photo: booking.com
Tvoe Misto media-hub decided to find out who are the current owners of the biggest hotels in Lviv. Twenty one of them were selected for the list, their buildings are located in the central part of the city, and considerable funds have been invested in these businesses.
As it turned out, at least five of them are somehow connected with Russia. Most of the hotels have Ukrainian roots, including those from Lviv, but the founders are companies based in Cyprus.
And only in one hotel European citizens were among the owners. As Ivan Lun, an expert in the hotel business explained to Tvoe Misto, investors from these countries do not invest in the hotel business in Ukraine, including Lviv, because they are afraid of the unstable political situation in the country. There are also problems with the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine. At the same time, he assumes, Russians are closer to us in terms of «economic mentality», and better understand how to do business in Ukraine.
«Russians understand the ways of doing business in Ukraine better because they are closer to it than in Western Europe, where there is different legislation and a different legal framework that does not come from the Soviet Union. Ukraine and Russia have common roots in this regard – the former Soviet constitution, the legal framework – so they understand how things are going in Ukraine,» – he said.
However, according to the expert, no one forbids Western Europeans to hire local specialists. This applies not only to the hotel business, they all have their own specifics, as in every other country.
Premier Hotel Dnister
The hotel building at Mateyka, 6 belongs to PJSC «Tourist Hotel Complex ‘Dniester’», 62,1272 % of shares of the company, according to the analytical system YouControl, belong to LLC «Eastern European Hotel Company», and 37,8728% – «Pumori Enterprises Investments» LTD (Cyprus). In turn, LLC «Eastern European Hotel Company» is 100% owned by the company from Cyprus. The ultimate beneficiary of the Eastern European Hotel Company, as stated in the Ukrainian state register, is Natalia Selivanova, a Slovak citizen living in France. But Ukrainian media associate her with a group of Russian investors, including Russian Senator Alexander Babakov. In 2009-2014, Natalia Selivanova owned one Slovak company together with Babakov’s daughter.
Reikartz network
There are two Reikartz hotels in Lviv – Reikartz Medival Lviv (9 Drukarska Street) and Reikartz Dvorets Lviv (107 Horodotska Street). The building of the first belongs to «Reikartz and Partners. Ukraine» LLC. According to YouControl, 99.9868% of the company’s share capital belongs to the Cypriot company «Reikartz Hotels and Resorts (Cyprus) Limited». The rest is owned by Cypriot Friotron Holdings Limited. The final beneficiary, according to the Ukrainian state register, is the Russian Yuri Vasin. Earlier, among the beneficiaries were also Russians Leonid Lavrentyev and Timur Rodionov. The building of the second hotel belongs to the Estonian AvanCard OÜ, which was previously co-founded by several companies with the Reikartz Hotel Group, and the ultimate beneficiaries may be the same Yuri Vasin. Separate rooms of the second hotel in the adjacent building, on Horodotska, 109, belong to «Reikartz and partners. Ukraine».
Citadel Inn
The hotel buildings, located on the street Hrabovskoho, 11, are owned by «Halytska Citadel» LLC, which rents the land around it. 100% of the company’s authorized capital is now owned by JSC «Closed-End Non-Diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund «RISO INVEST». Entrepreneur Oleh Shuptar has been named the ultimate beneficiary of the «Galician Citadel» in the state register. He was named one of the co-owners of the hotel in the Lviv media ten years ago. According to YouControl, he owns 100% of the shares in the RISO INVEST fund.
Bankhotel
The building of the hotel on the street Lystopadovoho Chynu, 8 belongs to LLC «Maria». According to YouControl, 89.3994% of the company’s authorised capital belongs to «NRB-Club» LLC, 10.3953% to Closed Non-Diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund «Trillion» JSC, and the rest to Yulia Matvienko from Kyiv. Vyacheslav Yutkin from Kyiv has been named Maria’s ultimate beneficiary in the Ukrainian state register. According to YouControl, 100% of the shares in the «Trillion» belong to Yutkin himself. On the other hand, Yutkin owns 93.8088% of «NRB-Club’s» share fund, the rest is «Halbuser Investments» LTD in Cyprus.
As Lviv Now reported, until 2012, the building was occupied by Prominvestbank. Yutkin became the first deputy chairman of the board of «Prominvestbank» in March 2009, after a controlling stake in the bank was acquired by Russia’s state-owned «Vnesheconombank».
