Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” is seeking in court to reinstate the land lease agreement for the plot on Mokra Street, 14-A (formerly Kudriashova Street), and to amend certain provisions of the urban planning conditions and restrictions (UPCR) that would allow the company to build the business-class residential complex “Biography” there at 26 floors.
The LLC states that the Kyiv City Council unlawfully failed to provide any response to the petition to extend the lease agreement—neither an approval nor a denial. The company also argues that the Ministry of Culture order, which the Kyiv City State Administration (KSCA) cited when issuing the “urban planning” documents and which limits the project height on this territory to 44,9 meters, is not urban planning documentation and therefore, they claim, cannot be relied on when determining building height. Both court cases are currently at the appeal stage—VKF “Servisshina LTD” won in courts of first instance. Incidentally, the UPCRs in question were also “obtained” by the company through the courts—KSCA officials were generally unwilling to issue this document voluntarily. It is well known that in the historical area of Kyiv only buildings up to 27 meters tall may be erected, but in practice, due to the lack of a full legal definition of the capital’s territorial boundaries, courts tend to side with developers.
At present, LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” is trying in court to reinstate the land lease agreement for the plot on Mokra Street, 14-A (former name – Kudriashova Street, Solomianskyi district) and to “edit” the UPCR regarding the design of its development.
Both cases are now undergoing appellate review. In the dispute over the “new” lease agreement, on 11 September 2026 the composition of the panel of judges of the Northern Economic Court of Appeal was appointed to consider Kyiv City Council’s complaint—the council seeks to cancel the decision of the Commercial Court of Kyiv dated 23 July 2026, which satisfied the claims of LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD”. In turn, in the UPCR case the date of the hearing at the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal is already known—on 30 September 2026 it is to consider the appeals filed by the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the Kyiv City State Administration (KSCA) and by Kyiv lawyer Oleksandr Dyadyuk. They are appealing the decision of the Kyiv District Administrative Court (KDAC) dated 2 April 2026, which also satisfied the company’s claims. This latter court dispute is already “on the second round”—the parties previously reached the cassation instance.
As Oleksandr Dyadyuk said, the appellate court should uphold his appeal, but at the same time he has certain doubts about that. The lawyer noted that earlier he tried to join the case as a third party on the side of KSCA, but the court of first instance denied him. However, according to the law, Dyadyuk had the right to file an appeal against the first-instance decision, and he exercised that right.
“The plaintiff wants to nullify, on its own ‘sovereign territory,’ i.e., on the leased land plot, the effect of Ukraine’s monument protection legislation. They plan to build a residential complex in the historic area with an excess of height—there you can build up to 27 meters (the UPCR states 44,9 meters), and they want more. If courts support such demands, the traditional historic environment of this area could be damaged and, in effect, leveled,” said Oleksandr Dyadyuk.
Background
On 18 March 2004 the Kyiv City Council, by its decision No. 125/1335, approved the transfer to lease to LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” of the land plot on Kudriashova Street, 14-A with an area of 0,3874 ha (cadastral number 8000000000:72:143:0003). The land was leased for 10 years for reconstruction of a service station into commercial and warehouse buildings and structures with subsequent operation and maintenance.
On 1 July 2004 a lease agreement for this land plot was signed between LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” and the Kyiv City Council. Later, on 5 April 2016 the parties concluded an agreement to extend the lease—again for 10 years.
Plot on the map
Shortly before that, on 24 September 2015 the Kyiv City Council, by decision No. 46/1949, approved a detailed plan of the territory (DPT) within Povitroflotskyi Avenue, Solomianska Street, Mekhanizatoriv Street, Kudriashova Street and the railway tracks in the Solomianskyi district. The DPT was defined as covering 196,14 ha, of which 69,2 ha falls under residential development and 69,5 ha under other types of development. Among other things, the document recorded that the land plot on Kudriashova Street, 14-A, leased by LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” from the city community, is functionally mainly part of public green spaces, and partly part of multi-story residential development. The developer of this DPT was the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of KSCA, the lead designer was LLC “Proektgenplan”, and the investor was LLC “Kiibud”.
On 5 April 2016 a contract was signed between the Kyiv City Council and LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” to renew the lease agreement for the plot for 10 years. And on 23 March 2017 then-director of the Department of Land Resources of KSCA, Oleksii Polishchuk, registered in the City Council draft decision No. 08/231-799/PR to change the land’s designated purpose. The document provided that the plot may be used for construction, operation and maintenance of a residential complex with parking—a request the city officials had received from LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” several months earlier. On 3 October 2017 this draft was approved by the City Council’s commission on urban planning, architecture and land use. However, already on 12 October 2017 the legal support department returned the draft decision for revision—for reasons not disclosed in open sources.
