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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Kozyn town head Valeriy Hartik has, for the first time in the past 20 years, found himself facing the real threat of imprisonment. NABU detectives, investigating the large-scale “Midas” case, have also reached the head of the wealthiest suburb of the capital.
This was reported by OBOZ.
According to the investigation, it was due to Hartik’s actions or inaction that a land parcel with a market value of over 180 million hryvnias was sold to a private company for only 8,7 million hryvnias.
How “Kampus” turned into “Dynasty”
According to investigators’ estimates, the defendants in the “Midas” case spent more than 460 million hryvnias to construct the Dynasty cottage community in elite Koncha-Zaspa (Kozyn settlement). Among the possible participants and suspects named in the materials are former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov and sanctioned businessman Timur Mindich. The case also mentions former Head of the President’s Office (PO) Andriy Yermak.
Law enforcement found that several development concepts were considered at first: they planned to build six, then five houses, but ultimately settled on four. However, even before the Dynasty project appeared, another development called Kampus had been attempted on this parcel.
NABU detectives found a saved document titled “Summary of internal meeting from 09.01.2019” on one of the project assistants’ devices. It described the Kampus project in detail, which envisaged comprehensive development of this territory.
The land was registered to Bloom Development LLC. The company is currently registered to Liliya Lysenko, however, until August of 2023 its ultimate beneficial owner was Chernyshov’s wife, Svitlana.
According to the investigation, over 4 hectares of communal land in the capital’s elite suburb were sold for development at a significantly undervalued price back in 2018, causing especially large losses to the local budget.
This is evidenced by the materials of criminal proceeding No. 52026000000000009, opened under part 2 of article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power or official position that caused grave consequences).
The case concerns a municipal land plot of 4,2491 ha (cadastral number 3223155400:04:006:0028), located at: Kyiv region, Obukhiv district, Kozyn settlement, Irzhavska St., 18.
According to law enforcement, officials of the Kozyn settlement council entered into prior collusion with representatives of Nesina and Company LLC and Bloom Development LLC to alienate this land in favor of the latter for purely symbolic sums.
Materials of the case state that the plan to purchase the parcel involved the Kozyn town head directly even before 20 June 2018. Already on 19 September 2018 the Kozyn settlement council decision No. 16, signed by the community head, granted Bloom Development LLC permission to purchase 4,2491 ha with the designated purpose of construction and maintenance of recreational facilities.
The engaged appraiser – Nesina and Company LLC – prepared an expert monetary valuation. The total value of 4,2491 ha of elite land was assessed at only 8 758 275,15 hryvnias. According to the investigation, the defendants had agreed on this sum in advance during one of their special “meetings.”
At the same time, according to the official certificate of the property’s appraised value, the real market price of this parcel reaches 180,19 million hryvnias. Even by the most modest minimum estimates on the date of sale it should have cost at least 43,24 million hryvnias.
Who is implicated in the case and what the Hartik family owns
NABU detectives have already conducted searches at the residence of Kozyn’s long-time head Valeriy Hartik, who has been in office for the past 20 years. Investigators believe he effectively approved alienating the land for next to nothing. Considering that the key events took place back in 2018, proving all circumstances in court will require significant effort from law enforcement.
Hartik is no stranger to scandals over land deals and questionable local government decisions.
Another defendant in the case is the owner of the appraisal company (Nesina and Company), Olena Dyptan. An interesting detail: her husband, Serhiy Dyptan, serves as deputy head of one of the departments at the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption (NAPC).
The Kozyn town head himself officially owns neither real estate nor a car. At 57 years old, Valeriy Hartik is considered one of the most experienced leaders of local self-government bodies in the region: he was first elected to this post back in 2006. Power in Kyiv changed repeatedly, but the head of the most expensive suburb consistently kept his seat. In 2020 he ran from the Servant of the People party, won the election again, and once more headed the settlement council.
Despite the official “poverty” of the official himself, his family has been rapidly accumulating property. In 2023 his 18-year-old daughter Yelyzaveta was registered as owner of a house of 170,9 sq. m. This is the only declared property of the family directly in Kozyn, so they likely actually live there. Until 2023, another house of 214,6 sq. m belonging to the elder daughter Valeriya was listed in the declaration. It was registered to the girl back in 2011, when she was only 15 years old.
Also, back in 2006 Valeriy Hartik registered a charitable foundation “Human Rights Foundation ‘Free Community’.” Until 2012 he personally headed this organization, after which the leadership seat passed to his wife Liliya Hartik.
In 2017 the Prosecutor General’s Office already investigated criminal proceeding No. 42017000000001706 regarding this structure. According to the investigation, heads of local prosecutors’ offices in Kyiv region could have received property through BZBK LLC at the expense of the Free Community fund. “The property held by heads of local prosecutors in Kyiv region does not correspond to the level of their official incomes and could have been obtained as an illicit benefit,” the case materials stated. However, that investigation ended without results.
Last year, the town head’s wife, Liliya Hartik, purchased a new Toyota Camry 2023 model year. She also officially owns at least 12 real estate objects. During 2024 alone, three land plots in the resort town of Yaremche (of 0,0515 ha, 0,0158 ha and 0,0158 ha) were registered to her, with an estimated market value of approximately 37 thousand US dollars.
A year earlier, in 2023, the official’s wife became the owner of an apartment of 73,2 sq. m in the Shchaslyvyy residential complex in Uzhhorod (the cost of similar renovated housing is currently about 100 thousand dollars). She also owns elite property in the Mercedes residential complex in Odesa (on the first line from the sea) and several valuable land plots directly in Kozyn.
The “Midas” case is a vivid example of how long-term continuity in local government combined with the lack of proper oversight creates a favorable environment for siphoning off valuable state assets worth hundreds of millions of hryvnias and rapidly enriching officials’ close associates. The current NABU investigation will be an important indicator of the anti-corruption agencies’ ability to hold “untouchable” regional leaders accountable.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Земля для «Династії» за безцінь: НАБУ взялося за голову Козина Гартіка через схему з ділянкою на 180 мільйонів гривень". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: HAB Media.
