The State Bureau of Investigation has received intelligence that businessman Ihor Mazepa is going to leave Ukraine to hide from the investigation. This was announced by SBI head Oleksiy Sukhachyov at a briefing on 22 January.
Mazepa was detained on 19 January while trying to cross the Ukrainian-Polish border. The investment company Concord Capital, founded by him, said at the time that the businessman was allegedly going to the Davos Economic Forum, and later the Kryvyy Rih Cement Plant said that the trip was to seek investment for it.
"The SBI head reminded that in general, within the framework of this criminal proceeding, the involvement of these persons in the seizure of about 300 ha of land with an estimated value of UAH 1.1 billion is being investigated. The main defendant in this criminal proceeding was detained at the border when he tried to leave the country to avoid certain procedural actions. Indeed, the State Bureau of Investigation received operational information that the defendant may leave the territory of Ukraine to hide from the investigation," the bureau said in a statement.
Sukhachyov also said that the development of the Kyiv HPP lands, which Mazepa and 11 other defendants are charged with, could lead to a man-made disaster, which would affect not only these lands but also Kyiv. He stressed that the left-bank protection dam of the Cascade of Kyiv HPP and PSH of Ukrhydroenergo is located on the territory of Lebedivska and Hotyanivska village councils in Vyshhorod district of Kyiv Region. It is over 65 km long (covering 3,000 ha) and is a state-owned hydraulic structure.
Development on the Kyivska HPP site began about ten years ago. Since 2014, various law enforcement agencies have been investigating the seizure of the land and hydraulic structures, and in 2022, the proceedings were transferred to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Bureau claims that three "well-known businessmen" divided the territory among themselves and agreed with all those who make the decisions they need and began to implement their deal.
"Officials issued land on the territory of the Kyiv HPP allegedly for farming, including nominees, who were found by the businessmen's associates for UAH 1,000. The businessmen's companies then bought these plots from them for nothing. Next, elite housing was built and sold at a price of $500,000 and above, but only the land plot was sold to the new owner, and no taxes were paid on the sale of the house. To avoid the established procedure for putting a residential building into operation, certificates were issued that contained deliberately false information that the buildings were built before 1991," the Bureau said.
The members of the criminal organisation face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.