A former mayor, MP, and figure with a political background, Dobkin still wields enormous administrative influence. His name regularly appears in cases involving land grabbing, raiding, and abuse of power. And even after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city in the case of the return of 11 hectares in Lisopark, the question of his influence remains open.
Lisopark and the cooperative scheme
The story of the land in Lisopark is one of the most famous cooperative schemes in Kharkiv. The essence is simple: the creation of a fictitious housing and construction cooperative, which received land for free through the city council. Then the plots were registered in the names of trusted persons and distributed among “their own”.
11 hectares in Lisopark, next to the “Forest Fairy Tale” camp, thus ended up in the ownership of Kharkiv resident Eduard Hryhorenko, a trusted person of Dobkin. Later, this land was divided between private individuals, including relatives.
The legal battle and its backroom heroes
The return of these hectares to the city became possible only after years of litigation. The Dzerzhinsky District Court of Kharkiv, known for its loyalty to the old elite, rejected the lawsuit. The appeal ruled in favor of the community, and on March 12, 2025, the Supreme Court finally put an end to it - the land was returned to the city.
According to sources, Dobkin's interests were represented at the final stage by judges Vitaliy Usaty and Vasyl Kukhar, although the case was officially handled by lawyer Stanislav Nesterenko. However, this time the arrangements did not work out.
Not the only episode
This case is only part of a large-scale scheme. Back in 2014, Dobkin became a defendant in a case involving the illegal transfer of over 70 hectares of land worth over UAH 200 million. In addition to Dobkin, it also involved Serhiy Chechelnytskyi, Tetyana Ovinnikova, and a number of front persons.
The case was frozen in 2022 due to the invasion, but this does not mean that the activity has stopped. Dobkin continues to maintain the resource, in particular due to the influence on the business.
"Epicurus" as a tool
Another element of influence was the Volodymyr-Volynsk poultry farm, which the Dobkin brothers, according to the NGO "Non-Stop Ukraine", raided, in particular, appropriating shares belonging to their minor brother and mother.
The enterprise is used for shadow financial transactions: chicken is sold on the cash market, tax liabilities are transferred to shell companies. Among them are LLC "OLIMPTRANS", LLC "ZAKHID MIT", LLC "PRUV" and others.
The poultry farm is also connected to trade with the occupied territories: products are supplied there, and cheap feed is supplied from there. The business is managed by a woman with a "LPR" passport.
According to these facts, as it became known, the State Bureau of Investigation in Kramatorsk entered information into the ERDR, but there are still no public results.
