Maxim Shkil: estate in Lisnyky, ties to the elite and criminal cases against Avtostrada

Scandalous development in Lisnyky: who are the businessman's neighbours

Maxim Shkil owns several land plots and a luxurious estate in the village of Lisnyky. This development has been the subject of a scandal since 2016. Journalists established that houses were built on forestry land by Oksana Chebotar, daughter of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, and Raisa Vyshnevska, a relative of former NSDC head Oleksandr Turchynov. To obtain building permits, these lands were secretly removed from the forestry balance and transferred to the balance of the village council. Court hearings in this case have been ongoing for nearly ten years.

Currently, Chebotar and Vyshnevska are still owners of land in Lisnyky, as are Maxim Shkil and his mother. According to mapping services, Shkil's estate is the largest among all objects on these plots. It is worth noting that Shkil registered part of the lands only in 2024 and 2025.

Shkil's neighbours in Lisnyky are prominent figures: businessman Haryk Korohodskyi, the wife of Kyiv Oblast Council deputy Viacheslav Sobolev, Prosecutor's Office prosecutor Hanna Zamkova, member of the Parliamentary Committee on State Construction, Regional Development and Urban Planning Anatoliy Kovalenko, as well as former People's Deputy and Party of Regions member Dmytro Sandler, who, according to data, does business with Russian partners.

Ties with Ukrzaliznytsia and Kontinum

In the context of ties with the Ministry of Infrastructure, attention was drawn to Lilia Horbatenko, the owner of a neighbouring plot. She is likely a relative of former board member and operations director of Ukrzaliznytsia, former Odesa Railway director Viacheslav Yeromin. A woman with the same name gave the official's wife 1 million hryvnia in 2016, which is recorded in his declaration. It was Lilia Horbatenko who registered almost 60 sotkas of land next to Maxim Shkil's plots in 2021.

In an interview with the publication Babel, Maxim Shkil denied that former Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelian is his godfather. At the same time, the businessman acknowledged knowing Omelian's predecessor in the post of minister, Andriy Pivovarskyi. Shkil also stated that he maintains good relations with the financial and industrial group Kontinum (WOG fuel station network), which is linked to Pivovarskyi's career.

The Kontinum group previously belonged to businessman Ihor Yeremyev, who unexpectedly died in 2016 after falling from a horse. His estate was divided for a long time by the family and two business partners. According to deputy Ihor Palitsa, he helped Yeremyev's wife in the division of assets. Presumably, it was through Palitsa, with whom Shkil may have been introduced by godfather Ihor Popadyuk, that the founder of Avtostrada gained access to the Kontinum circle. After establishing these ties, it became possible to reach Kubrakov, who initiated the Big Construction programme, and later Oleksiy Kuleba.

Criminal cases and slow investigation

The company Avtostrada is suspected of misappropriating funds from state subcontracts, but court proceedings are developing extremely slowly. For example, a case regarding the misappropriation of budget funds for the construction of the Khortytsia (DVS2)-Tomakivka-Marganets main water pipeline is being considered, which became necessary after the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP by Russian forces. The investigation established that Avtostrada systematically inflated the prices of sand, causing significant damage to the state budget. This case has been under consideration for two years, but there are no significant results yet.

Avtostrada is also a subject of a criminal case related to the construction of the Podilskyi-Voskresenskyi bridge. Despite the fact that the investigation is effectively stuck, Shkil's company continues to receive billions of hryvnia for this contract.

Having a powerful network of influential acquaintances, friendship with, if not all, then most Infrastructure Ministers over the last 10 years, representatives in Ukrzaliznytsia and neighbourhood with prosecutors and deputies, Maxim Shkil demonstrates how nepotism in Ukraine continues to open doors to power, even when numerous criminal cases hang over the entrepreneur.