Near the capital’s "Lisova" metro station, large-scale construction of the "Lisova Mall" shopping center – a project of well-known businessman Vagif Aliyev (in the photo) could soon begin.
The scandals surrounding the receipt of permits for the development of a 4-ha area are already behind: back in September 2020, the State Architectural and Construction Inspection (SACI) "blessed" these works. The Kyiv City Council is not offering much resistance either, which in March of this year "threw" the adjacent 22 "ares" plot to LLC "ZhenSan" (the land tenant and construction customer). The public is extremely dissatisfied with this state of affairs. The future development seems to contradict the requirements of Kyiv’s Master Plan, and residents of the Lisovyi neighborhood fear that the new object will exacerbate parking problems on the streets and could lead to the destruction of the "Kyoto" park.
According to KV sources within the environment of the capital’s developers, in the next one and a half to two months, grandiose construction of a new shopping center could begin near the "Lisova" metro station.
This is about the shopping center "Lisova Mall" (previously known as "Lisova Mall") – a project of the Mandarin Plaza group of companies, which belongs to the well-known developer, one of the richest people in Ukraine, Vagif Aliyev. Mandarin Plaza includes a number of Kyiv shopping centers, among them the "Mandarin Plaza" Shopping Center, "Lavina Mall," shopping center "Ocean Mall," shopping center "Hippodrome," BC "Parus," and others.
What they want to build and what it threatens
The construction of the shopping center is planned on a 4.01-ha plot between Brovarskyi Ave. and Kyoto St., which LLC "ZhenSan" (*) has been leasing from the Kyiv City Council since September 8, 2005 (cadastral number – 8000000000:62:035:0030). The permit for construction works No. IU013200921342 was issued by the State Architectural and Construction Inspection (SACI) on September 21, 2020. The customer of the construction is the mentioned LLC "ZhenSan," and the contractor is LLC "SC "Construction Technologies" (**).
According to the document, aside from the multifunctional shopping center, the developer is also required to build a parking lot in this location and reconstruct the "Lisova" metro station. It is planned that the total area of the complex will be 171.1 thousand square meters (including the construction area – 38 thousand square meters), with four floors. The impact class of this object is CC3 (construction may have significant consequences for people, surrounding objects, etc. – KV). Other important information about this project, such as the planned number of parking spaces, details about the features of the metro station reconstruction, etc., is not provided in the SACI document.
At the same time, it is quite possible that the actual construction area of this and adjoining territories may be significantly increased. The fact is that back in 2017, the Desnyanskyi District State Administration published a project according to which, in addition to the "promising" shopping center in the area of the "Lisova" metro, on a plot of more than 3 ha covered with forest, a bus station could also be built. Currently, talks about such an increase in the scale of construction have subsided. However, LLC "ZhenSan" clearly intends to use more than four hectares to implement its plans. The following facts testify to this.
This company owns two adjoining land plots – an area of 0.03 ha (cadastral number – 8000000000:62:035:0003, purpose – for retail and commercial services, for the operation and maintenance of a pavilion-cafe) and 0.2296 ha (cadastral number – 8000000000:62:035:0020, purpose – for the location and operation of road service facilities, for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a gas station). Another adjoining plot will also soon be leased to the company by the capital’s community – the decision has already been made, but the corresponding agreement is likely not yet concluded.
So, two weeks ago, on March 11, 2021, the Kyiv City Council transferred a land plot on Kyoto St., near the "Lisova" metro station, with an area of 0.2281 ha, to LLC "ZhenSan" for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a store and a cafe with a summer terrace (cadastral number – 8000000000:62:035:0015, project decision No. 08/231-1462/PR from June 12, 2020). Meanwhile, the capital authorities performed a "maneuver" – they simply replaced a party in the existing lease agreement for this land, which was concluded between the Kyiv City Council and LLC "UIS" back on August 6, 2003, and was planned until 2028. That is, they simply "inserted" a "new" tenant into the agreement instead of the "old" one.
The basis for changing the tenant, the capital’s authorities indicated, is that from 2018, LLC "ZhenSan" owns real estate on this plot – a store with a summer cafe. However, it is assumed that the "replacement" of property owners and tenants was made just to avoid "red tape" with developing a land management plan, which is necessary when leasing the plot – with a regular party change in the agreement, this is not required. This version is supported by the fact that these companies are more than closely linked. But more on that later.
It should be noted that during the Kyiv City Council meeting on March 11, the deputies supported the corresponding project decision only on the third attempt. The first two votes failed – 58 and 59 votes "for," respectively. Ultimately, the document was supported by the minimum required number of deputies – 61 people’s deputies. Probably, this decision pleased the secretary of the city council commission on architecture, urban planning, and land relations Yuriy Fedorenko ("Servant of the People" faction). It was he who tried to convince his colleagues that there were no "socially unpleasant moments" in making changes to the lease agreement, and "public resistance was before," when people "were worried that the green area might be occupied," but now everything is fine.
