction.
Who will continue construction
Not much is known in the public domain about the new contractor, Shlyakhbud Invest LLC. According to the Youcontrol analytical system, Shlyakhbud Invest LLC was registered in 2018 in Kyiv. The authorized capital is UAH 1 thousand. The main activity is the construction of roads and highways. The founder and director is Serhiy Lymarenko, who is registered in the village of Kantakuzivka, Cherkasy region.
According to Clarity Project, Shlyakhbud Invest LLC started participating in public procurement only in 2020, and since then, including the current one, it has received 9 contracts totaling UAH 290.56 million. The company’s current contract has the highest value among the others, and the rest of the contracts were also received from Kyiv-based customers. In particular, the company received contracts from Kyivavtodor for the reconstruction of Truskavetska Street, overhaul of Redutna Street and construction of Solomianka-Center bicycle path (Phase IV).
Kyiv Road Transport Facilities Construction Directorate was established by the Kyiv City Council in 1998. The principal activity is in the field of engineering, geology and geodesy, providing technical consulting services in these areas. The authorized capital is UAH 2.9 million. This company is known, in particular, as the customer of the scandalous construction of the Podil Bridge Crossing and the Great Circular Road.
Since October 2022, this ME has been headed by Roman Lisnevsky, who has twice managed this ME in the status of acting director over the past five years.
The Directorate for the Construction of Road and Transport Facilities of Kyiv is subordinated to the Department of Transport Infrastructure of the Kyiv City State Administration, which has been headed by Ruslan Kandybor (pictured left) since September 1, 2021. The activities of this department are directed, coordinated and controlled personally by Vitali Klitschko, the head of the KCSA.
Non-critical needs
Earlier, KV has repeatedly reported on protest moods among Kyiv residents against the allocation of funds for non-critical needs during a full-scale war. In early September of this year, a petition was published on the Kyiv City Council website demanding that the residents of the capital demand that the Kyiv City Council Budget Commission and the Kyiv City State Administration plan the capital’s budget for 2024 based on wartime priorities, not whims and projects that are not matters of survival.
In September (on the 16th, 23rd, and 30th), several rallies were held near the walls of the Kyiv City Administration demanding that the budget be allocated for the needs of the army, not for «paving stones and flower beds.» On October 7 and 21, protests were also held to demand that the funding of unnecessary wartime expenditures be stopped and that budget funds be allocated to support the Armed Forces.
* ME «Directorate for the Construction of Road Transport Facilities in Kyiv» (USREOU code: 05445267)
** LLC «KP «Shlyakhbud Invest» (EDRPOU code: 41891921)
*** Valeriy Lobanovsky Avenue was called Chervonozoryany until 2015, and Volodymyr Brozhko Street was called Kirovohradska until 2018 (old documents and tenders for the construction of a new street to Kyiv Airport use the old names).