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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Kozyn village head Valeriy Hartik has, for perhaps the first time in the last 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 Kyiv suburb.
This is reported by OBOZ.
According to the investigation’s version, it was thanks to Hartik’s actions or inaction that a land plot with a market value of over 180 million UAH was sold to a private company for only 8,7 million UAH.
How “Campus” turned into “Dynasty”
The defendants in the "Midas" case, by the investigators’ estimates, spent more than 460 million UAH to build the Dynastiya cottage community in the elite Koncha-Zaspa area (Kozyn settlement). Former vice prime minister Oleksiy Chernyshov and sanctioned businessman Timur Mindich are among the possible participants and suspects mentioned in the materials. The case also references former Head of the Office of the President (OP) Andriy Yermak.
Law enforcement found that several development concepts were initially considered: they planned to build six, then five houses, but ultimately settled on four. However, even before the Dynasty project appeared, another development named “Campus” was being attempted on this plot.
NABU detectives found a saved document with the title “Minutes of an internal meeting dated 09.01.2019” among one of the project assistants. It detailed the Campus project, which envisioned comprehensive development of this territory.
The land was registered to Bloom Development LLC. The company is currently registered to Liliya Lysenko, but until August 2023 its ultimate beneficiary owner was Chernyshov’s wife, Svitlana.
According to the investigation’s data, over 4 hectares of municipal land in the elite Kyiv suburb were sold for development at a significantly undervalued price as early as 2018, causing particularly large damages 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 plot of land 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 village council entered into a prior conspiracy with representatives of Nesina i Kompaniya LLC and Bloom Development LLC to dispose of this land in favor of the latter for purely symbolic sums.
Materials of the case state that the plan to purchase the plot involved the settlement head himself even before 20 June 2018. Already on 19 September 2018, by decision of the Kozyn village council No. 16, signed by the community head, Bloom Development LLC was granted permission to purchase 4,2491 ha with the designated purpose of construction and maintenance of recreational facilities.
The appraiser involved – Nesina i Kompaniya LLC – prepared an expert monetary valuation. The total value of 4,2491 ha of elite land was estimated at only 8 758 275,15 UAH. According to the investigation, the defendants had prearranged this amount 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 plot reaches 180,19 million UAH. Even by the most modest minimum estimates at the date of sale it should have cost at least 43,24 million UAH.
Who is involved in the case and what the Hartik family owns
NABU detectives have already conducted searches at the office of Kozyn’s long-standing head Valeriy Hartik, who has held the position for the past 20 years. Investigators believe he effectively approved the disposal of the land for next to nothing. Considering that the key events took place back in 2018, proving all the circumstances in court will require significant effort from law enforcement.
At the same time, Valeriy Hartik has repeatedly been the subject of scandals over land schemes and questionable local government decisions.
Another defendant in the case is the owner of the appraisal company (Nesina i Kompaniya), Olena Dyptan. An interesting detail: her husband, Serhiy Dyptan, is deputy head of one of the departments at the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP).
The village head himself officially owns neither real estate nor a car. At 57 years old, Valeriy Hartik is considered one of the most experienced local government leaders in the region: he was first elected to this position 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 elections again and once more headed the village council.
Despite the official “poverty” of the official himself, his family has been 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 family property located directly in Kozyn, so they most likely actually live there. Until 2023, another house of 214,6 sq. m belonging to the elder daughter Valeriia was mentioned in the declaration. It was registered to the girl in 2011 when she was only 15 years old.
Additionally, in 2006 a charitable foundation “Human Rights Foundation ‘Free Community’” was registered in Valeriy Hartik’s name. Until 2012 he personally headed this organization, after which the leadership 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 prosecutor’s offices in Kyiv region could have received property through BZBK LLC at the expense of the Free Community fund. “The property held by the heads of local prosecutor’s offices in Kyiv region does not correspond to the level of their official incomes and could have been received as an illicit benefit,” the case materials stated. However, that investigation ended without any results.
Last year, the village head’s wife, Liliya Hartik, bought a new Toyota Camry of the 2023 model year. She also officially owns at least 12 real estate objects. During 2024 she was registered as owner of three land plots in the resort town of Yaremche (with areas of 0,0515 ha, 0,0158 ha and 0,0158 ha), whose market value is estimated at 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 Shchaslyvyi residential complex in Uzhhorod (the cost of similar renovated housing is currently about 100 thousand dollars). In addition, she 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 of local power combined with lack of proper oversight creates a favorable environment for siphoning valuable state assets worth hundreds of millions of hryvnias and quickly enriching officials’ close circles. The current NABU investigation will be an important marker of the anti-corruption agencies’ ability to hold “untouchable” regional leaders accountable.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Землю для «Династії» віддали майже даром: НАБУ взялося за керівника Козина Гартіка через оборудку з ділянкою вартістю 180 мільйонів гривень". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Rozsliduvach.
