Positive decision on the case of illegal construction in the historic center of Kyiv
On September 17th, 2019, the Supreme Court in the composition of the Commercial Court of Cassation satisfied the cassation appeal of the lawyers and partially reversed the decision of the first and appeal instance courts in the case of the ban on the construction of a trade and entertainment mall next to the architectural monuments - buildings on 2/1, Kruglouniversitetska Street, and Krutyi Uzviz Street. Interest of the public were represented by the following attorney-at-laws: Illya Kostin, partner at Legal Alliance Company, and Roman Tytykalo, partner at Tytykalo & Partners Law Firm.
A lot of court hearings have already taken place and finally the proactive community struggle has reached a success. The court partially granted the cassation appeals by CA "2/1, Kruglouniversitetska Street House Committee", co-owners’ self-regulatory body, representing the residents of this multi-apartment building, as well as Service-M LLC, which maintains the house on Krutyi Uzviz Street.
“We have been protecting the interests of homeowners, who are suing corrupt developers, for several years. The latter have obtained a permit to build a multi-storey shopping mall from the Kyiv City Council back in Chernovetskyi times. The mall was to be built on the place of the only fire access road to the house on Krutyi Uzviz Street, which is unacceptable and also causes harm to the architectural monuments located nearby. I am pleased with the successful resolution of the case and will monitor further developments in the Commercial Court”, said Illya Kostin.
“Such cases are striking examples of chaotic construction of the locales Kyiv which are recognized as cultural sites of both local and national importance. I am against such a distortion of the historical center, and hence together with Illya Kostin I have made every effort, even on pro bono terms, to protect the city from the blatant arbitrariness of developers”, added Roman Tytycalo.
The conflict arose over the building on 2/1, Kruglouniversytetska Street which is one of the few historic buildings in central part of Kyiv preserved after World War II and designed in the style of constructivism. It is a unique building of 1933-35 by the architect Pavlo Savych. For example, TCUM is the second such building.
Contact the author: Illya Kostin, attorney-at-law, partner at Legal Alliance Company, kostin@l-a.com.ua.
