Case description
The NABU and the SAPO suspect former Member of Parliament Yurii Ivaniushchenko, developer Vladyslava Molchanova, head of a private company Yurii Tsvihun, lawyers Kostiantyn Balandin and Anton Arefiev, as well as Mykola Tereshchenko, former head of the regional office of the State Geocadastre, of involvement in a large-scale land scheme.
Vladyslava Molchanova is a Ukrainian businesswoman and co-founder of Stolitsa Group. Yurii Ivaniushchenko is a former MP of the VII convocation and a member of the Party of Regions.
According to the investigation, the suspects organized the unlawful appropriation of 18 hectares of state-owned land worth more than UAH 160 million, using forged documents and official powers.
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At the beginning of the 2000s, the Kyiv-Sviatoshyn District State Administration granted more than 1,400 hectares of agricultural land to the state enterprise Pushcha-Vodytsia. Part of this area – 157.4 hectares – was later withdrawn and leased to Stolychniy Agricultural Products Market LLC for 25 years. The land was formally designated for the construction and maintenance of market infrastructure, while ownership remained with the state.
Over time, the Stolychniy Market became the center of a corporate conflict. Control was shared between Ivaniushchenko and Molchanova, who acted through companies under their control. By late 2020 – early 2021, the conflict escalated, prompting Molchanova to seek ways to strengthen her hold on the market’s assets. According to the investigation, it was at this point that she devised a plan to unlawfully seize part of the leased land by changing its legal status.
The mechanism chosen was free privatization of land “for personal farming.” Formally, the plots were to be allocated to straw persons, who would then transfer their rights to the developer. A key role in the scheme was assigned to Mykola Tereshchenko, then head of the Kyiv Regional State Geocadastre, who had the authority to sign documents on the disposal of state-owned land.
The investigation established that the land management project was falsified: the intended use was altered in the documents from “construction of market infrastructure” to “personal farming.” These changes were endorsed with signatures and seals of State Geocadastre officials, creating an appearance of legality. On March 31, 2021, a state cadastral registrar officially entered the amendments into the State Land Cadastre.
The next step was to replace the lessee. On April 6, 2021, in a notary’s office, a lease rights transfer agreement was concluded between Stolychniy Agricultural Products Market LLC and Oilsy LLC, controlled by Molchanova. The agreement involved Tereshchenko, the director of Oilsy, and a representative of Stolychniy. Thus, the land came under the control of a structure linked to the developer.
As a result, Stolychnyi Market lost the land, while the developer’s company obtained effective control over plots designated for commercial development. Further disposal of the land was halted by an arrest imposed at SAPO prosecutors’ request.
The suspects are charged under Article 209(3) and Article 191(5) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Ivaniushchenko left Ukraine after the Revolution of Dignity and remains wanted.
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