The head of the Lychakivskyi District Court of Lviv, Hryhoriy Zhovnir, known for closing the court session in the Viktor Medvedchuk case in 2022, unexpectedly received a million hryvnias in income. Formally, from the sale of a plot of land in the village of Obroshyn. But behind this simple deal, a familiar scheme for Lviv is visible: judges, lawyers, developers — and the shadow of Medvedchuk.
In May 2024, Judge Zhovnir filed a notice of change in property status. He declared income of UAH 1 million from the sale of a land plot with an area of 0.25 hectares. He purchased this land back in 2016 for a symbolic UAH 4,000. And now — eight years later — he sold it for more than 250 times more.
The new owner of the plot is Iryna Knyshuk. She is a co-owner of MebLi LLC, registered just two months before the deal. Her business partner is Larysa Potynska, a relative of Lviv lawyer Andriy Potynsky. It is Potynsky who has been representing the interests of major developers, such as Hryhoriy Kozlovsky, for decades, and is connected to the cases of Taras Kozak, an associate of Viktor Medvedchuk.
It is no less interesting that all these cases are being heard in the Lychakiv District Court — and under the chairmanship of Zhovnir.
According to the data, the purchase was not made through a bank loan or any other source of financing that would be subject to control. Cash? Transfer? Gift? No explanation. But it is precisely this practice - when judges receive large sums from people connected with lawyers who have cases in the same court - that is the very "gray corridor" through which money and influence enter the judiciary.
Interestingly, on the day the funds arrive, Judge Zhovnir buys another plot of land in the same Obroshin — this time 10 acres for 200 thousand hryvnias. So, he immediately reinvests part of the proceeds. It turns out that the old plot was “golden,” the new one is much more modest.
All the aforementioned characters — Potynsky, Kozlovsky, Kozak — are closely intertwined in cases that regularly come into focus at the Lychakiv Court. The scheme is simple: lawyers defend developers or pro-Russian politicians, cases are heard by “their” judges, and then real estate, business, and control over decisions come into play.
And when the judge who ruled in the Medvedchuk case unexpectedly receives a million from the family of lawyer Kozak, it's not just about "well-sold land." It's another signal of a rotten circular guarantee in the Lviv judicial and construction clan.
