The owners of a fitness club in Kyiv lost control of their firm when another one, with political connections, walked in and took over. It is one of many examples of corruption that is undoing Kyiv’s move westward.

The trouble started at the end of 2016, when the Ryabchenko family – which owns the Sofiyskiy Fitness Center – was told by a company unknown to them called BF Group that they were in default on a $15-million (13.8-million euro) loan.

Property rights to the club – which the BF group said were collateral on the loan – were then seized and the BF Group took over the mortgage and the property rights of the club.

Officers of the Security Police of Ukraine and security guards hired by BF Group are now sitting inside the building behind welded bars.

The BF Group is run by Yuriy Hryshchenko, an aide to People’s Front MP Andriy Ivanchuk.

“On May 24 they entered with 30 armed policemen, blocked all entrances, did not let our lawyer in, barricaded themselves inside our office with all the accounting and all operating documents inside, and then literally carried my mom and me out of the premise,” owner Iryna Ryabchenko told DW. “They’ve simply stolen our home.”

Ryabchenko says BF Group won’t even agree to rent the space to her sports club while the dispute is being resolved. She claims that the BF Group told her it would make the building the People’s Front headquarters.

Property is theft

The case highlights a growing trend in Ukraine.

“This a huge trend,” Ryabchenko says. “Paper ownership deeds are replaced by electronic ones where anyone can have access and change owners of property, companies, land etc. All you need is a corrupt notary that has an access key to the registry. All of them do it. Private property is not protected,” she says.

SkyMall, ZhytomitskinLasoshi and Hotel Lybid have all also faced similar questions.

In April, Ukraine’s battle against entrenched corruption appeared to take a step forward when a senior state energy executive was detained shortly after an ally of former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was taken into custody.

But the IMF, US and EU have voiced concern that continued corruption threatens to undo Ukraine’s pro-Western trajectory and disillusion the population after the downfall of Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.

L’etat c’est moi

“By showing that when one party controls the ministry of justice, internal affairs, prosecutors and justice they become the law. They become justice,” Ryabchenko says.