In August and October 2019 LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” twice applied to the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of KSCA requesting UPCRs to design the reconstruction of non-residential buildings on the plot into a residential complex with parking. But officials twice, in September and November 2019, denied the company the “urban planning” documents. The reason for refusal was the inconsistency of the planned development with local urban planning documentation, and the company’s submission of an incomplete set of documents as defined by part 3 of article 29 of the Law of Ukraine “On Regulation of Urban Planning Activities.”
Officials informed LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” that, according to the General Plan of Kyiv, the plot is functionally mainly designated as public green spaces. At the same time, the above-mentioned DPT envisages that this land belongs to public green spaces and partly to multi-story residential development.
At the beginning of 2020 the company filed a lawsuit with the District Administrative Court of Kyiv (OASK, now liquidated) against the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of KSCA. The company asked the court to recognize the officials’ refusal to issue UPCRs as unlawful and to oblige them to issue the document. On 25 August 2020 the court denied the company’s claim. The judges then upheld the legality of the department’s refusal. The court also noted that “the decision in this case affects protection of the public interest in restoring legality in resolving a socially important issue concerning planning and development of the territory at the local level.”
On 25 November 2020 the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal, to which the company appealed, left the OASK decision unchanged. The company’s attempt to challenge officials’ actions and the first- and second-instance verdicts in the Cassation Administrative Court also failed—on 9 February 2023 that court also denied the LLC’s claims.
Before the appellate court issued its decision in that case, in November 2020 the company filed another lawsuit with OASK. The company sought to annul the Kyiv City Council’s decision No. 46/1949 dated 24 September 2015 approving the DPT—however, the company did not challenge the entire detailed plan, but only the part concerning the plot on Kudriashova Street, 14-A. The defendant in that case was the city council.
During that court dispute the company argued that the presence of green plantings on the plot (a characteristic of the green planting zone) was not documented. One argument was that the land is not assigned to the Department of Housing and Communal Services and Construction of the Solomianskyi District State Administration (which is responsible for creating, maintaining and operating green plantings).
LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” also pointed to contradictions in the disputed DPT. They argued that the DPT defines the functional designation of the Kudriashova Street plot, 14-A in Solomianskyi district, as public green spaces, whereas the General Plan of Kyiv allegedly assigns this territory partly to communal-warehouse areas and partly to multi-story residential development. As noted above, earlier OASK in the UPCR case found that the General Plan again defines this land as public green spaces.
These and other company arguments persuaded the judges. As a result, courts of all three instances sided with LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD”, and the final decision in this case was made by the Cassation Administrative Court on 14 December 2022.
While that court dispute was ongoing, in December 2021 LLC “VKF “Servisshina” again applied to the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of KSCA requesting UPCRs for the reconstruction of the non-residential buildings on Kudriashova Street, 14-A into a residential complex with parking. However, in the same month officials again refused—the official basis was submission of an incomplete set of documents necessary to obtain UPCRs, in particular “the stated intentions necessary to make decisions on providing UPCRs” and “an extract from the topographic-geodetic plan at scale M 1:2000.”
In early 2022 the LLC filed another suit with OASK challenging the department’s refusal and asking the officials to issue the UPCRs. In support of its claims the company stated that all data necessary for a decision on issuing the UPCRs had been submitted—including those the department claimed were missing. Therefore, they argued, the city’s refusal was unfounded and baseless.
On 2 June 2022 the court satisfied the claim of LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD”. The Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of KSCA tried to appeal this verdict, but on 14 December 2022 the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal refused to open appellate proceedings on their complaint. The basis was the department’s missed appellate deadline. Officials attempted to challenge this refusal in the cassation court but were unsuccessful. Therefore, the favorable OASK decision for LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” was left in force.
Pursuant to that court verdict, on 11 January 2023 the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of KSCA nevertheless issued the UPCRs to LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” for the reconstruction of the non-residential buildings on Kudriashova Street, 14-A into a residential complex with parking. According to the document, the company was allowed to design a building up to 44,9 m high (about 14 floors), but the final height was to be determined by the project documentation. Among other things, the UPCRs stated that the documentation must be developed taking into account the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine’s order No. 599 of 2 August 2021 «On approval of the boundaries and regimes of use of the territory of Kyiv’s historic areas.»
