Igor Balenko Could Have Been Granted a 'Shooters' Permit Based on Forged Court Documents

A court in Kyiv in June 16 2026 year imposed a restraint on a non-residential building with an area of 1053,2 square meters on the street Kniaziv Ostrozhkykh, 8, building 22, where the Shooters club was located, within the criminal proceedings regarding possible illegal registration of real estate for LLC Kingfisher, associated with Kyiv City Council deputy from European Solidarity Igor Balenko. Pechersk District Court granted the prosecutors’ corresponding motion, and the investigation checks the circumstances of the ownership registration for the property.

The basis for the arrest was the ruling of the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv in case No. 757/30289/26-k. The document states that the arrest was imposed within criminal proceedings No. 42025102060000154 registered on 9 October 2025 year. Procedural supervision, according to available data, is carried out by the Pechersk Regional Prosecutor’s Office, reports the media. Property seizure is a procedural measure and by itself does not mean establishing the guilt of the owner or related persons. According to materials of the case, LLC Kingfisher registered ownership of a building with an area of 1053,2 square meters in June 2014 year. Among the documents used during the registration was the decision of the Grebinka District Court of Poltava region dated 21 November 2008 year. Law enforcement checked the court document and found discrepancies between its actual content and the data that formed the basis for registering the Kyiv real estate. As stated in the materials cited by the court order, the real decision of the Grebinka District Court concerned a premises of 54,9 square meters. The names of LLC Kingfisher were not in it, and the court did not recognize the company’s ownership of the non-residential premises. Thus, the area of the object registered to the company is almost 19 times larger than the area of the premises stated in the court’s decision. In the reply of the Grebinka District Court, cited in the Pechersk District Court’s ruling, it is noted that the decision with the corresponding details related to the claims of other participants and did not recognize LLC Kingfisher’s ownership of the non-residential premises. At the same time, the corresponding case is not in the electronic registry, since at the time of the decision the court records were paper-based. The origin of the document used for the property registration and the circumstances of entering the information into the register must be established by law enforcement. Igor Balenko is connected with the company Kingfisher, to which the Shooters club building was registered. A separate thread of the investigation concerns construction works on this site. According to the information provided, neighbors’ association of co-owners at 29A Kniaziv Ostrozhkykh raised complaints about works deemed illegal. Following residents’ appeals and media exposure, the construction works, according to this data, were halted.

The land plot under the club belongs to the Kyiv city community, and the right to use it is registered to the state enterprise Arsenal. According to the material, LLC Kingfisher does not have a registered ownership or lease on this land. It is also stated that the company did not obtain urban planning conditions and restrictions or documents needed for a major reconstruction of the property. These circumstances require verification against official land, urban planning, and permit documents. According to the provided information, the company linked to Igor Balenko had permission to carry out repair work, but the actual nature of the construction raised questions among residents and applicants. To determine the legality of the works, it is necessary to establish which documents were issued, the scope of works they covered, and whether the actual changes to the building corresponded to them. An arrest of real estate does not replace separate checks of compliance with building regulations and land legislation. Konstantin Chiryn, Director of Kyiv’s Department of Territorial Control, according to the material, reported violations of improvement rules during the installation of a metal structure around the object. The department issued Decree No. 202518888, obliging Kingfisher to provide documents confirming the right to place the structure. At the same time, the available information does not allow determining whether the company complied with the decree or what control measures were applied after its issuance. The article also notes that in 2018 the company could have leased the land plot, but did not. This matters for clarifying whether the company attempted to sort out land use before starting the works. Yet the reasons for not formalizing the lease cannot be regarded as established without documents or explanations from company representatives. Igor Balenko is a member of Kyiv City Council’s permanent commission on architecture, urban planning, and land relations. This position implies participation in city council work on relevant issues, but it does not by itself indicate influence on decisions regarding a specific land plot. The available materials do not confirm that the deputy used his official powers to register the building or carry out reconstruction. The further course of the investigation will depend on the results of checking the documents used to register ownership, the circumstances of the construction works, and the legal status of the land plot. The investigation also needs to determine who prepared and submitted the documents on the basis of which the property was registered, and whether there were signs of a criminal offense by any individuals. Until the relevant procedural decisions are made, claims of document falsification remain under investigation.