The Kyiv municipal enterprise ‘Kyivteploenergo’ has filed a complaint with the police against activists who prevented the felling of over 600 trees along the route of a planned heating pipeline in the Teremky district. The defenders of the green space have yet to see any documents authorising the felling of the trees.
This was reported by the ‘Golka’ civic initiative.
According to the campaigners, they have been demanding documents from the Kyiv City State Administration for a month and a half that would confirm the legality of the felling. These could include a tree-felling order, a decision by the Kyiv City Council authorising the laying of a heating network through the park, or an easement approved by the council granting ‘Kyivteploenergo’ the right to lay a pipe there.
However, instead of responding, the authorities decided to take a ‘creative’ approach.
"When you can’t convince the community with arguments, show them documents or propose a sensible solution, you can always take a different route — file a criminal complaint against the activists. That is exactly what representatives of ‘Kyivteploenergo’ did: today they filed a complaint against me, my friend Kateryna Chepura and a number of other people I don’t even know, on the grounds that at the end of July (they lied about that too) we demanded that work in the park be halted,” wrote Natalia Chernyshova in her post.
When there are no other arguments
This is a fairly common practice on the part of the authorities or property developers, says lawyer Yuriy Melnyk. He cites some fairly recent examples — lawsuits against journalist Olena Mudra, who campaigns to protect the Carpathians, and Svitlana Kuraksina, head of the NGO ‘Guardians’, who is defending the Zhikharsky Forest in Kharkiv from the expansion of a quarry.
"Such actions are often intended to have a so-called chilling effect on the community, so that fewer people are willing to resist. Despite the war, citizens are finding the strength to protect valuable natural resources, whilst unscrupulous businesses or the authorities, instead of seeking dialogue, are spending resources on opposing the community, which essentially fills the budget and funds the work of municipal services,” said Yuriy Melnyk.
"Holka" sought a comment from "Kyivteploenergo", but the company has not yet responded.
The dispute over the park in Teremky has reached such proportions that in August even the new Prime Minister, Serhiy Koretskyi, met with the activists. However, as this was a closed-door meeting, no details are known.
As a reminder, in early August, the local authorities began felling trees in Teremky. A total of 662 trees were scheduled for felling, including oaks over 100 years old. The reason given was to prepare for the laying of a backup heating pipeline.
People were outraged by the barbaric felling of the trees and took to the streets in protest. The police forcibly removed them from there.
Subsequently, the city authorities met with activists on several occasions and even temporarily suspended the felling. During this hiatus, they were apparently looking for alternative routes. The community provided them, but the Kyiv City State Administration rejected all the proposals.
On 14 September, the contractor’s vehicles drove into Teremky once again.
In addition to refusing to explore alternative, more environmentally friendly routes and altering the original route, which was intended to run along Teremkivska Street, the public discovered that the administration had failed to comply with the terms of the government pilot scheme, under which trees were felled without the necessary permits. In particular, the City Sustainability Plan had not been approved by the National Security and Defence Council.
