Buildings rented by Burger King and KFC may be demolished in Minsk

Minsk authorities demand that the private unitary enterprise ReviTAr Invest demolished the buildings situated near the entrances to the metro stations Ushod, Pushkinskaya and Kamennaya Horka. The buildings were constructed without permission, officials claimed. ReviTarInvest refused to demolish its cafés situated near the entrance to the metro station Ushod in 2015, Radio Liberty reports. The Serbian company Zomex Investment (belonging to the major investor Dana Holdings that is controlled by businessmen Bogoljub and Dragomir Dragomir Karić who know Alyaksandr Lukashenka personally) demanded it. All the problems started after that.

The Serbian developer does not want anyone to be nearby, owner of ReviTarInvest Syarhei Tarasyuk said. It was impossible to agree on compensation (“We will demolish you and that’s it.”) His company has built dozens of structures in the capital and the construction of all of them was authorized by Minsk City Executive Committee, Tarasyuk stressed. However, the committee has sent him a letter about ‘structures built without permission’.

“They suggested that we evaluated them and paid the market value to the city budget,” Tarasyuk said. “It means that we should buy our own buildings at a market price.  The decision was made by some higher authorities, they told us. We organized a dozen of meetings and hired lawyers. Yet, the authorities have cancelled their own decisions about allocating the plots and the right for construction to us.  But the buildings have already been built and we are using them.”

Minsk authorities have not violated the law when they cancelled their decisions, the court announced. The court has not obliged them to demolish the buildings so the demands of Minsk City Executive Committee have not been fulfilled, ReviTarInvest owner noted. “The situation is vague,” Syarhei Tarasyuk said. The company is waiting for the reply of the General Prosecutor’s Office. The President's business development council has supported the Belarusian businessman.