Approximate location of all plots and, accordingly, the future shopping center’s territory (excerpt from Google Maps)
A day before the Kyiv City Council adopted this decision, on March 10, 2021, the head of the "Narodovladdia" party, Ukraine’s VIII convocation MP Yuriy Levchenko, confirmed the version of Vagif Aliyev’s large-scale plans and criticized the position of the city authorities on this issue on his Facebook page.
"This plot is part of a large construction project of more than 4 ha near the Lisova metro. Here, the odious "builder" and Klychko’s partner, Russian consul Vagif Aliyev, intends to build a large shopping center. The current Kyiv Master Plan designates this area as a publically used green area and partly for the streets and roads (this is where public transport stops and the roads themselves are). According to the current legislation – both the Law of Ukraine "On Regulation of Urban Development" and the Land Code of Ukraine – a land plot can only be used according to the functional purpose of the Master Plan. Accordingly, any construction, especially an shopping center, in this place is illegal!" – Yuriy Levchenko said.
In this situation, politician assigns a "special role" to the Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klychko. The fact is that the reconstruction of the "Lisova" metro station, mentioned above, was approved by order of the Kyiv City State Administration No. 944 of July 1, 2020, signed by the city mayor himself.
Recall that during the reconstruction, planned to be completed by 2023, an overground pedestrian crossing is to be "added," which will adjoin the mentioned shopping center and connect the metro with this complex. After the reconstruction, the crossing property is to be transferred to the communal ownership of Kyiv. LLC "ZhenSan" is not directly mentioned in the said order (the document refers to some investor), but there is no doubt that this company is meant.
Vitaliy Klychko agreed on illegal construction of the shopping center at Lisova under the guise of reconstructing the metro station. This was done so that Aliyev could legalize his construction despite documentation problems at the State Architectural and Construction Inspection. At the same time, Klychko approved the construction of metro exits and entrances directly into the shopping center," – said Yuriy Levchenko.
As the public activist and local resident Tetyana Andreyshyna told KV, the majority of the community of Lisovyi neighborhood opposes the construction of the shopping center in this location.
According to her, people are sure that the appearance of the new complex will further exacerbate the "parking" problem on Brovarskyi Ave. and adjacent streets. This, in turn, could impact both transport traffic in the neighborhood and pedestrian convenience. The public is also concerned that the metro station reconstruction with its connection to the shopping center could be potentially dangerous: in case, for example, of a fire in one of these objects, visitors and passengers might have problems with evacuation. Meanwhile, according to Tetyana Andreyshyna, people doubt the microdistrict needs this shopping center – there are no issues with stores, supermarkets, and entertainment infrastructure in Lisovyi.
Moreover, the activist believes that the construction of this object could threaten the nearby "Kyoto" park. Especially – the cherry blossom alley located there, which is the longest in Ukraine. The public suspects that these exotic trees may at least be transplanted. As a reminder, this park was laid out as a sign of friendly relations between Ukraine and Japan in 1972, and the cherry blossom alley itself was planted by the city authorities together with a Japanese delegation in 2011.
Tetyana Andreyshyna also says that local residents no longer believe in the effectiveness of protest actions against impending development and doubt that the city mayor Vitaliy Klychko will positively respond to their signed written appeals. Therefore, the public activists of Lisovyi are still discussing how they can try to protect the area near the metro and "Kyoto" park from development.
Years of resistance
On April 24, 2003, the Kyiv City Council by its decision No. 411/571 transferred a 0.23 ha plot near the "Lisova" metro station to LLC "UIS" for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a store and a cafe with a summer terrace (the plot that was transferred to LLC "ZhenSan" in March 2021. – KV).
At the time of land transfer, LLC "UIS" was responsible for a vast part of it – 0.22 ha – in the Dnipro forestry of the Darnytsia forest-park management. According to the mentioned decision, the city council excluded this plot from the forest fund’s category and assigned it to residential and public development land. Another land part of 0.1 ha at that time was used by the "Kyivavtodor" Corporation and was intended for the construction and improvement of approaches to the "Pionerska" metro station (now "Lisova").
Subsequently, on November 18, 2004, the Kyiv City Council by its decision No. 826/2236 leased a 4-ha plot opposite the "Lisova" station to LLC "ZhenSan" for 25 years (the plot authorized for development by SACI. – KV) for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a multifunctional shopping center with a multi-story parking lot and reconstruction of the square around the "Lisova" metro station. Like in the previous case, this land was given to the tenant at the expense of the forest in the ME "Darnytskyi forest-park management" quarter, part of "Kyoto" park, and the transport interchange area.
However, the idea of building a shopping center on this plot was negatively perceived by local residents.
The resentment of the residents of L
22 March 2021 г., 14:50