Prior to Prominvestbank, Vyacheslav Yutkin served as Chairman of the Board of Sberbank of Russia in Ukraine, and before that as President of the «Bank NRB-Ukraine» and Head of the National Reserve Bank’s Office in Ukraine. Before joining the business, Yutkin, according to him, served in the SBU, and previously – in the KGB.
Hotel Leopolis
According to the analytical system YouControl, the hotel premises at Teatralna, 16, Shevska 14 and 16 belong to PJSC «European House». The 69.8688% stake in the European House belongs to the Estonian HT Property Development OÜ, the 29.9769% stake to the Finnish investment company Kusinkapital AB, and a very small stake to the head of the European House Taras Dobrianskyi. The final beneficiaries in the Ukrainian state register are the citizens of Finland – the Hartvall and Terman families, but currently, the final beneficiaries are absent in the register. One group of hotel premises is pledged by the Estonian HT Property Development OÜ, the other is pledged by JSCB Lviv.
Panorama Lviv Hotel
According to YouControl, the building of the hotel on Svobody Avenue, 45, belongs to LLC «Building Alliance». Entrepreneur and ex-banker Vitalii Lomakovych owns 50% of the company’s authorized capital. 40% belong to the entrepreneur from Ternopil Anatolii Tymko, another 10% – to AMC «Optima-Capital» in the interests of its investment fund «Professional». Vitalii Lomakovych and Anatolii Tymko are stated the ultimate beneficiaries in the state register. In 2005-2011 Vitalii Lomakovych worked as the Chairman of the Board of BM-Bank. According to the bank’s annual reports, the institution’s main shareholder with a stake of more than 99% at the time was Russia’s «Bank of Moscow». Prior to BM-Bank, Vitalii Lomakovych headed the Lviv Research Institute of Household Radio-Electronic Equipment, worked for Credit Bank (Ukraine) (as well as its predecessor, the Western Ukrainian Commercial Bank) and «Ternopil-Credit» Bank.
While Lomakovich was among the co-founders of the «Building Alliance» before, Anatoliy Tymko received a share in its statutory fund only last year.
Hotel Lviv
The hotel building at 7 Vyacheslava Chornovola Ave. belongs to «Hotel Lviv» LLC. The founders of the company are Volodymyr Prodivus from Vinnytsia (70%) and his brother from another father – Lviv businessman Stepan Prodivus (30%), also known as the first vice-president of the Lviv Regional Federation boxing. Volodymyr Prodyvus is a well-known businessman in Vinnytsia, a member of the Verkhovna Rada in 2012-2014, elected on the list of the «Party of Regions», which was the political force of Ukrainian’s former president-fugitive Viktor Yanukovych. From the information available in the analytical system YouControl, it follows that the Prodivus family has owned the hotel since the early 2010s.
Astoria Hotel
The hotel building at 15 Horodotska Street is owned by «Hotel Astoria» LLC. According to the YouControl system, 41.4593% of the company’s share capital belongs to the Austrian «RKD HOTEL Holding» GmbH, registered in Vienna. The rest (58.5407%) belongs to Rymma Mydza, registered in the village of Pidhorodne near Ternopil. In the Ukrainian state register, Rymma Mydza is listed as the ultimate beneficiary of «RKD HOTEL Holding» GmbH. She is a relative of Yurii Mydza, a Ternopil businessman and top manager, as well as, according to Russian media, the nominal owner of the Russian concern «Rosenergomash» (now in bankruptcy). The concern had several plants in Ukraine. Yurii Mydza died in January 2015. All Ukrainian plants of the concern are undergoing or have already gone through bankruptcy proceedings.
Nobilis Hotel
The hotel building on Fredra, 5, was built in the late 2000s on the site of a park that emerged on the place of the buildings destroyed during World War II. According to the analytical system YouControl, the building belongs to PE «Cook». The only founder of the private enterprise is Lilia Kuk from Lviv, a partner of Lviv entrepreneurs Andrii Kharachko and Volodymyr Hubytskyi in «Pamyat» LLC, which is developing a network of «VAM» shopping centres.
