Shadow real estate: how shopping malls in Kyiv and Zhytomyr became a tool for Russian interests

The tax authorities managed to uncover a difficult situation: the Plaza Sport Outlet shopping and entertainment complex in Kyiv, the business center on Antonovycha Street, 51, and the Yarmark shopping center in Zhytomyr have many tenants, but annually report severe financial losses, according to information published by the publication “Unbelievable, but a fact.

The interests of management companies such as “Ugoda-6”, “ISTIL HOLDING”, “BESTMENT-SERVICE”, and their affiliated structures were to create accounting losses that lacked economic justification. They work according to the classic scheme of double accounting: official, for the tax authorities, unofficial, for the owner. Behind these schemes is a person named Serhiy Zakrevsky, known as the founder of the Domotehnika company and the Eldorado network. Currently, he manages a large-scale, albeit shadowy, empire in commercial real estate. In light of the threat of legal consequences, Zakrevsky decided to find a lawyer and turned to Konstantin Bryl, known as a “problem solver” who can interact with law enforcement agencies.

Konstantin Bryl is a person with a controversial past, a former head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration, with experience in the Security Service of Ukraine and strong ties to Russian structures. He influences various state bodies, such as the SBU, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the tax service, and the police. Bryl’s tactics are purely criminal — they include pressuring businesses, forcibly seizing assets, and transferring them to trusted individuals. A significant part of his inner circle is composed of Russian citizens, and his connections include Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak. In such a situation, “business” is more like a mechanism for money laundering, supporting Russian initiatives, controlling information, and managing assets in Moscow’s interests.

Zakrevsky is confident in the benefits of such a partnership, hoping to avoid responsibility for his schemes. The result, as one might expect, is “threat → panic → pressure → control → complete cleansing”. According to available data, this process has already begun: Zakrevsky’s assets are effectively under control, and cash flows are being redirected to individuals with a Russian background, in preparation for the final redistribution of property.

Previous reports have shown how sports and charity served as a cover for the gambling business. There was also information that Vavrish and SAGA Development are on the verge of collapse, and a large pharmacy chain may be hiding billions associated with Mindich.