The civil service in Ukraine has always been a “lucrative place.” This is a story about a man who, during five years of gubernatorial service under Yushchenko and Yanukovych, managed to amass a personal “fortune”, estimated today at $180 million. According to incomplete calculations, Alexander Georgievich Dombrovsky owns shares in a significant part of the region’s projects and now, as a people’s deputy, receives income from them.
Let us recall that in the last elections, the multimillionaire ex-governor did not allow the candidate from the United Opposition to enter the Verkhovna Rada. But the article will be of interest not only to Vinnytsia residents who gave him their votes back then.
Komsomolets
Alexander Dombrovsky is one of the career-promising people in Petro Poroshenko’s team, influencing many things and still having political weight. A man with an exceptional biography for the current political moment. He was born in the Vinnitsa region, and can rightfully be considered the main Komsomol member and famous governor.
At the same time, the business partners of the state manager living on one salary have always been the leading entrepreneurs of the region. Together with them in shares, Alexander Dombrovsky built microdistricts and destroyed parks, erected poultry farms and sold off factories.
In a word, the current deputy of the Verkhovna Rada has everything to hold on and pull the steering wheel in his direction to control the course of reforms in the country.
And it’s easy to be convinced of this by looking at the circle of business partners of the then first secretary of the Vinnitsa city committee of the Komsomol.
1. Anatoly Matvienko. The retired high-flying Komsomol member was a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada for many cadences. Restrainedly criticizing the authorities, nevertheless, he always managed to help the government at the right moment during the vote.
2. Tatusyak Sergey Pilipovich. Former head of the Vinnytsia Regional Council.
3. Kaletnik Grigory Nikolaevich. The father of the legendary customs officer about whom people never tire of making up legends. Which, after checks by the prosecutor’s office, most often turn out to be true. Dad always played a big role in his son’s business.
4. Zabolotny Grigory Mikhailovich. Former head of the Vinnytsia Regional Council.
What did the current high-ranking Komsomol members do during the years of the collapse of the empire, throughout Ukraine and in Vinnitsa in particular? Volumes have been written about this. The transfer of working capital of state-owned enterprises to their newly created banks, the sale of fixed assets of dying enterprises, trade intermediation – all this created the first capital and arrays of property among the leading supporters of Ilyich’s ideas.
Alexander Dombrovsky – mayor of Vinnitsa
Successful business as the chief Vinnitsa Komsomol member, as well as subsequent activity in developing the assets of dying enterprises of his native land, at one time created Alexander Dombrovsky a good position in local society.
Therefore, realizing his influence, he became the mayor of the city in 2002 without much difficulty. In his new position, brilliant prospects opened up for the businessman. But since much in the region had already been divided, it was decided to “shine off” in a different way. The huge park of the local home for the mentally ill became the site of the mayor’s greatest victory. The land was developed and sold, but at a higher price – in the form of apartments.
The mayor had partners in the project to build a residential neighborhood in the park. They say that Alexander Dombrovsky himself negotiated a share of 30% of the project, the local builder Girenko also had 30%, and the eminent Kyiv builder Vladimir Polyachenko had 40% in the business. With the cost of building houses being $400 per square meter, apartments easily sold for $1,500 per square meter. It is clear that taxes did not greatly mar the beauty of the final figures.
Another highlight of the project was the land scheme. The city, with the active participation of the mayor, initially allocated 32 hectares of land for the microdistrict. Then he took away 13 hectares of park from a local home for the mentally ill. The land was leased. But as soon as the construction of the first houses took place, the entire land plot was privatized and lost by the city. Since according to the laws, the owner of objects on the land receives the right to privatize the site.
As experts noted, at that time, 48 hectares of land at the then price of $6,000 per hundred square meters could bring Vinnitsa $30 million, which was the equivalent of 1,000 apartments for city residents in prices of that time. But the mayor and his partners simply took this land for their business project.
Shopping center Anastasia
The construction business seriously excited and captivated the official. And now it’s clear why no communal or other reform happened in the city in those years. After all, the manager was busy solving issues of his business.
Thus, in shares of 50% with Timofey Girenko, the general director of the already familiar Podillya concern, Alexander Dombrovsky launches the project for the construction of the Anastasia shopping center.
Naturally, nothing was formally written down to the mayor-governor, but it should be emphasized that the shopping center did not have any problems with local authorities during construction and operation – after all, everyone knew whose facility it was. The shopping center “shone” in all its commercial attractiveness on December 17, 2011.
The five-story Anastasia shopping center has 5 thousand square meters of retail space and 1.5 thousand entertainment space on the 4th floor. Consequently, with store rental rates of $15 per square meter for retail space and $10 for the entertainment area, it brings its owners $100,000 in income every month. The current costs of maintaining the center are fully covered by income from advertising and the provision of additional services to tenants.
Thus, a noticeable store in the center of Vinnitsa brings 50 thousand dollars into the owner’s pocket every month. Which in a year will amount to 600 thousand dollars. At the same time, the cost of Dombrovsky’s real estate in the project is 13 million dollars.
