The SSU has prevented a large-scale scheme of illegal takeover of hydrotechnical structures and land plots of state and communal ownership in Kyiv and its vicinity.

Taking advantage of gaps in the law, the offenders tried to illegally privatize ‘no man’s land’: hydrotechnical structures and 12 land plots. The total value of property that they planned to remove from state and communal ownership is UAH 4.2 bln (USD 1.5 mln).

According to the investigation, in 2018 a Ukrainian citizen filed an official request regarding ownership of several hydrotechnical structures and 12 land plots. Having received a formal answer that the property is not owned by any legal or physical person, he took it into ‘safe-keeping’ and, later, began privatization process.

Acting upon these facts, the SSU initiated criminal proceedings under Article 364 (abuse of office) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Currently, the respective property rights and the 12 land plots and hydrotechnical structures, located in Obolonskyi, Podilskyi, Desnyanskyi districts of Kyiv and Obukhiv and Vyshhorod districts of Kyiv region, have been seized.

The SSU Main Directorate for CI Protection of Economic Security carried out the operation under the supervision of Kyiv Podilskyi District Prosecutor’s Office.