Antimonopoly Committee allows businessman Hryhoryev to buy hotel in central Kyiv
The Antimonopoly Committee (AMCU) allowed the private company Zhytomyr Furniture Factory to purchase the Hermitage hotel in the center of Kyiv after the agency made the relevant decision on July 6, the regulator's press service reported on Monday.
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"Since the declared concentration does not lead to monopolization or a significant restriction of competition on the commodity markets in Ukraine, the committee granted the appropriate permission," the message reads.
On May 25, PJSC Zhytomyr Furniture Factory became the winner of the auction of the State Property Fund for the sale of two historic buildings in the center of Kyiv on Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street.
On June 22, the company paid UAH 373 million ($10.1 million) (including VAT) for the building of the Hermitage hotel. According to the State Property Fund, this is a record amount received from the sale of small privatization objects at auctions since their resumption in September 2022.
PJSC Zhytomyr Furniture Factory belongs to the president of the Merx group, Vadym Hryhoryev. Before the start of the full-scale war, the businessman's companies bought a number of real estate objects in the center of Kyiv at open auctions, in particular the Renaissance business center and the Kyiv office of the liquidated Khreshchatyk bank.
LIGA.net, citing sources, wrote that he owns business centers on Polyova Street near the Polytechnic Institute metro station and on 15 Leiptsyzka Street. According to the Nashi Hroshi watchdog project, a business center near Chernihivska metro station is also affiliated with Hryhoryev.
One of the buildings of the Hermitage hotel is a manor house on 26 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street was included in the list of monuments of history and culture of local importance by order of the Kyiv City State Administration.
The hotel was built in 1902-1904 according to the project of the famous capital architect Andreas Ferdinand Krauss. Then, one of the best hotels in the city, Hermitage, was built in the building, where many famous people stayed, one of whom was Mykhailo Hrushevskyi. The house was owned by millionaire Yakiv Bernard.
On May 10, 2023, the historic Hermitage hotel in Kyiv was put up for sale with a starting price of UAH 21 million ($568,518). The auction was held for the first time.