Market “Cherry”
However, Alexander Dombrovsky did not always consider it necessary to share equally with his partners. During the reconstruction of the Cherry municipal market, Timofey Girenko received a share of only 10%.
By the way, you can now rent retail space on the market in the office at a remarkable address. It is noteworthy that Dombrowski’s campaign headquarters, his office, and his carp breeding club functioned with the same coordinates. We are talking about a house at the address – Pushkina 10.
So, the Cherry market has 4,200 meters of retail space for food and industrial goods, which are rented on average for $10 per square meter. Therefore, they bring the 90% hidden shareholder of the project $37 thousand monthly. Income for the year will be 444 thousand dollars.
At the same time, the cost of retail space that secretly belongs to the official in the project is $4.2 million (at a price of $2 thousand per sq. m.).
Microdistrict “Akademicheskiy”
The Akademichesky microdistrict in Vinnitsa also became a place where the official received a 50% share of the business for his modest services, and the other 50% was retained by the project developer, the Podillya Concern.
Construction of the microdistrict began in 2008. On 68 hectares, allocated with the help of Vinnytsia Governor Alexander Dombrovsky, 288 houses, including cottages, will be built. The total residential area of the microdistrict will be 304,600 square meters. At the same time, the average selling price per square meter is about $1,000. As a result, the sale of apartments will bring $300 million. Half of this amount will be taken by the cost of construction, and the remaining money will be divided in half by the Podillya Concern and the ex-governor. Consequently, the project will bring Alexander Dombrovsky $75 million in income in the next couple of years. After all, the sale of finished apartments in the microdistrict has already been quite active since 2008.
Elite house on Pushkina, 10
In Vinnitsa, at 10 Pushkin Street, there is an elite residential building.
The Dombrowski family has several apartments in this building. Although, judging by the documents, the people’s deputy worked all his life in government positions with salaries that did not allow him to buy even a one-room apartment on the outskirts of Vinnitsa.
Thus, the deputy’s daughter, Tatyana Aleksandrovna Ribchenko, owns two apartments at Pushkina 10 measuring 113 and 194 square meters.
And the deputy’s son is the owner of two apartments in the Vinnitsa region measuring 83 and 68 square meters.
At the same time, a special authorized person of the family, a certain Goncharuk Vasily Mikhailovich, nominally owns an even more luxurious “bouquet” of property. This includes a land plot of 3.1 hectares, an apartment in Kyiv on Klovsky Spusk of 264 square meters, and an apartment in Vinnitsa on Khmelnitsky Highway of 709 square meters. m., and an apartment on Sobornaya Street of 506 sq. m. Mr. Goncharuk also owns the building of an unfinished supermarket in the city of Kalinovka.
If we calculate in current prices, then the family of the modest civil servant Dombrovsky officially owns only housing in Vinnitsa worth $2 million (at a price of $1,200 per square meter). And also housing in Kyiv worth $3.2 million (at a price of $3,000 per meter).
In the apartments of the Dombrovsky family in Vinnitsa, in particular, the election headquarters of the candidate for deputy Dombrovsky were located at one time. There are offices of companies that manage the affairs of a famous family. In particular, at Pushkina 10 there is a company that rents out retail space at the Cherry market, as well as a club that promotes the usefulness of breeding and catching carp, which the official favors.
Therefore, it is not surprising that when the idea arose to build the second stage of the house in the place that the ex-governor had chosen for himself, a kindergarten easily went under the bulldozer bucket. Although demolishing or repurposing such objects is strictly prohibited by law.
…Magicentre shopping center (Sky Park)
There was once a shoe factory in Vinnitsa. But Alexander Dombrovsky and his partners decided that a shopping center would look much better in this location. The official got 10% of the project, and the KMT company got 90%. And things started to happen—the retail space grew rapidly. The fired factory workers could only look with admiration at the business successes of the man whom they had actually elected to defend their interests. As a result, 5.5 thousand square meters were built. m of retail space, 4.8 thousand sq. m of office space. The cost of this asset in modern prices was $18 million.
Governorate
The solid business successes of Alexander Dombrovsky as mayor of Vinnitsa gave him the opportunity to lead a vibrant social life, and not appear without an expensive gift to more and more dear people.
So, instead of checking flooded basements in the houses of Vinnitsa, the mayor of the city managed to build good relations with the then newly elected President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko. The consequence of this was the appointment of Alexander Dombrovsky as Head of the Vinnytsia Regional State Administration.
From that moment on, the official’s victorious five-year march began (2005 – 2010) with the traditional use of all resources.
But one should not think that this victory was easy for Alexander Dombrovsky. After all, in the first round of the 2004 presidential elections, he spared no effort in supporting “stability” and Viktor Fedorovich Yanukovych. And this was not at all easy to do in one of the regions of Western Ukraine.
It was even more difficult to publicly change one’s political views and, following the swaying scales of Fortune, turn into an ardent supporter of Viktor Yushchenko. But Alexander Dombrovsky was able to do this too.
