The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) is investigating the sale of a 50-hectare land plot in the Murovane community near Lviv, which was subsequently flipped to Irish investor Kingspan Group with a 248.6 million UAH markup. Detectives suspect that local officials and investment authorities may have colluded to ensure a pre-determined outcome for the auction, causing significant financial damage to the local municipality. The case is being investigated under criminal charges of large-scale asset misappropriation through the abuse of official position.
The case dates back to the summer of 2022, when Gene Murtagh, CEO of the Irish building materials giant Kingspan Group, announced plans to invest hundreds of millions of euros into a major manufacturing technology hub in western Ukraine. To launch the project, the investor required a 40-to-50-hectare land plot equipped with utility connections and international logistics access.
A suitable site was identified in the village of Yampil, under the jurisdiction of the Murovane Village Council. Local authorities quickly re-zoned the agricultural land for industrial use and put it up for public auction with a starting price of 82.4 million UAH.
Despite the plot perfectly matching Kingspan’s technical requirements, the Irish company’s subsidiary did not enter the bidding. Instead, the auction was won by the only other major participant—the closed-end venture capital investment fund «Lev,» owned by Lviv businessman Alexander Svishchov. The fund acquired the property for 102.7 million UAH.
Subsequent findings revealed that the «Lev» investment fund and the newly established LLC Kingspan Property had entered into a preliminary agreement prior to the official auction. Under this agreement, the Irish side advanced 105.3 million UAH in earnest money to Svishchov’s company. These funds were transferred in two tranches in February and March 2024—before the fund had even finalized its payment to the village council.
Investigators allege that the land purchase at the public auction was effectively financed by the foreign investor’s own money, indicating the subsequent flip had been arranged well in advance.
On April 15, 2024, just three weeks after signing the initial contract with the Murovane Village Council, Alexander Svishchov’s fund resold the exact same land plot to Kingspan Property for €8.4 million (approximately 351.4 million UAH at the central bank exchange rate). As a result, the intermediary generated a net profit of 248.6 million UAH from the resale of municipal land.
Anti-corruption authorities launched a formal investigation into the land deal. NABU is currently pursuing criminal proceedings under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation of property by prior conspiracy on an especially large scale utilizing official position).
Detectives are reviewing the potential involvement of:
Officials of the Murovane Village Council;
Representatives of the Lviv Regional State Administration (LODA);
Personnel from the governmental investment promotion agency, UkraineInvest.
According to case files, NABU has not implicated the executives of Kingspan Property LLC—Orysia Yaremko and Irish national Michael Stenson—in any wrongdoing. The company has already secured all necessary zoning and construction permits from local authorities. To date, the projected foreign direct investment for the manufacturing hub has risen to €280 million.
Alexander Svishchov is a prominent business figure in the Lviv region, known as a business partner of tycoon Hryhoriy Kozlovskyy and co-owner of several major assets, including the «Leoland» sports and entertainment complex. In recent years, Svishchov has also expanded into the mineral water production industry in Western Ukraine alongside investment banker Tomas Fiala.