Popular Kyiv mall to reopen amid legal tug of war
One of Kyiv’s biggest shopping malls will slowly reopen this month after a dramatic lockdown shut out hundreds of businesses amid a dispute over the building’s management.
The Gulliver shopping and entertainment complex will open up in stages from Dec. 12, starting with the bottom two floors, the mall’s owner, state-owned Oschadbank, said in a statement.
The lockdown on Oct. 31, just before the holiday season, shocked Kyiv residents who frequent its 250 stores and rely on its large supermarket, Silpo.
Oschadbank says it had to close the mall because its former management, Three O — thought to be linked to sanctioned Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Polishchuk, who is the former owner of Gulliver — deliberately damaged equipment and created unsafe conditions to sabotage the handover process after the bank took control.
After contractors carried out repair works, the bank announced on Dec. 2 that it deemed the building safe enough to open the two floors.
Three O stopped paying its loan obligations for nearly a year, and Gulliver was put up as collateral for the loans. The company owes a staggering $537.2 million in debt to Oschadbank and $137.8 million to Ukreximbank, according to Forbes Ukraine.
As a result, Gulliver was transferred to state ownership after a court in July ruled that its equipment and land, belonged to Oschadbank and Ukreximbank, which is also state-owned.
Since the ruling, the banks have locked horns with Three O. Oschadbank has repeatedly accused the company of undermining the handover process. Three O has denied the accusations of any "emergencies or man-made threats" at the building and believes the banks are acting illegally.
From Oschadbank’s perspective, the banks’ takeover of the mall bolsters a favorable investment climate in Ukraine, Arsen Miliutin, deputy CEO of Oschadbank in charge of non-performing loans, told the Kyiv Independent in a written statement. When creditors are protected, the banking system stays stable, and bank depositors' savings are secure, he added.
"During Russia’s full-scale war, Oschadbank has had many cases of successful loan restructuring for companies affected by the war," Miliutin said.
"However, unscrupulous borrowers should be aware that they will still have to repay their debts," he added.
Oschadbank is assessing the economic damage to the mall since the shops, both global and local brands, have been closed for over a month during the Christmas season and Black Friday. Miliutin noted that Oschadbank itself has lost a "certain amount of income" from the temporary closure.
The banks have not yet said when the other floors will reopen. First, they need to address the "consequences of deliberate damage and negligent attitude" to the building’s engineering by Three O, Oschadbank wrote.
"During an audit of the technical condition of the building, facts of deliberate damage and removal of engineering equipment, as well as negligent attitude to its maintenance by the former owner, were revealed," Miliutin said.
Three O publicly said that it would be "physically impossible" for their staff to damage, dismantle, or remove any equipment at Gulliver. The building was guarded by security employed by Oschadbank that strictly controlled the entrances of the building, it added.
The company plans to appeal the banks’ ownership of the mall as it believes their actions are illegal, Three O’s press service told the Kyiv Independent.
"We did everything possible to ensure the transition period passed without any difficulties or forced closure of the shopping center," it added.
