You're reading: Fight is on to stop housing at popular Peysazhna Alley

The Foreign Ministry wants to develop property in a prime location.

Several dozen Kyiv residents have invested hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to make Peysazhna Alley one of the most pleasant spots in the capital – a green zone with sculptures of fairytale creatures, a children’s playground and colorful mosaics.

But the hard work is threatened with destruction. A Kyiv court ruled on March 13 that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could tear down the area and build an apartment block to house its officials.

“First, we made donations to make the alley more beautiful; now, they will use our money from the budget to destroy the place and build luxurious apartments for themselves,” said Dina Hertzriken, a 62-year-old retired scientist and local resident.

Several hundred Kyivans protested on March 17, criticizing the decision as a typical example of Ukrainian officials putting their own wellbeing above that of ordinary citizens. Peysazhna Alley is one of the few green areas in Kyiv, where recreational zones are rare amid chronic under-investment by authorities, shady land deals and mushrooming construction.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the apartments are needed by employees and that many other ministries offer such accommodation.

The area, which overlooks Podil from the top of Andriyivskiy Uzviz, was first developed by local residents in 2009. They collected Hr 1 million to pay for materials for local architects, artists and landscape designers – including famous sculptor Kostyantyn Skrytutsky – to create a space that is enjoyed by Kyivans young and old.

But the land plot had earlier been given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Kyiv City Council in order to build a luxury 3,800 square-meter residential building.

According to the plan, the building will have from seven to 10 floors, a rooftop swimming pool and underground parking. Diplomats and other employees of the ministry will receive apartments in the building.

First, we made donations to make the alley more beautiful; now, they will use our money from the budget to destroy the place and build luxurious apartments for themselves,

– Dina Hertzriken, a 62-year-old retired scientist and local resident.

The practice of ministries and other state institutions spending budget money on residential buildings for its employees was common during the Soviet Union.

But activists from the Save Old Kyiv nongovernmental organization claim only 20 percent of the apartments in the planned building will go to ministerial employees, with the rest being sold at a premium price.

They say Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko will be given a 240 square-meter apartment.

Oleh Voloshyn, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, denied this and added that Gryshchenko already owns an apartment. “Unlike all other ministries, we never had a residential building for our employees and many of them do need apartments,” he said.

Whoever gets the apartments, locals and activists say the decision to hand the plot to the ministry was unlawful as it already belonged to local residents who have had a garage union of 24 members on the spot since the 1980s.

Maryna Solovyova, a lawyer for the residents, showed the Kyiv Post privatization and other documents that she says prove that the property belonged to the garage union.

Nevertheless, the ministry demolished the garages in 2006, but lost the case in the court afterwards and most locals rebuilt their garages.
“Now the garages and their owners are the only thing that keeps the ministry from digging a hole and starting construction on the spot,” Solovyova said.

Historians and conservationists are also against the new building. The place is protected by UNESCO as it falls within the protected zone around St. Sophia’s Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“This territory is the cradle of Kyivan Rus and a priceless spot for archaeological surveys. Building there is not only illegal but immoral and an act of vandalism,” said Petro Tolochko, a history professor and head of the Archeology Institute.

Downtown Kyiv has become a battleground between residents who try to protect green spaces and developers who want to build shopping malls and luxurious residential buildings.

One of the most scandalous cases involves the ongoing construction of a residential building at 7-23 Honchara Street and the recently completed construction of a shopping mallover the Teatralna subway station.

In both cases, construction was declared illegal by courts and city authorities. Oleksandr Popov, the pro-presidential head of Kyiv City Administration, visited the construction sites with protesters and activists and promised construction would be stopped.

Nevertheless, the construction over Teatralna proceeded and is now finished. Earlier this year, a court ruled the building on Honchara legal.
Now Popov is promising to protect Peysazhna Alley. He even attended the March 17 protest.

But given the history, residents are skeptical.

“Instead of talk, Kyiv authorities just should grant the alley the status of a park, which would protect it from being demolished. Popov has a majority of votes in city council and could have done it a long time ago if he wanted,” said Ihor Lutsenko, an activist with Save Old Kyiv.

Popov says he has another solution – finding another spot for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ building.

Ministry spokesman Voloshyn said Kyivans have nothing to fear as the ministry “is considering other spots and also does not even have the permission for construction.” However, they have already rejected 10 alternative plots suggested by Popov.

Some remain optimistic about the future of the alley, at least in the short term, as Popov is likely to want to keep Kyiv residents happy ahead of likely elections for Kyiv mayor this year.

Kyiv Post staff writer Svitlana Tuchynska can be reached at [email protected]