During 2023 the company repeatedly asked the department to amend these UPCRs—specifically regarding the height of the “future” building. VKF “Servisshina LTD” argued it should be 82,6 m (approximately 27 floors). Ultimately, officials denied the company. The height restriction in KSCA’s department was explained by the fact that the plot falls within the Central Historic Area of Kyiv, the boundaries of which were approved by the aforementioned Ministry of Culture order No. 599 of 2 August 2021.
In May 2023 the company filed suit with the Kyiv District Administrative Court (KDAC) challenging the two refusals by the urban planning department (dated March 2023), seeking to declare unlawful the UPCR provision that set the project’s building height and to oblige officials to amend that provision.
VKF “Servisshina LTD” argued, among other things, that the Ministry of Culture order is not local urban planning documentation and therefore cannot be relied upon to determine height. From this and other factors the company derived the argument that the city did not prove that “the project object, taking into account current construction legislation, is within the boundaries of the central historic area.” In addition, the company submitted conclusions from the municipal enterprise “International Airport “Kyiv” (Zhuliany) and the State Aviation Service of Ukraine, according to which an object up to 221,4 meters could be located on this territory without affecting flight safety.
On 10 June 2024 KDAC fully satisfied VKF “Servisshina”’s claim. The Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of KSCA tried to appeal, but on 13 January 2025 the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal refused them. However, in the third and final instance they had success—on 1 December 2025 the Cassation Administrative Court sent the case back to the first-instance court. There, the dispute again developed in favor of VKF “Servisshina LTD”—on 2 April 2026 KDAC once more satisfied the company’s claim. After that came another stage of appellate review, as noted above.
During the court dispute over editing the UPCRs, on 4 June 2024 the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate (SACI) issued permit IU013240527868 to the company to carry out construction works for this reconstruction. According to it, LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” plans to build one 14-story building (13 above-ground floors and one underground) with 87 apartments (total area – 5,3 thousand sq.m.). The complex is also allowed an underground parking for 148 parking spaces. The general contractor was listed as LLC “Masterbud.”
At the same time, since 1 September 2026 updated project documentation for this development has been under review at the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate (SACI). What exactly is planned to be changed is currently unknown, but one can assume the changes may concern an increase in the building’s height and possibly a change of the general contractor—arguments in favor of this hypothesis are noted below.
In November 2025 and April 2026 the company twice asked the Kyiv City Council to extend the lease term for the plot on Mokra Street, 14-A. The municipality did not respond to these requests. Consequently, in April 2026 the company filed a lawsuit with the Commercial Court of Kyiv to reinstate the lease agreement for another 10 years. Its main arguments were, again, the absence of a response from the City Council and the lack of documented claims by the city authorities against the company as lessee of the plot.
The Kyiv City Council opposed satisfying these claims. City lawyers argued that LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” violated the deadlines for notifying the council of its intention to extend the lease. The council also alleged improper performance of the contractual terms by the lessee regarding completion of the reconstruction within the deadlines set by the project documentation and failure to comply with the plot’s designated purpose.
However, these arguments did not convince the court—as noted above, on 23 July 2026 the Commercial Court of Kyiv fully satisfied LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD”’s claim, reinstating the lease agreement for the plot on Mokra Street, 14-A for another 10 years.
Note that the developer company Forum Capital’s website currently publishes information about a planned business-class residential complex at this address. It is now called “Biography”, but several years ago the developer marketed the project under a different name—then it was called the “Wet” residential complex (from the English “wet”—after the street).
Rendering of the “Biography” residential complex
The parameters and the project exterior announced by the developer appear unchanged—the complex was stated from the outset to have 26 floors, with 178 apartments and 177 parking spaces planned. Also, a public-purpose building of 4 floors intended for offices is planned on the site. According to the LUN portal, preparatory works are ongoing—construction equipment has already been recorded on the site.
Construction site of the “Biography” residential complex as of September 2026 (photo LUN portal)
What locals think
For at least the last decade, since 2017, residents of the Solomianskyi district have been campaigning against construction on Kudriashova Street, 14-A.
According to local online media, at this address LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” planned to build a 26-story residential building by 2020. The construction site, and later the potential high-rise, was said to be located directly above an old branch of a collector that had been declared emergency many years ago. These outlets reported that any vibration during construction or pressure from the building mass could trigger a man-made catastrophe and flood Solomianskyi district residents with sewage. It was also reported that a 26-story building would block sunlight to surrounding buildings, harming a nearby kindergarten.
