Mayor Klitschko vows harsh response to demolition of historic building in Kyiv’s Podil

Kyiv authorities did not issue any permits for the demolition of a 200-year-old house in the Podil district a few days ago and are preparing an appeal to law enforcement, Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced on social media on Aug. 13.

Klitschko promises to ban any actions with buildings that are more than 100 years old.

Klitschko called the demolition of the historic building at 13-B Yaroslavska Street an "atrocious act."

"The city authorities did not give any permits or approvals," the mayor assures.

He initiated the termination of the lease agreement at 13-B Yaroslavska Street by Kyiv City Council, "because the private owner, contrary to all norms and common sense, decided that he could desecrate the historical heritage of our city under the cover of a letter from the Ministry of Culture."

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City authorities have asked law enforcement to check the legality of the owner’s actions, Klitschko said.

The mayor promised that Kyiv City Council would ban reconstruction and other actions with buildings in the capital that are more than 100 years old, regardless of whether the building is listed in the register of monuments or not.

Klitschko noted that in January 2023, the Verkhovna Rada lifted the ban on urban planning, architectural or landscape transformations and construction, reclamation, road, and earthworks without the permission of the relevant cultural heritage protection authority i. This includes protected archaeological areas, the protection zones of monuments, historical areas of settlements, and other sites included in the List of Historical Settlements of Ukraine.

The mayor added: "Kyiv demands that the Verkhovna Rada finally adopt … the draft law 0895 (of 2019), which will allow local authorities to forcibly buy back from irresponsible private owners, returning to the community the architectural monuments (and) ancient buildings that the owners do not properly maintain, leading to their destruction. And then shopping malls and high-rise buildings appear in place of the monuments."

Demolition of a 200-year-old house in Podil: What happened

Around 5 a.m. on Aug. 10, a 200-year-old manor house at 13-B Yaroslavska Street in Kyiv’s Podil district was completely demolished. The building was erected after a major fire in Podil in 1811 and was a unique example of nineteenth-century residential wooden construction in Kyiv.

The demolition began immediately after the air raid alert ended, said NACP public council head Kateryna Butko.

Local residents called the police. Representatives of the Department of Public Works also arrived and said that the builders had no permits for the dismantling.

The builders justified the work with a "reconstruction" permit issued by Deputy Minister of Culture Kateryna Chuyeva. In her comments, Chuyeva said that the approval was indeed issued in March 2023, but she "doubts that it provided for the demolition of the building." The building itself did not have a protected status.

According to the documents, a four-story "club house" is planned to be built on the site, commissioned by Serhiy Boyarchukov of the law firm Alekseev, Boyarchukov, and Partners. This is evidenced by a letter published by activist Dmytro Perov, as well as information from open sources.

Boyarchukov confirmed his involvement in the demolition of the house and explained why he believes his actions were legal.

Boyarchukov's longtime partner is Serhiy Alekseev, the former head of the Kirovohrad regional organization of Vitali Klitschko's UDAR party and now a European Solidarity MP. Alekseev is also the honorary president of the official Klitschko brothers' fan club.

Boyarchukov's company was also featured in a 2021 investigation by Slidstvo.info into the appropriation of a century-old building in the center of Kyiv by companies close to the Klitschko brothers. According to the journalists, the old building, which Boyarchukov had been renting for a long time, was eventually turned into the kitchen of the Klitschko brothers' 11 Mirrors hotel.

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