Rius Hotel
The building of the business centre, which houses the hotel on the street Akademika Hnatyuka, 12a, was erected on the site of one-storey outbuildings at the intersection of Nalyvaika and Hnatiuka streets in the first half of 2010. The building belongs to the subsidiary enterprise «Intergal-Bud» of the Limited Liability Company «Firm «Intergal», which has property in many regions of Ukraine. SE «Intergal-Bud» is part of the so-called group of companies «Intergal-Bud» of Volodymyr Zubyk, President of the Association of Builders «Intergal-Bud».
Volodymyr Zubyk was born in Lviv, was a People’s Deputy of four convocations (in 2006-2019), ran successfully twice for the Verkhovna Rada from the «Party of Regions». Zubyk controls SE «Intergal-Bud» through investment fund «InterHalBudinvest» of «AMC Crystal Asset Management» LLC.
Hotel Atlas Deluxe
The hotel building at 27 Shevchenka Ave., with several apartments in the adjacent building at 7 Fredra Street, is owned by «Project Invest Capital» LLC, registered in Pustomyty near Lviv. 90% of the company’s share capital belongs to the businessman from Sokilnyky Ihor Nazarkevych, the rest (70%), another 105 – to Halyna Nazarkevych.
Ibis Styles Lviv Center
The hotel building at 3 Shukhevycha Street was completed in 2015. According to the analytical system YouControl, the building belongs to «Arax Holding» LLC. 90% of the company’s authorized capital belongs to Cypriot «Pleimont Capital» LTD (earlier it belonged to Cypriot «IS Worldwide Management» LTD), the rest – JSC Closed Non-Diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund «Kamet». The final beneficiaries of «Arax Holding» are Israeli Alon Holstein, director of Pleinmont Capital LTD, and Maximilian Dejaco, a lawyer at Marxer & Partner Rechtsanwälte in Liechtenstein. Beneficiaries of «Kameta» in the Ukrainian state register are three foreigners, including Markus Summer, Doctor of Law, a partner and a notary at Marxer&Partner Rechtsanwälte in Liechtenstein. Judging by his professional interests and publications, he registers private foundations and trusts under local law.
Lviv media believe that because of this Cypriot company and the Kamet Foundation, the hotel is actually controlled by Yurii Fedorov, a native of Lviv with Cypriot citizenship. He was previously a co-founder of «Arax Holding», and from 2008 to November 2020, the sole founder and ultimate beneficiary of «Innovative Management Systems» LLC, registered at the hotel. Currently, the founders of «Innovative Management Systems» have only the Kamet Foundation.
Modern Art Hotel
According to the analytical system YouControl, the premises occupied by the hotel in the buildings at 26 and 28 Shevchenka Avenue, belong to Pavlo Dubnevych. Earlier, at least at the stage of restoration in 2018, they belonged, in addition to him, to his father – Bohdan Dubnevych (businessman, ex-MP, now head of Solonkivska regional territorial community near Lviv), and his mother – Tetiana Dubnevych.
Taurus City Hotel
The hotel building, erected on Knyazya Svyatoslava Square, 5 in the 2010s, belongs to the «Taurus Hotel Complex» LLC. The sole founder of the company is Yurii Kanyuk from Lviv, a developer who is building on the territory of the former Kinescope plant in Lviv.
Swiss Hotel
The hotel occupies two houses on Knyazya Romana Street, 20 in Lviv – №20 and №22. The owner of both is Natalia Horbachuk, registered in the village of Stare Selo in the Davydiv district (previously registered in Lviv and Sokal). She is engaged in the reconstruction of a hotel building on Zaliznychna, 30 in Lviv. According to the analytical system YouControl, Natalia Horbachuk is also a co-founder of Poltava-based «Sunrise Logistics» LLC, whose main activity is wholesale fuel trade, the founder of «Fruttosvit» farm in Mostyshchyna and the ultimate beneficiary of the Closed Non-Diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund «Onset Capital».
It should be noted that earlier, in early 2019, the hotel premises at Knyazya Romana Street, 20-22, according to investigative journalist project «Schemes», belonged to Natalia Lavreniuk, the civilian wife of Taras Kozak – a People’s Deputy from the pro-Russian party OPZZh who is sanctioned by the state for his anti-Ukrainian activity. According to the records in the State Register of Real Property Rights, Natalia Horbachuk became the owner of the hotel in October 2019.
