The laws clearly define that the SSU is not authorized to investigate “the absence of a set of building permits and violations of development limitations.”

The only body exercising control over development is the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate (SACI). Carrying out any actions to look into the construction quality “in order to prevent emergency situations at construction sites”, the SSU substitutes specialized state bodies, which, in our opinion, is unacceptable.

The Law of Ukraine “On the Urban Planning Regulation” governs all development industry in Ukraine. Article 6 of this Law clearly outlines the bodies exercising control in the field of architectural and construction supervision and the Security Service of Ukraine is not on this list.

The ruling of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv (referred to by the SSU) to provide temporary access to the documents of our company, Poznyakizhilbud, was adopted in October 2018, where the Court provided the SSU employees with temporary access to the original documents of the company and right to make copies until 12th November 2018.

We would like to remind the Security Service of Ukraine that the Court ruling describes the same list of documents that the company already submitted for consideration in September 2018 at the request of another SSU investigator.

In fact, the Court granted the SSU access to the original documents of Poznyakizhilbud and it never was utilized. The Court ruling itself is not recorded in the official Register of Court Decisions, however, its photo from the SSU’s criminal investigation appears on public Internet sites accompanied by slanderous articles about the company. Therefore, we believe that this document was obtained not for the purpose of carrying out legal proceedings, but as one of the tools for blackmailing and pressuring the company.

The construction site is located on the territory of the former Radar Plant, in a neighborhood packed with multi-storey buildings. Note that Poznyakizhilbud has direct confirmation from the Ministry of Culture and the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine that there are no cultural heritage objects on this site. The SSU investigator had previously been provided with these documents.

According to the published statement of the Security Service of Ukraine, it is currently “investigating compliance of the design and construction process with the requirements of the current legislation of Ukraine so that recent tragic events of roof collapse at a school sports complex in the city of Vyshneve do not repeat themselves.”

Such a statement by the SSU is a clear attempt to manipulate public opinion. Following its logic, lack of coordination with the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine can directly allow for the possibility of a “roof collapse.”  On the other hand, such an assertion serves as an acknowledgment that the SSU operates outside of the authority granted by the law and does not explain in any way the connection of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine to the matter. Considering that the SSU refers to the event of the school roof collapse that occurred on 1st December 2018 while the respective criminal case was initiated a year previously (29th September 2017), we also believe such a comparison to be unjustified and manipulative.