The Metropolitan Police, together with the State Bureau of Investigation, continues to expose a long-standing scheme of embezzlement of funds in the "green" sector of the capital. At the epicenter of the investigations is the municipal association "Kyivzelenbud", its management, subordinate enterprises and contracting firms, which for years received million-dollar contracts. The amount of losses reaches tens of millions of hryvnias, and some of the suspects are already wanted or are in pre-trial detention with the possibility of posting sky-high bail.
In June 2025, the National Police received court permission to detain Lyudmila Zaborska, the former head of Arkada Bud Holding LLC (later Laftite), who is involved in the case of the theft of over UAH 2.3 million during the overhaul of the Peremoha Park in 2018. Zaborska was put on the wanted list back in 2022. According to her son, she left for Switzerland at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, but there is no data on crossing the border in the Arkan database.
Other cases are no less telling. For example, in the Darnytsia district, the private enterprise “DI Proekt” overestimated the cost of work around Lake Sribny Kyl by almost 350 thousand UAH. Suspicion fell on the deputy head of the capital investment department of “Kyivzelenbud” Oleksandr Hora.
And in the Hydropark, the director of the KP “UZN Dniprovsky District” Yevhen Kovshun signed acts for work that did not occur, for the amount of over 200 thousand UAH. The contractor was the scandalously known LLC “Bud Alliance Ukraine”. Kovshun was informed of the suspicion back in May.
In 2025, the State Bureau of Investigation uncovered a large-scale bribery scheme: three contracting companies transferred more than UAH 1.6 million in “kickbacks” for landscaping projects. The scheme involved former CEO of Kyivzelenstroy Yuriy Bakhmat and his first deputy Oleksiy Lukash. Both were arrested with the possibility of posting bail of UAH 51.4 million. Suspicions were also reported against two businessmen – representatives of firms that agreed on “cooperation” with the KO on the terms of a 15% kickback.
Another case concerns the overhaul of a public square in Chekhovsky Lane (Shevchenkivskyi District). The contractor is the private enterprise “Rialbud”, the manager is Oleksiy Horbach, who allegedly “earned” almost 800 thousand UAH by not completing the work in full.
The chief specialist of the Kyiv City State Administration's Department of Environmental Protection was also under suspicion, who, according to the investigation, failed to conduct a proper inspection of a number of facilities, which led to losses of UAH 595,000. This concerns the already mentioned Hydropark and Poznyaki Park, where the contractor was LLC "DSZ".
The Department itself was headed by Oleksandr Voznyi until June 2025, and by Serhiy Saburov since the end of May. Kyivzelenbud is directly subordinate to this structure, which seems to have repeatedly “turned a blind eye” to abuse.
According to Clarity Project, only the company “Laftite” had 31 contracts with “Kyivzelenbud” for 178 million UAH. “DSZ” – 21 contracts for 77 million, “Bud Alliance Ukraine” – 15 contracts for 44.9 million, “Rialbud” – 10 contracts for 63.5 million. The exception is “DI Proekt” – only one contract, which became fatal for the company.
Interestingly, most of these companies have already been involved in criminal proceedings. According to preliminary estimates, the total amount of damage caused in just a few episodes is UAH 5.3 million.
The cases involving Kyivzelenbud have been dragging on for years. For example, back in 2017, the police investigated the purchase of special equipment, where over UAH 115 million was stolen. The money was taken to Italy. But still, none of the former managers have been sentenced.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. “Kyivzelenbud” remains one of the most corrupt municipal associations in the capital. And even after high-profile arrests and suspicions, this system is in no hurry to collapse. It is obvious that the work of investigators alone is not enough for this - political will and systemic changes in the subordination and control of budget money are needed.
