The prosecutor's office has requested bail of UAH 700 million for businessman Ihor Mazepa, who is suspected of organising the seizure of the Kyiv HPP land. This was reported to NV Business by Concorde Capital, the company he founded. To clarify: the court has not yet set bail, there is only a request from the prosecutor's office.
Mazepa's brother, Yuriy, is being asked to pay bail of UAH 500 million. Concorde Capital believes that the detention of Ihor Mazepa, who owns the Goodlife cottage community built near the hydroelectric power station, may be "related to his public position on increasing pressure from law enforcement agencies on Ukrainian business owners".
The detainee's company also claims that law enforcement officers acted "aggressively" and committed procedural violations during the detention of Ihor Mazepa: "they did not allow lawyers to be present, seized all documents and personal funds of the company's employees indiscriminately, searched the company's office without a court order and knocked down the doors".
Who is Ihor Mazepa and what is he charged with
Ihor Mazepa (born in Kyiv on 2 August 1976) is a Ukrainian businessman and public figure. He is the founder and CEO of the investment company Concorde Capital. Ihor Mazepa was a member of the Supervisory Board of Ukrsotsbank from 10 November 2016 to 14 August 2018.
On 18 January, searches began at Concorde Capital's facilities. The company claims that the investigative actions were carried out without a court order, and the doors of the business centre were broken down. "They are taking away all documents that are not related to the case but are related to all areas of Ihor Mazepa's business activities. The personal belongings of employees working on other projects have been seized," Concorde Capital said in a comment.
Ihor Mazepa himself was detained on the same day at the Ukrainian-Polish border, at the Shehyni checkpoint. The company said that he had previously travelled abroad frequently for work and volunteer work, and had informed investigators and law enforcement agencies about his current trip, as he was supposed to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In addition to Mazepa and his brother, two other participants in the scheme were detained. According to the investigation, the founder of the investment company, his brother and other members of the criminal organisation, using corrupt connections in government agencies, illegally seized the water fund lands on which the hydraulic structures of the Kyiv HPP are located.
Back in July 2023, the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Bureau of Investigation reported that they had exposed the leaders and members of a criminal organisation who, through corrupt connections in government agencies, had seized land with the Kyiv HPP dams. According to the investigation, the organisation consisted of "well-known investors in the construction of luxury housing, their assistants, lawyers, architects, land surveyors and other qualified specialists". The participants in the fraud exploited gaps in the legal status of the plots. They registered the land as agricultural land, which allowed them to be allocated to Ukrainian citizens. Other participants used social media to find "figureheads" who agreed to sign documents on the allocation of land to them in private ownership for money. Most of them were students of Kyiv educational institutions who were misled and agreed to the offer due to their difficult financial situation.
On 29 November 2023, members of a criminal organisation were exposed and detained for illegally seizing more than 7 hectares of land on which the hydraulic structures of the critical infrastructure, the Kyiv HPP, are located.
The criminal organisation consisted of almost two dozen individuals. Among them are well-known investors in the field of luxury housing construction, their assistants, lawyers, architects, land surveyors, other qualified specialists and representatives of state bodies.