“Voluntary” corruption in Lviv: how Sadovyi makes money from every meter of new buildings in Lviv

The fact that the Lviv City Council is dominated by the interests of Mayor Sadovyi has long been known. This is clearly no secret, and it applies not only to Lviv but also to other cities in Ukraine. And even the brilliant combinator Ostap Bender would envy such “schemes.” This issue is important, as similar schemes to “get rich” are known in other cities.

At the beginning of 2021, in February, Lviv City Council adopted Resolution No. 1081 “On the Distribution of Powers between the Executive Bodies of Lviv City Council” and approved the “Regulation on the Distribution of Powers between the Executive Bodies of Lviv City Council”.

It was noted that this decision transferred an important function of the executive committee – approval of urban planning conditions and restrictions for construction, reconstruction and restoration of architectural and urban planning objects, in particular within the historical boundaries of Lviv.

However, Mayor Sadovyi seems to have missed the reminder of the existing law. In particular, the Law on Local Self-Government in Ukraine clearly states that other executive bodies of councils are formed exclusively at sessions of the respective city councils by voting. Thus, the executive committee of the Lviv City Council cannot take on responsibilities for architecture. Since the executive committee illegally assumed the powers of another body, this may be considered an abuse of power and abuse of authority.

But what’s the law when the money is burning? Therefore, in the same February, they quickly approved the personnel of the Lviv City Council’s executive committee. Of the entire team, only Oleh Lavryk is worth highlighting. We don’t know whether they are lying or not, but in Lviv’s political circles he is called Andriy Sadovyi’s wallet. They also say that he works well with a certain Lubomyr Zubach. We know him from the previous convocation of the Verkhovna Rada. Do you remember? We know that he was an MP and did not stand out for anything special. Now he is the head of the Samopomich faction in the Lviv Regional Council and Andriy Sadovyi’s deputy for urban development.

@g.birkadze Total corruption in Lviv #Mayor #merlleva #lviv #corruption_info #corruption #corruptioninukraine #Ukraine #україна🇺🇦 #ukraineon the air #news #news of ukraine #newsday #news_live #news today #newsukraine #zelensky #vladimirzelensky #government #governments #war #warinukraine #war ♬ original audio recording – Georgiy Birkadze – Georgiy Birkadze

And now the main thing. These two people, Lavryk and Zubach, invented a rather interesting scheme. If a developer wants to get approval for urban planning conditions and restrictions (in other words, permission to start construction), he must voluntarily “make a donation” or perform some work. It would seem that, according to the law, this should be provided free of charge.

However, those who do not demonstrate “high social responsibility” to the city, surprisingly, do not receive a permit. By accident, of course. The same deputy mayor for urban planning, Zubach, may not sign urban planning conditions and restrictions for months, or not upload them to the system. In general, this should be done by the chief architect of the city. As for the issuance of a construction passport, it is also provided for free of charge within 10 working days after receipt of the application and a package of documents, the list of which is determined by the central executive body that forms the urban development policy.

But in the end, who pays attention to the law when it comes to money? In addition, Lviv has its own rules.

According to these “voluntary” approvals, which are set forth in the recommendations of the Executive Committee under number 304 “On Ensuring Quality Housing Construction in the Lviv City Territorial Community,” the cost of such a “voluntary” donation is moderate, the same as in the days of the construction mafia in the form of the DABI – obtaining the right to build in Lviv costs $5 for each square meter of cash or 5% of the social burden.