The Orbit of Tatarov “Grew” Apartments Worth $1 Million in Buildings Where Shares Were Promised to the State

A number of people, whose connections lead to Oleh Tatarov, deputy head of the Office of the President, over the past few years became owners of apartments in two Kyiv buildings, the current value of which exceeds $1 million. Ironically, in both projects the developers promised a stake to the state, but never fulfilled their obligations to the end. This is described in a Bihus.Info investigation.

The matter concerns the Pearl of the Groves (Perlina Nyvok) and Aquamarine housing estates. These are problematic assets that for years could not be completed, and where shares of apartments were supposed to go to several state bodies immediately. Nevertheless, several residences here became the property of Nataliya Pisareva and Vladlena Tymoshenka. The women have a business connection with the Italian entrepreneur Nicola Mirto, who is a former client and close friend of Oleh Tatarov. In particular, the law firm that Tatarov previously founded represented Mirto’s interests, and in one of the deputy head of the Office of the President’s declarations it is noted that Tatarov’s former wife even agreed to become Mirto’s son’s guardian if needed.

In the Perlina Nyvok residential complex, Pisareva and Tymoshenco appear in documents concerning seven apartments. The complex has a long troubled construction history and was linked to the State Guard Administration. The UDO was to receive more than 100 apartments, but ultimately received only 65. Five of the six apartments later purchased by Pisareva and Tymoshenco had not been entered into the electronic real estate register at the time of their acquisition. Three large apartments totaling about 100 square meters were subsequently redeveloped into nine separate apartments.

Pearl of the Groves (Perlina Nyvok)

Four more apartments Nataliya Pisareva bought in the Aquamarine housing estate. The customer for the construction of this complex was the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and part of the apartments were to be transferred to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). As a result, the SBU received four apartments from the 38 planned, while the NBU, according to journalists, did not receive 19 apartments.

Aquamarine housing estate (Aquamarine)

Pisareva did not comment to journalists about the purchase of the apartments and their origin. Tymoshanko also did not provide explanations regarding the real estate.

As a reminder, Oleh Tatarov had previously been mentioned in investigations related to real estate and causing losses to the state. Before working in the Office of the President, he headed the legal department of the company Ukrbud. In 2019, NABU and SAP investigated a scheme with apartments for the National Guard, under which Ukrbud was to transfer properties in central Kyiv but “exchanged” them for apartments on the outskirts. The difference in value, according to the investigators, reached about 80 million hryvnias. Tatarov was charged with providing unlawful benefits to the head of an expert institution for an examination that would influence an assessment of losses in this case. However, the case was taken from the “anti-corruption” bureau, and the criminal proceedings were ultimately closed.

Interestingly, after Maksym Mykytasy’s arrest in the Ukrbud case, part of the company’s assets ended up in structures connected to Oleh Tatarov’s entourage. In particular, they were even registered under Tatarov’s then father-in-law, who previously worked in passenger transport in the Kirovohrad region.