Chopin Hotel
The building of the hotel on Yevhena Malaniuka Square, 7, as well as the land plot under it, belongs to Iryna Serdyuk (62% share) and Anastasia Tyrtychna (38% share). Iryna Serdyuk is an entrepreneur from Lviv, a deputy of the Lviv City Council of the previous convocation (2015-2020), elected from the «Civic Position» party. Iryna Serdyuk’s civilian husband, Oleksandr Smirnov, a member of the pro-Russian party OPZZh, is the head of several companies owned by Tyrtychna.
George Hotel
The hotel building at 1 Adama Mickiewicza Square is owned by «George Hotel Complex» LLC. The founder of the society is Olha Filatova-Kryvetska, the wife of Ihor Kryvetskyi, a Lviv businessman, a member of the political party «Svoboda», a People’s Deputy in 2012-2014.
Grand Hotel Lviv Luxury & Spa
The hotel consists of several buildings and premises at 11, 13, 13a and 15a Svobody Ave. The owner of them all is Sofiya Maksymets-Kozlovska, the daughter of Hryhoriy Kozlovskyi, a well-known Lviv-Vynnyky businessman, now a member of the regional council from the «European Solidarity» party, and formerly a member of the city council.
Vienna Hotel
Premises of the hotel in the house at 12 Svobody Ave. are owned by «Hotel Vienna». Volodymyr Hrubryn, a deputy of the Lviv City Council in 2010-2015 from the «Svoboda» party, has a 2% share in the company’s statutory fund. The rest (98%) are Canadian companies from Toronto, which is listed in the Ukrainian state register as CANCAMMER INS. Oksana Shlapak from Kyiv, Halyna Rudavska and Ivanna Mandyuk from Lviv are the final beneficiaries of Hotel Vienna through KANSAMER INS, while Rudavska and Mandyuk have the largest shares in the Canadian company. In January of this year, Oleh Mandyuk, Ivanna Mandyuk’s husband and former Consul General of Ukraine in Krakow and former deputy of the Lviv Regional Council, became the head of the Vienna Hotel. A year ago, little-known Canadian citizens were among the ultimate beneficiaries of the Vienna Hotel.
«Eurohotel»
The building of the hotel on street Tershakovtsiv, 6A is registered with «Eurohotel» LLC. The co-founders of the company are Lviv businessman Ihor Mashtaler (80%) and Svitlana Porayko (20%). Ihor Mashtaler’s wife, Irena Mashtaler, runs the hotel. Ihor Mashtaler also owns a 50% stake in the authorized capital of «Sykhiv-Service» LLC, which owns the building of the «Sonata Hotel» in Sykhiv.
Hotel Rudolfo / Boutique Hotel Rudolfo
The hotel is located in the former «Obukhivska building» at Virmenska Street, 4. The owner of the building is an Austrian citizen Franz Pisek (in German, his surname sounds like «Pizek»). He also owns eight apartments in the adjoining building on Virmenska Street, 6, and premises at 9a Krakivska Street, adjacent to both houses on Virmenska Street. The Austrian conducts woodworking business in Austria, Ukraine and Russia – in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia, where he is a co-founder of three companies. Notably, another citizen of Russia is one of the co-founders of «Dendro Industry» LLC, registered on Sq. Rynok, 28, in one of the apartments owned by an Austrian.
Vintage Boutique Hotel
The hotel occupies as many as three townhouses at the following addresses: Serbska Street, 11, and Staroyevreiska Street, 25 and 27. The hotel premises are registered with «Vintage Group» LLC. The founder of the company with a 100% stake is the Cypriot «Vengast Investments Limited», and the ultimate beneficiaries in the Ukrainian USR are Lviv residents Olena Vovk and Rostyslav Vovk (brother and sister). Olena Vovk and Rostyslav Vovk are also the final beneficiaries of PJSC «Enzyme Company», which specializes in the production of yeast and additives for bakery products, and «Kormotech» LLC, which specializes in the production of pet food.
Dmytro Borysov, translated by Vitalii Holich
Photos from Booking.com and official hotel websites
You can read a Ukrainian language version of this story here.
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Lviv Now is an English-language website for Lviv, Ukraine’s «tech-friendly cultural hub.» It is produced by Tvoe Misto («Your City») media-hub, which also hosts regular problem-solving public forums to benefit the city and its people.