Other media reported that locals objected to the potential high-rise due to densifying development in their neighborhood. In recent years more than a dozen new residential complexes have appeared in the area, but there has been no corresponding increase in schools and kindergartens.
Recall that the DPT mentioned above has already been the subject of court proceedings. In 2017 a citizen, Ihor Horbasenko, filed a suit with OASK against the Department of Urban Planning of KSCA, LLC “Proektgenplan” (lead designer) and LLC “Kiibud” (investor) seeking annulment of the Kyiv City Council decision No. 46/1949. He justified his claim by alleging that public hearings on the document were held with gross violations. He also argued the DPT did not comply with the Law “On Regulation of Urban Planning Activities,” since the technical and economic indicators recorded in the planning and architecture section protocol differed from those in the project.
On 1 July 2019 the court fully satisfied the claim and annulled the City Council decision approving the DPT. LLC “Kiibud” appealed to the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal: on 19 August 2019 appellate proceedings were opened. However, that appeal was never considered on the merits because on 17 February 2020 Ihor Horbasenko filed a notice of withdrawal of his claim to the appellate court and on 3 March 2020 that court granted the withdrawal. Consequently, the OASK decision of 1 July 2019 was declared invalid, and the DPT de jure remained in force.
Who intends to build it
According to the YouControl analytics system, Kyiv LLC “VKF “Servisshina LTD” was founded in June 1993. The company’s director is listed as Yevhen Malichenko, founders are JSC “Closed-end mutual investment fund “Forum-Capital” (ZNVKIF “Forum-Capital”), LLC “Delvion” and LLC “Invest Global KZ II”, and the ultimate beneficiaries are Kyiv resident Ruslan Farisey and Kazakh citizen Abylay Amanzholov (pictured at right), who is also registered in Ukraine’s capital.
Note that from September 2021 to July 2026 the owner of “Servisshina” was listed as Andrii Manzhelei, a resident of the village Ivanovychi in Obukhiv district, Kyiv region. He and Turkish citizen Orhan Atmadja are co-owners of LLC “Masterbud”, which was declared the general contractor for the construction on Mokra Street, 14-A. As noted above, it is possible that the Biography project may later have a different general contractor—given that VKF “Servisshina” now has new owners “on paper.” At the same time, Andrii Manzhelei is at least acquainted with Ruslan Farisey: Manzhelei owns LLC “Acron Invest,” whose director is Farisey. Incidentally, that company was the client for the construction of the “Kakhovska” residential complex, which was built under the banners of PrJSC “HK “Kyivmiskbud” and “Forum Capital.”
Recall that, according to media, Andrii Manzhelei is the nephew of businessman Leonid Yurushev. Yurushev is known, among other things, as the owner of Kyiv hotels InterContinental Kyiv, Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv, Riviera House and Alfavito. His orbit also includes companies engaged in woodworking, machine-building, construction and manufacture of building components. According to NV magazine and investment company Dragon Capital, in 2019 Yurushev ranked 26 among the richest Ukrainians with a fortune of 202 million dollars. In 2020 he, with income of 18 million dollars, took 16 place in Forbes’ list of the largest Ukrainian rentiers (entrepreneurs who earn from renting real estate, hotel business, etc.). In Focus magazine’s ranking for 2021 (before the full-scale invasion) his assets were estimated at 260 million dollars (49 place).
As for Abylay Amanzholov, he previously worked or still works at BI Group—the largest construction and investment holding in Kazakhstan. The group builds residential and commercial real estate, road-transport and social infrastructure, and industrial facilities. In 2025 BI Group entered the Ukrainian market by acquiring the construction company Watzenrode, which builds primarily industrial buildings. BI Group stated that its companies plan to operate in Ukraine, including as general contractors for reconstruction and as housing developers.
Since 2 April 2021 the Department of Land Resources of KSCA has been headed by Valentyna Pelykh. She is currently a suspect in a case concerning the alleged seizure of the land plot under the Ferris wheel on Kontraktova Square. Despite the full urban planning chaos in the capital, since 1 November 2016 the position of director of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of KSCA has been calmly held by Oleksandr Svystunov (pictured at left).
The deputy of Vitali Klitschko responsible for the activities of the KSCA’s urban planning department is Viacheslav Nepop.
Author: Oleksandr Hlazunov
KyivVlada
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "26 поверхів замість 14: як оточення Юрушева через суди добивається висотки ЖК Biography у Києві". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: HAB Media.
