The National Agency of Ukraine for the Detection, Investigation, and Management of Assets Obtained from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA) has uncovered violations in the tender proposal submitted by LLC "BK Millennium," which won the competition to manage the multifunctional complex (MFC) Gulliver in Kyiv, and has rejected its application.
"As a result of the review of the submitted documentation, a number of discrepancies were identified in the tender proposal of LLC "BK Millennium." ARMA has disqualified this auction participant from managing the "Gulliver" shopping center. The violations identified in the tender documentation were not rectified by the participant within the 24-hour timeframe," the agency reported in its Telegram channel on Thursday.
According to them, the winning bid was deemed abnormally low (0.15% management fee – IF-U). Additionally, it was discovered that the director of "BK Millennium" was serving in a government position while simultaneously conducting commercial activities on behalf of the company, which violates anti-corruption legislation. ARMA intends to inform the relevant authorities about this finding, as noted in the announcement.
Furthermore, ARMA expressed doubts about the educational documents of the company's director, as well as about the transparency of the company's financial activities since the second half of 2022.
ARMA indicated that it would begin reviewing the application and verifying the documents of the participant who placed second in the competition with a proposal of a 0.35% management fee – the consortium "Management Company Esplanade."
According to Opendatabot, the founders of the consortium "UK Esplanade," registered in November 2024, are LLC "Star Investment One" and LLC "Zhitlo Uyt Service" (50% each), with the ultimate beneficiaries being Svitlana Kocheva (Ukraine) and Erik Martynovskis (Luxembourg).
As reported, the owner of "BK Millennium," registered at the address of the MFC Gulliver, is Volodymyr Mechov (100%). Mechov previously worked as a chief consultant in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to his resignation declaration in February 2024.
According to changes in registration information, in 2022, LLC "KUA City Capital," acting in the interests of the PZNVIF "Bravis," was removed from the list of founders of "BK Millennium." This same KUA was listed among the founders of the developer company Alliance Novobud (LLC "Alliance Novobud") until 2024, with a stake indirectly owned through JSC "ZNVKIF Advisor" by Viktor Polischuk.
The MFC Gulliver was transferred to ARMA's management by a decision of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv on June 3, 2024, and by the Kyiv Court of Appeals on June 25, 2024.
It was previously reported that on June 3, 2024, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv granted the Prosecutor General's Office's request to transfer the MFC Gulliver to ARMA's management. The prosecutor's request was solely regarding the transfer of property to ARMA for management, not for sale. Additionally, the court ordered ARMA to conduct periodic (at least once a month) checks on the effectiveness of asset management.
The asset owner has stated intentions to appeal the decision in the appellate court.
The Prosecutor General's Office filed the mentioned request as part of a criminal investigation by the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB) regarding possible tax evasion by the management of the MFC amounting to nearly UAH 146 million. The corresponding suspicion was issued to the director of MFC Gulliver by BEB in May 2023.
The Kyiv Court of Appeals on April 9, 2024, granted the prosecutor's request and decided to seize the property of LLC "Tri O," including the Gulliver shopping and office center in the capital.
Earlier, the "Schemes" program investigation reported on the company's financial obligations to state-owned Oschadbank and Ukreximbank totaling UAH 14 billion. It was claimed that the actual owner of the MFC is former owner of "Mykhailivskyi" bank Viktor Polischuk. Meanwhile, in the state register, the ultimate beneficiary is listed as Vyacheslav Ihnatenko.
The press service of the MFC stated that "Tri O" is fulfilling its obligations to Oschadbank and Ukreximbank for loan repayments: UAH 300 million was paid in 2023, and UAH 700 million is planned for repayment in 2024. The company believes that the seizure of Gulliver from the ownership and management of "Tri O" could pose a threat to fulfilling obligations to the banks.
The MFC Gulliver in the Pechersk district of the capital opened in 2013. Its area is 151.8 thousand square meters. The construction of Gulliver was financed by Oschadbank, which provided LLC "Tri O" with a $460 million loan. The debt restructuring procedure for the loan agreement secured by the MFC Gulliver in the amount of UAH 18 billion 176.9 million was completed in 2020.