02.09.2024 Money laundering Utility scams

How Kozlovsky seizes municipal land in Lviv as the “king of smuggling”

Український бізнесмен Григорій Петрович Козловський допомагає ЗСУ знищувати російських загарбників

Hryhorii Kozlovsky – is a well-known Lviv businessman and philanthropist who owns a restaurant and hotel business, is the president of FC Rukh, and also oversees the activities of the Vynnyky Tobacco Factory, that produces tons of illegal products annually.

Kozlovsky has repeatedly stated that he has no political ambitions, yet he has twice been a member of the Lviv City Council, despite the “harm of a business mandate.”

In general, Kozlovsky’s structure includes a number of the most popular establishments in Lviv: GRAND HOTEL LVIV, Emily Resort and 36po restaurant. Despite their fame, the facilities have repeatedly been involved in scandals, and the history of the acquisition of such businessman requires special attention. So, here’s a brief look at Kozlovsky’s main “outlets”.

Private birth center for Kozlovsky’s 3-year-old son

Last year, the Galician District Prosecutor’s Office in Lviv launched an investigation into the loss of two municipal buildings that used to belong to the 3rd City Clinical Hospital. As it turned out, a 5-story medical center now stands in their place. But the twist is different – it belongs to Yarema Kozlovsky, Hryhoriy’s son. As of 2024, the boy was only 4 years old.

As the local media wrote, in April 2019, members of the Lviv City Council leased a 0.2463-hectare plot of land at 6 Rappaporta Street to Lemberg Medical Center for the construction of a private medical center. This decision was made without any discussion on the grounds that one of the buildings on the site already belonged to Lemberg Medical Center.

For reference, the actual owner of the company is Hryhoriy Kozlovsky. At the time, he was also a member of the city council, but he did not vote for this decision, claiming a conflict of interest.

A few months later, members of the executive committee of the Lviv City Council agreed on urban planning conditions and restrictions for the construction of a new medical center – or rather, for “reconstruction of the existing building and its adaptation to a private hospital.”

The company obtained both the land lease and the urban planning restrictions in the historic area of the city quite easily. Private ownership plus an important social component of the project – how could you not agree? Therefore, in less than two years, the new medical center with an area of more than 4000 m2 was built. Around the same time, Kozlovsky’s then one-year-old son became the new official owner of the building.

Lviv residents protested, and the lawsuits continued. In the end, however, the Supreme Court sided with Lemberg Medical Center.

At the end of 2022, when the building of the future private clinic was already being completed, the State Audit Service conducted an audit of the property of the neighboring 3rd City Clinical Hospital. During the inspection, it was found that the hospital had a 228.3 m2 gynecology department and a 314 m2 garage on its balance sheet, but they could not physically find them. It turned out that a private medical center with an area of more than 4000 m2 was built on the site of these buildings.

That’s when the criminal proceedings against Lemberg Medical Center began.

In an interview with Nashi Hroshi. Lviv, claimed that the municipal share in the private clinic is still preserved and the city council has the right to dispose of it. However, there are still questions about the real owner of the clinic and its seizure of municipal property.

GRAND HOTEL LVIV

GRAND HOTEL LVIV is located at 13 Svobody Avenue. The hotel is owned by Holding Grand Hotel LLC with the ultimate beneficial owners being Yulia Kozlovska and Hryhoriy Kozlovsky.

There have been scandals surrounding the history of the hotel for a long time. There were allegations that Kozlovsky bribed representatives of the Lviv City Council in order to buy the property at a lower price in an auction, eliminating potential competitors. The researchers also wrote that the site was purchased at a lower price.

After the successful launch of GRAND HOTEL LVIV, the owners decided to build a new eight-story building in the courtyard of the four-story hotel. Whether the Holding obtained a permit for such actions or whether there was an unauthorized squatting of neighboring land plots is an open question, as neither the City Council nor the State Geocadastre responded to our inquiries. Therefore, it seems that officials still have something to hide, despite Kozlovsky’s “transparent” activities.

Regarding Kozlovsky’s possible seizure of GRAND HOTEL LVIV and the land in Vynnyky, where the Emily Resort complex is currently located, we have appealed to law enforcement and competent authorities. And while the structures authorized to distribute communal land have not yet responded, law enforcement agencies are already actively investigating the issue.

For example, the TU BES in the Lviv region added our materials to the URPI 42024000000000921, initiated under Part 2 of Article 204, Part 3 of Article 212, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine under the procedural guidance of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

In addition, the Halytskyi District Court of Lviv ordered the authorized persons of the Main Department of the National Police in Lviv Oblast to initiate a pre-trial investigation (decision of 15.08.2024 in case No. 461/6674/24).

We continue to study the activities of Hryhorii Kozlovskyi.

Read more about his illegal cigarette business and tax evasion worth billions.

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