French Investor Abandons Hostomel Project Over Bribes

French businessman Bart Gruyer told AFP that he encountered corruption during the reconstruction of Kyiv region.

Gruyer is the CEO of Neo-Eco, a company that specializes in recycling construction waste. The company works according to the principle of a closed cycle economy. In particular, in Gostomel, Neo-Eco dismantled four destroyed houses and processed 15 thousand tons of construction waste.

According to Gruyer, when Neo-Eco applied to the village military administration for construction permits, one of the officials demanded to transfer the money intended for the implementation of the project with a budget of 20 million euros to his bank account. The official said that he will directly manage the project.

The company refused, and immediately after that work on the project slowed down. The administration began to remove bureaucratic obstacles, adding new requirements to the contract. The officials did not stop demanding to bring "envelopes" to certain people, Gruyer claims.

Ultimately, in September 2023, Neo-Eco decided to withdraw from the project.

As early as June 2023, Bihus.Info journalists exposed frauds with the reconstruction of the city: money for the reconstruction of Gostomel is received by fake non-profit organizations and companies. This led to the dismissal of Serhiy Borysyuk from the position of the head of the Gostomel settlement military administration. The state audit service estimated the damages caused to the state at 21 million hryvnias.

Earlier it became known that the court extended the duties of People's Deputy Marchenko.

We also wrote that HACC acquitted the judge in the Onyshchenko case.