In the very center of Khmelnytskyi, next to Chekman Park, the reconstruction of the former restaurant "Zoryana Nich" is underway. The new hotel and restaurant complex is being built by the son of a person involved in criminal proceedings, former head of the Khmelnytskyi MSEK, Tetyana Krupa. Her family has become the focus of attention of anti-corruption agencies due to suspicions of illegal enrichment of tens of millions of hryvnias. However, the local authorities, despite the loud resonance, were powerless to influence the development process.
Deputy Mayor of Khmelnytskyi Mykola Vavryshchuk publicly commented on the reconstruction situation, which has caused a wave of public outrage. According to him, the building on which the work is being carried out is private property, and therefore the city authorities have no legal grounds to intervene in the situation or change the owner.
"I would probably be happy if the object belonged to the community. But that's impossible. Private property is protected by law, and it can only be seized by court order," Vavrishchuk explained.
The building was privatized back in 2001. And in 2020, it was purchased by the Krup family, after which the ownership was officially registered.
One of the main complaints from the public is that the area where the reconstruction is taking place borders the city's central park. However, officials assure that formally this land is not part of the park. The land plot was formed back in 2001 and is currently leased to Krupa Oleksandr Volodymyrovych, the son of the former head of the MSEK.
The deputy mayor also emphasized that the city council's refusal to renew the lease would only open the way to a lawsuit, as a result of which the city would still be obliged to conclude an agreement with the current owner.
According to the facility passport posted on the building, the new complex will consist of three floors and will have a total area of over 2,700 sq. m. The customer is indicated as "FO Krupa O. V.". The reconstruction is being carried out by Podillya-Invest City LLC, the permit for the work was issued in June 2023. The work is still ongoing.
Although the developer assures that the height of the building will remain at the previous level (15.9 m) and the area of the building will not increase, the very fact of constructing a luxurious facility in the historical part of the city, owned by a family with a criminal record, is causing outrage in society.
NABU has initiated criminal proceedings against Oleksandr Krupa, the father of a developer and the son of Tetyana Krupa, who once headed the Khmelnytskyi Regional Center for Medical and Social Expertise. The case was opened based on an inspection by the NACP, which revealed numerous facts of illicit enrichment.
Krupa's 2022 tax return indicated cash in the amount of over UAH 23.3 million. It also turned out that a bank account was opened in his wife's name in Austria, where over $500,000 was stored - without any explanation of the sources of these funds.
Oleksandr Krupa is charged with Part 2 of Article 366-2 (filing false information in a declaration) and Article 368-5 (illegal enrichment) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The total amount of undeclared property and dubious assets exceeds UAH 60 million.
The Starry Night reconstruction situation is not only an example of legal conflicts, where the law is on the side of the owner and the community is defenseless. It is also a litmus test of how easily those involved in criminal cases can invest funds of dubious origin in projects in the city center — and remain beyond accountability.
A restaurant in the center of Khmelnytskyi may become a new decoration of the city. But every brick of it will remind you of the corrupt past — and the state's inaction in returning the stolen goods.