But let’s return to the governorship. Having become proficient in how to develop his business in it instead of developing a city, the state manager applied the same skills to the region.
Alexander Dombrovsky and Vinnitsa Chemical Plant
As you know, Vinnytsia region is a powerful agricultural region. Farmers in the region have great needs for fertilizers. Therefore, in the past, the capacity of the Vinnitsa Chemical Plant was quite enough to provide several regions with fertilizers at once.
But the collapse of the USSR undermined the economy of the enterprise. And therefore, an important task arose before the mayor of Vinnitsa, and then the governor Alexander Dombrovsky: restoring the work of the enterprise would bring taxes to the budget and encourage the development of agricultural business in the region.
The search for a solution took several years: the plant went bankrupt and was sold off in separate workshops. Most of the lots did not find buyers, and some were used for warehouses and other small industries.
And now, when new passions flare up in the media around the cost, sale or takeover of similar chemical production facilities, Vinnytsia residents have something to look at with regret. If it had not been looted at one time with the connivance of the authorities, the townspeople could argue about how many hundreds of millions of dollars their chemical plant is now worth.
Our Ryaba and Alexander Dombrovsky
The mayor did much better with land. However, from time to time its distribution and distribution was hampered by residents of the region, who did not think strategically, but in a petty and petty-bourgeois way.
For example, for a 25% share in Nasha Ryaba enterprises in the Vinnytsia region, the governor began to actively help the company. In particular, he made efforts to allocate land for new poultry farms. The plots were located conveniently for the agricultural giant – not far from the communications of populated areas.
But there were dissatisfied people. The suffocating smell of poultry farms made people remember that complexes of such power should be built tens of kilometers from villages, and not within a pleasant walking distance.
However, protests by residents against the construction of ever new poultry farm buildings have not yet had any effect. Local authorities are doing everything to reassure residents.
Elections to the Verkhovna Rada 2012 – 2014
It must be said that Vinnytsia residents know very well everything that is written here and have a very low opinion of their fellow countryman. When in 2012 the ex-governor went to the polls to win a mandate to the Verkhovna Rada. But money, advertising, connections and political strategists could not produce results: Alexander Dobrovsky lost the election to a simple children’s doctor Natalya Soleyko.
And then the former mayor pulled out three main trump cards from his sleeve – “Berkut”, titushki and purchased officials. Police batons and bandit fists directed against everyone who in those days reminded about the norms of holding elections did their job.
“We learned that the Central Election Commission, contrary to the law on elections of people’s deputies, changed the chairman of the district election commission No. 11 in Vinnitsa and instead of Sergei Sitarsky, who represented Batkivshchyna, appointed Olga Stadnik as chairman,” Batkivshchyna representative Sergei said then Pashinsky. This opened the way for falsification in favor of the pro-government candidate.
“Literally after 15 minutes of work by the appointed chairman of the election commission, an illegal command was given to recount the ballots, and in the same short time, 380 ballots for the opposition candidate Natalia Soleyko were already declared invalid,” the oppositionist said then.
At the time of processing by the CEC, 83.6% of the protocols in the district Soleyko was ahead of Dombrovsky by 487 votes. And later “Batkivshchyna” announced the destruction of Soleyko’s ballots in the premises of the OEC. Alexander Dombrovsky was introduced into Parliament in 2012 by the owners of brass knuckles and handcuffs. After which the shame of the official among his fellow countrymen became absolute and legendary.
But the illegally obtained mandate still did not benefit Alexander Dombrovsky. And already in 2013, he was deprived of the right to sit and vote under the dome.
The Supreme Administrative Court, to which the matter came due to the “exploits” of Dombrovsky’s team in the elections, ruled that the violations in the elections were so enormous that Dombrovsky cannot be considered a people’s choice. His voting card was canceled and his name was removed from the list of deputies. Re-elections were called in the long-suffering area.
However, Alexander Dombrovsky did not miss his chance in 2014. Having prepared even better for the elections, concentrating money and administrative resources, he received the long-awaited mandate of a deputy.
What choice will Vinnytsia residents make in the fall of 2016?
According to rumors, Dombrovsky is on good terms with Poroshenko Jr.
The “experienced” Vinnitsa ex-governor constantly runs next to the young deputy Alexei Poroshenko under the dome of the Verkhovna Rada, giving him advice on how to behave in politics and life. His goal is simple – to achieve the consent of the main person in the country to assign to him his old “patrimony” – a majority plot in the city of Vinnitsa.
In previous years, he had to spend a lot on gifts and kindergartens, on bribing observers and prosecutors, and simply on distributing money in order to defeat democratic candidates in Vinnitsa with his Komsomol and then corruption past. One thing is alarming: in the President’s small homeland, the rating of the BPP is falling today and “Batkivshchyna” is growing. And the chances for the fair election of multimillionaire Dombrovsky are melting away like smoke…
By the way, a number of experts suggest that Alexander Dombrovsky will find himself in a new post in Kyiv after the upcoming reformatting of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Presidential Administration.
