Ukraine's Asset Recovery Agency conducts checks of Borzhava resort land auctions winners
Ukraine's Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) is conducting checks of the winners of auctions for the sale of land at the Borzhava resort in Zakarpattia region and will cancel the auction results if violations of the law are identified, ARMA's press service reported on Tuesday.
"The stage of verifying the auction winners is currently ongoing. No asset will be transferred to persons who, under Ukrainian law, have restrictions or prohibitions on acquiring or using it, in particular persons subject to sanctions or those connected to the aggressor state. If such circumstances are identified, the auction results will be canceled and the assets will be put up for resale," the agency said.
ARMA emphasized that self-laundering, when individuals linked to crimes attempt to reclaim illegally obtained assets through auctions or shell companies, is unacceptable in international law enforcement practice.
According to the statement, ARMA does not carry out direct sales of assets, does not influence the auction process or price formation, and does not identify participants. The sale of assets was conducted in accordance with procedures defined by law. The asset valuation was carried out by the auction organizer, Ukrinvestenergoconsult LLC.
As reported, Andriy Vynhranovsky won auctions for the sale of 41 land plots in Zakarpattia region for UAH 5.4 million (starting price UAH 10.4 million), as well as 208 plots and chairlift cableway stations with a ski lift station for UAH 39.1 million (starting price UAH 75.2 million). Ihor Vlasiuk won an auction for the sale of 245 land plots for UAH 45 million (starting price UAH 88.2 million).
Earlier on Tuesday, Anastasia Radina, head of the Verkhovna Rada's anti-corruption committee (Servant of the People faction), said that the winners of the auctions for resort land sales were individuals linked to Serhiy Liovochkin and Vladyslav Kaskiv. According to her, the results of these auctions may be canceled.
The state began searching for investors to build the Borzhava ski resort back in 2013 as part of the "Olympic Hope–2022: Creation of Sports and Tourism Infrastructure" project. However, a number of projects, including Olympic Hope–2022, were not implemented due to embezzlement of funds by officials of the State Agency for Investments and Management of National Projects, which at the time was headed by Kaskiv, and the state-owned enterprise State Investment Company, as uncovered by detectives of Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau.
