Pechersk Court seizes Shuters club building over suspected document forgery

Asset seizure due to dubious court rulings

The Pechersk District Court of the city of Kyiv granted prosecutors' motion and placed a lien on a non-residential building with a total area of 1,053.2 sq m, located at: Kyiv, Knyaziv Ostrozkykh St., bldg. 8, corp. 22, letter "H". The registration number of the real estate object is 393701280000. This ruling, issued on 16 June 2026 in case No. 757/30289/26-k, is a response to criminal proceedings No. 42025102060000154, the procedural supervision of which is carried out by the Pechersk District Prosecutor's Office.

Investigation results established that ownership of this structure was registered to Kingfisher LLC in June 2014. The primary basis for registration was the ruling of the Hrebinkiv District Court of Poltava Oblast dated 21 November 2008. However, when law enforcement officers contacted the source for the original document, it turned out that the actual court ruling concerned premises of only 54.9 sq m. Moreover, in the original court act, Kingfisher LLC did not appear as a party to the case at all. The electronic registry contains no data on this case, as in 2008 court document circulation was conducted exclusively on paper.

As reported by the Hrebinkiv District Court, the ruling with the corresponding details concerned the claims of other parties and did not recognise Kingfisher LLC's ownership rights to the non-residential premises. This may indicate the falsification of a court document and the illegal appropriation of real estate in the centre of the capital.

Construction without land rights

In addition to the issue of the legality of ownership registration, a scandal arose around the Shuters club due to large-scale construction works. Residents of the Homeowners' Association "Knyaziv Ostrozkykh, 29A" reported illegal reconstruction, which effectively turned into the construction of a new object. The works were stopped only after media coverage and appeals from citizens.

An analysis of materials provided by the Kyiv City State Administration (KCDA) showed that the land plot under the club belongs to the territorial community of Kyiv, and the right to use it is registered to the State Enterprise "Arsenal". Kyiv City Council MP from the European Solidarity party, Ihor Balenko, does not pay rent for this land and has no legal grounds for construction on it. Large-scale reconstruction without proper rights to the land plot is impossible, as permits are issued only on the condition of legal land use.

The company linked to Balenko received a permit exclusively for repair works, but in fact commenced large-scale construction. As Konstantyn Chirin, Director of the Department of Territorial Control of the city of Kyiv, stated, the metal structure around the object was installed in violation of landscaping rules. Despite Order No. 202518888, under which Kingfisher is obliged to provide documents for the placement of the structure, the works did not stop.

The role of administrative resources

The KCDA noted that Kingfisher could have leased the land plot as early as 2018, but did not do so. This may be related to a desire to avoid paying rent in the centre of Kyiv. Ihor Balenko is a member of the Standing Committee of the Kyiv City Council on issues of architecture, urban planning and land relations, which gives him the opportunity to influence the resolution of relevant issues in the capital.

Currently, the investigation must establish not only the origin of the document, but also all participants in the chain through which it could become the basis for registration. The media are preparing a series of materials on other scandalous rulings of the Hrebinkiv District Court, which will detail how judges of this court helped to "process" schemes involving land in the capital.