Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
For the private project of the BIONIC Hill innovation park, the state provided a preferential loan in the amount of 50 million UAH. However, the project will not be started until the Kyiv budget allocates another 337 million UAH. This is stated in a report by Alisa Yurchenko.
In 2012 year, State Investment Company of Ukraine, which is under the management of the State Agency for Investments and Management of National Projects (the former head was Vladyslav Kaskiv), transferred 50 million UAH to LLC BiOnik Development. The company is part of the UDP group of MP Vasyl Khmelnytskyi, which is an investor in the innovative park. There was no public announcement about this.
As journalists found out, the funds were borrowed on favorable terms. The interest rate is only 3,75% per year for 15 years. According to the contract, the principal repayment term has not yet arrived. Currently, BiOnik Development pays only interest on the loan. The collateral consists of property rights to part of the buildings of the BIONIC Hill innovation park, in accordance with the approved construction project for the first phase. Since construction has not started, the collateral object physically does not exist.
"As an additional guarantee of BiOnik Development’s obligation to repay the loan and interest, a guarantee was provided by a company with own capital of more than 50 million UAH and non-current assets valued at more than 50 million UAH," stated the BIONIC Hill press service.
Over two years, out of 50 million UAH of the loan, the project investor has spent only 20 million. The funds were spent on project and estimate documentation and preparation of the first construction phase. Another 30 million UAH remain on a bank account at the Khreschatyk Bank. At the end of last year, Vasyl Khmelnytskyi noted in a Forbes interview that he owns 37% of the bank’s shares. According to announcements on specialized sites, Khreschatyk Bank provides lending at rates from 15% to 32% per year. This allows earning on state funds far more than the interest paid to the state.
"More than 30 million UAH of loan funds remain unused due to the failure to fulfill obligations to build a road and utilities to the site," Our Money reported from BIONIC Hill. Earlier, Vasyl Khmelnytskyi also stated that there is no sense in "investing in a science town that has no engineering utilities and is inaccessible."
According to the project approved by Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko’s Order No. 906, the cost of building the road and bringing utilities to the high-tech park is 337 million UAH. These funds are not in Kyiv’s budget, so construction of the road has not begun, and the Bionic Hill project is frozen by the investor. Klitschko told Our Money that he does not have information about Kyiv fulfilling its obligations to build the road, but supports private investors.
It is worth noting that one access road to the plot where BIONIC Hill was planned exists. However, in August a court limited the territory where construction could take place. The company BiOnik Land, which previously owned the entire plot of 147 hectares, lost part of the land. That is where the old road leads. The plot was lost due to a dubious land withdrawal procedure.
From Our Money materials
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Хмельницький отримав 50 державних мільйонів від Каськіва на технопарк і чекає ще третину мільярда від Кличка". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Bihus.Info.