Law enforcement officers proved in court the illegality of planned residential construction at the Sviatoshynski Ponds, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported.

An attempt was made to transform the Sviatoshynski Ponds in Kyiv into a residential area. Land allocated for scientific activity was actually being prepared for a cottage community. This attempt was stopped in court. Following a lawsuit by the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Kyiv City Economic Court terminated the right of the Institute of Fisheries of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine to permanent use of a 14.5-hectare land plot on the Nyvka River in Sviatoshynsky district of the capital due to its misuse.

According to the investigation, the territory was transferred for scientific and research activities in fish farming. However, the land plot was later re-registered in the cadastre for residential and public construction and included in a joint project with a private developer.

Following this, construction work began on the site: the ponds were partially filled, and the natural landscape was changed.

Prosecutors proved the misuse of water fund lands in court. The court also agreed that these lands cannot belong to the category of residential and public construction, and their illegal cadastral registration is subject to cancellation, the prosecutor’s office emphasized.

The decision creates the prerequisites for recording this territory as water fund lands with a proper protection regime.

The Sviatoshynski Ponds are the largest cascade of reservoirs in Kyiv, which is critical for the city’s ecosystem and biodiversity. It is also a natural recreation area for residents of the capital, said Viktoria Sheksheyeva, Deputy Head of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office.