Lviv’s urban planning policy: criticism for outsiders and opportunities for insiders

During a scandalous press conference, which was attended only by “convenient” media, Deputy Mayor Lyubomyr Zubach accused the neighboring community of “chaotic construction” but “forgot” to explain why his fellow party members and partners of Mayor Sadovyi had long ago paved over the area with high-rise buildings.

An “open” conversation for a select few

A press conference was held in Lviv, which the City Hall called “an attempt to change the format of the discussion,” but in practice it was more like a monologue by people who are used to telling others how to live.

Deputy Mayor Lyubomyr Zubach, who was appointed by Andriy Sadovyi as the “head of urban planning,” once again criticized the Sokilnytsia community’s plans for the development of the territories. The main complaint is the construction of housing near the airport. However, officials did not answer uncomfortable questions about their own violations.

When the journalist reminded Zubach that Stryi has the Litovych site, which is ideal for logistics development (unlike the overcrowded airport area), the response sounded cynical and arrogant: “You can contact the regional military administration, it is within their competence.”

It turns out that the Lviv City Council wants to decide solely what to build in Sokilnyky (citing “national security of the airport”), but immediately dismisses Stryi as “not our responsibility.”

Viking Gardens: Sokilnyky development and political footprint

What is most outrageous is not so much Zubach’s position on criticizing housing development as his outright hypocrisy. Speaking against the construction of “a million square meters of housing,” he forgot to say the main thing: his political force and Andriy Sadovyi’s entourage have long been making money on these very “forbidden” hectares.

In response to the journalist’s direct question about the activities of “fellow party member Mr. Lavryk,” Zubach was embarrassed, but did not find any direct objections. And no wonder, because the facts speak for themselves.

Oleh Lavryk is not just a “fellow Samopomich member”. He is a member of the executive committee of the Lviv City Council and a freelance advisor to Andriy Sadovyi. He is also the founder of Viking Development.

It is this company that is building the Viking Gardens residential complex in Sokilnyky, an elite-class high-rise building. And this is not the only project. Viking Development’s partner is the financial giant Dragon Capital, and the complex is being built close to the runway, which Zubach likes to talk about the “harmfulness” of .

Question for Mayor Sadovyi: If housing in the airport’s zone of influence is “complete trash,” as your deputy put it, why did your councilor Lavryk get permission to build it? Why didn’t the city council veto this project, but rather facilitate it?

“Big unfinished business” and millions for Poles

While Sadovyi and Zubach are telling their neighbors how to dispose of their land, things are not going well in Lviv itself. Recently, another scandal erupted over the construction of a waste processing plant.

Twenty years of promises and almost 30 million euros spent from the budget and EBRD loans have gone to waste. The contract with the Polish company has been terminated, the facility is frozen at 80% completion, and the case is being taken to international courts.

Experts believe that the real reason for the failure is not only technical nuances, but the unwillingness of local authorities to lose control over the cash flows from garbage collection. According to analysts, while the city was building the plant, it was run by Hennadiy Vaskiv, Sadovyi’s former deputy, who disappeared abroad with large sums of money after the outbreak of the great war, leaving Lviv to its fate .

While Sadovyi positions himself as a “businessman,” his team is failing infrastructure projects worth billions of hryvnias, but for some reason continues to be active where there is a smell of kickbacks from developers, particularly in Sokilnyky.

Declarative dissonance: “skinny” mayor and millions of his wife

It is worth mentioning Andriy Sadovyi’s declaration for 2025, which vividly illustrates the true face of the Lviv “servant of the people.”

Officially, the mayor declared only a salary of UAH 1.26 million per year (about 105 thousand per month). However, his wife, Kateryna Kit-Sadova, who owns a media empire (Lux TV channel, radio stations), earned over UAH 12.7 million during the same period .

The mayor himself “lives” in his wife’s 660-square-meter house and drives her cars, including a MERSEDES-BENZ V300 worth more than UAH 2.3 million . The family keeps 90 thousand US dollars in cash. Officially, Sadovyi owns only the trademark of the Samopomich party .

This means that while the mayor publicly complains about poverty and accuses neighboring villages of “collapse,” his family continues to build media and construction businesses around Lviv.

What is the result?

Andriy Sadovyi, Liubomyr Zubach and co. have created a system in Lviv where everything is allowed to “their own” (developers’ advisors) and forbidden to “outsiders” (Stryi or Sokilnyky). Under the guise of hype about “airport security,” they are trying to squeeze profitable plots out of competitors, forgetting about road repairs, building schools in their hometown, and the shame of the garbage collapse.

Lviv does not need PR on scandals, but an honest investigation into why members of the executive committee of the mayor’s office are still making money on concrete in Sokilnyky.