Developers say Lybid Plaza deal done - but land may be problem
t”>City authorities have given the go‑ahead to Hungarian developer Transelektro to construct Kyiv’s first shopping mall. The $90 million Lybid Plaza mall and entertainment center will be located on Gorkoho near the Lybidska metro.
Vitaly Vyshnevsky, director of a real estate joint venture developing the project, touts Lybid Plaza as the first facility of its kind in the former Soviet Union. The complex will feature 66,000 square meters of office and retail space and underground parking for 500 cars. Supermarkets, restaurants, banks, swimming pools and a 15‑screen multiplex cinema are included in the plans, Vyshnevsky said.
Mall promoters hope it will become an attraction that will present Kyivans with a new way to spend their time and their cash. “This kind of facility is supposed to have everything for everybody,” Vyshnevsky said. “A whole family can arrive in the morning and leave at night.”
When completed, the huge complex will adhere to the same principles as thousands of similar shopping malls throughout the world, Vyshnevsky said. “A person should enter Lybid Plaza with money and leave without it.”
Vyshnevsky said his company already has a line of foreign investors willing to lease space in the yet‑to‑be‑built complex.
The project’s major investor is Transelektro, a diversified Hungarian company involved in power generation, real estate development and international trade. The company has already built 54 similar shopping malls in Hungary, Vyshnevsky said.
Kyiv has earned a reputation as a city where major projects are announced with great fanfare, only to later die quietly due to unforeseen funding problems, bureaucratic wrangling and rampant corruption. Despite this, Vyshnevsky is upbeat, citing Transelektro’s experience and powerful business and political alliances.
He said Transelektro wasn’t discouraged by the city’s poor record in dealing with foreign real estate developers and claimed it has already passed the major bureaucratic hurdles.
Yury Yurkyn, an official at Kyiv City Administration’s investment department, confirmed Lybid Plaza has received approval from all of the city’s regulatory bodies but said developers still must purchase land for the proposed mall.
That may take some time. Vyshnevsky said the construction site near Lybidska metro station stood empty for years but recently become a highly valuable commodity. Ukrainian companies, including Volodymyrsky market, started buying parts of the proposed construction site as soon as plans to build Lybid Plaza were disclosed to Kyiv city authorities. The site currently is owned by several Ukrainian commercial companies.
Vyshnevsky remains upbeat. He said the joint venture’s plans have the support of Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko.
Transelectro owns 75 percent of the joint venture. Its partner, Kyiv‑based Ukrainian Gas Co. was given the remaining 25 percent stake to help the Hungarian real estate developer push the project through. He said Transelectro probably will buy out its Ukrainian partner’s interest in the deal after construction is completed.
Vyshnevsky said he hopes construction can begin by March 2001, with opening slated for mid‑2002.
