Yet another scandal has erupted in Odesa over the destruction of a historic building, intended for real estate speculation by a private investor, despite it being officially listed as a Ukrainian national monument.
In the night between Monday, March 23, and Tuesday, March 24, the demolition of the Odessavinprom building began at 10 Franzusky Boulevard (French Boulevard). Built in 1895 (by architect Lev Vlodek), the building, which once housed a brewery, was officially recognized as a site of architectural interest by Ukraine in 1985.
The bulldozers were protected by a private security detail that refused to provide documents verifying the legality of the demolition to police officers. On the morning of March 24, a commission from the City Council visited the site and documented the damage to the architectural monument. It was confirmed that the work was carried out without the necessary urban planning permits.
The history of this property is complex and has been mired in controversy for years. In 2021, the company sold the building for nearly Hr.235 million ($5.4 million) to the Kepler 7 company, owned by businessman Vadim Alperin, who is known in Odesa for his criminal history related to smuggling and multiple investigations into the corruption of judges. Under the terms of the privatization contract, the new owner was obliged to continue the primary business activity of the company – wine production – for three years. Once that commitment expired in September 2024, demolition work began on the old wine production facilities in the building.
Recently, real estate development projects for three plots of land near Odessavinprom were added to the City Council’s agenda. The Elitbud Group LLC plans to buy 3.4 hectares at 36, 36G, and 36D Franzusky Boulevard, while another 3.4 hectares will be allocated to MVO Orion at 71 Bolgarskaya Street and 9A-9B Stepovoy Street. All these companies are linked to Vadim Alperin. This suggests a large-scale real estate speculation project in an area of Odesa known for its parks and old noble villas.
Further investigation revealed that Kepler 7, the owner of the old brewery, had obtained legal authorization to demolish the building from the Odesa District Administrative Court, which had lifted the building’s heritage protection on the 10 Franzusky Boulevard site, overruling two official decrees from Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and the Odesa Regional State Administration: Order No. 4 of July 31, 2025, and the order from May 14, 2025. These documents were previously used by authorities to compel the owner to register the warehouses at 10 Franzusky Boulevard as protected buildings, as well.
The part of the building destroyed – the 1895 warehouses from the department of appurtenances – had already been classified as cultural property during the Soviet era and was included in Odesa’s historical and architectural reference plan. For this reason, the authorities had requested a protection agreement, effectively granting the entire building monument status. Kepler 7 LLC contested this decision, arguing that the building at 10 Franzusky Boulevard was not listed in Ukraine’s State Register of Immovable Monuments and, therefore, its monument status had not been properly confirmed. The court accepted this argument, ruling that the contested measures had been adopted unjustifiably and without considering all the circumstances. Essentially, the ruling stated that the authorities had attempted to retroactively impose monument status on the building.
Currently, legal protection for the buildings at 10 Franzusky Boulevard has been revoked, though the ruling is still open to appeal. However, Oleksandr Avdeev, the director of Odesa’s State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate, officially declared that “there are no construction permits for this address in the Construction Activity Register.”
As a result, the Odesa City Council has examined the case from both criminal and lease contract perspectives. During the executive committee meeting on March 25, representatives from the relevant department outlined their stance on the demolition of the former brewery, which was listed as a local architectural and urban monument of significance.
The mayor’s office stated that the incident constitutes a criminal offense for the intentional damage of a site of cultural interest. Complaints have been filed with the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office and the National Police’s Strategic Investigations Department. Inna Popovskaya, head of the mayor’s legal office, proposed reviewing whether the builder complied with the terms of the land lease contract, with the possibility of rescinding the agreement through judicial means. Simultaneously, the Department of Culture is preparing documents to impose fines on the owner.
Odesa City Council member Olga Kvasnitskaya revealed that a security agreement had indeed been signed in 2024 concerning the very building now being damaged, adding that the Kepler 7 company, owned by Alperin, had already requested a change in the area’s land use designation. “This company is seeking to transform the industrial zone into a Zh5 zone. We all know that Zh5 means more than 15 floors.”
On this matter, the City Council had previously ruled that buildings on Franzusky Boulevard should not exceed five stories – a decision blatantly ignored by many newly constructed buildings.
On the incident, the governor of Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, commented neutrally: “Despite the protection status of the site, on the night of March 24, 2026, illegal work was carried out, causing significant damage to the brewery building.”
Gen. Serhiy Lysak, head of the Odesa City Military Authority, appointed by President Zelensky, has yet to make an official statement Lysak was conferred special powers over security and legal oversight, following the removal of Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov, who had his Ukrainian citizenship revoked due to holding a Russian passport.
This incident is not the first of its kind in Odesa, as other historic buildings in the past have been demolished to make way for more profitable residential buildings, despite official bans and public protests. This situation contrasts sharply with the request to have Odesa’s historic center included on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
In January 2023, amidst the Russian military aggression, Odesa’s City Council urgently obtained, with technical assistance from the Italian government, UNESCO World Heritage recognition for the city’s historic center. This achievement was hailed as a means of deterring the Russians from bombing a global cultural heritage site. But it did not stop Russian attacks, nor did it protect historic buildings from the illegal actions of Ukrainian speculators.