The city's territory may increase by almost 1.5 thousand hectares

A draft decision on expanding the borders of the capital was submitted to the City Council for consideration. In particular, it is proposed to take away part of the lands of the Boryspil, Vyshgorod, Brovary districts, as well as the urban-type settlement of Kotsyubinskoe from the Kyiv region. This will provide the city with an increase in territory by almost 1.5 thousand hectares. Kyiv City Council deputies expect that the Kiev Regional State Administration and the regional council will not agree on this decision, but expect that the Verkhovna Rada will accept it within the framework of its powers.

Kommersant has at its disposal a draft decision of the Kyiv City Council on expanding the borders of the capital. According to the document, it is proposed to increase the area of the city by annexing 2075.7 hectares of the territory of the Kyiv region. Most of the land is planned to be taken from Vyshgorod (904.7 hectares), Boryspil (998.4 hectares) and Brovary (73.9 hectares) districts. In addition, the urban-type settlement of Kotsyubinskoye, Kiev-Svyatoshinsky district, will also be absorbed by Kiev.

According to the plan, the capital also undertakes to transfer 686.3 hectares of land to the Kyiv region, of which 199 hectares will go to the Gnedinsky and Vishenkovsky village councils of the Boryspil region, and 417 hectares to the Kozinsky village council of the Obukhovsky district. As a result, the current area of Kyiv (83,585 hectares) will increase to 84,974 hectares. According to the head of the Kiev City Council commission on environmental policy, Denis Moskal (Republic of Kyiv faction), the draft decision will be submitted to the next meeting of the Kiev City Council, which is due to be held in February: “After adoption, the document will be transferred to the Kyiv Regional State Administration (KOGA.—" Kommersant ") and the Kiev Regional Council, which, I am sure, will not approve it."

According to Mr. Moskal, one of the main reasons for a possible refusal is the desire of local officials to continue to “raid and develop the Belichansky forest.” “By law, KOGA has a month to approve or, conversely, reject this document. However, if there is political will, the Verkhovna Rada can make such a decision without coordination with the region, since land issues of this level are the exclusive competence of parliament. Therefore, I assume that by the end of April this project will already be in parliament,” the official said.

At the same time, the head of the Main Directorate of Land Resources, Viktor Petruk, told Kommersant that active negotiations are currently underway with KOGA regarding changing the boundaries of the capital: “The next meeting of city and regional leaders on this issue is scheduled for Wednesday.” KOGA declined to comment, saying that they would provide clarifications after the management meeting.

The implementation of this project is questioned by the head of the Kotsyubinskoye village council, Vadim Sadovsky: “This is unrealistic, Kotsyubinskoye was, is and will be a territorial unit of the Kyiv region. How can it be included in the borders of Kyiv without the request of the head of the regional administration and the residents of the village?!”

Let us recall that the issue of expanding the borders of Kiev has a long history (see Kommersant, August 3, 2005 ). Thus, the former mayor of the capital, Alexander Omelchenko, previously proposed creating the so-called Kiev region, consisting of the capital and part of the lands of seven districts of the Kyiv region adjacent to Kyiv, located at a distance of 30-40 km. According to him, since 2005, the budget for socio-economic development of Kyiv has been underfulfilled by UAH 16 billion. In turn, the regions of the region are developing more intensively than the capital. “Therefore, such an association, on the territory of which about 4.5 million people would live, could be a way out. The Kyiv region should be given autonomy rights on the basis of organizing life in Moscow, Paris, Mexico City. But now there is no one to do this,” Kommersant said "Mr. Omelchenko.

However, as stated by the deputy head of the Rada Committee on State Construction and Local Self-Government Natalya Novak (UDAR), when considering the issue of the Kiev region, it is necessary to take into account that its management system must “fit into the existing management system in the state.” At the same time, Ms. Novak noted that Kyiv already now needs the reserve lands of the region to meet its current needs - for example, waste disposal or the construction of a second line of the sewer collector. “In addition, I would support the annexation of the Belichansky forest and the Kotsyubinsky forest, since entire hectares of forest are being cut down there now. Perhaps, when discussing this issue, we will have additions and alternative proposals, but we will definitely consider it,” she emphasized.

Irina Lopatina

Newspaper "Kommersant Ukraine" No. 7 dated January 22, 2013, page 3

Authors:

Irina Lopatina

Kyiv is losing its temper