Are the community's funds going to a private owner? What did Kim say about "Vodoliy" and the "Metallurg" hotel?

During the final briefing of the former head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration Vitaliy Oleksandrovych Kim, a journalist raised the question about the fate of the social facilities that were previously associated with the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant.

It concerned the hotel “Metallurg” and the sports-and-swimming complex “Vodoliy” in the Korabelnyi district of Mykolaiv. According to the journalist, about 20 years ago these facilities were separated from the industrial giant and ended up in private hands.

The journalist also noted that after the transfer of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant into state ownership, discussions have mainly focused on the plant’s production capacities, the red sludge and the future privatization of the plant. Meanwhile, the issue of the plant’s former social infrastructure has effectively remained out of attention.

During the briefing the journalist asked Vitaliy Oleksandrovych Kim in detail whether it would be possible to return the “Metallurg” hotel, the “Vodoliy” complex and other former social facilities of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant to the ownership of the Mykolaiv community.

“There are a lot of conversations around the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant right now. Even 20 years ago this giant was fragmented: the ‘Metallurg’ hotel, the sports complex, the ‘Vodoliy’ swimming pool somehow ended up in private hands. Now the beneficiary is based in Cyprus, and nobody raises this topic because now it’s about the sludge, production capacities, and the social facilities that were removed 20 years ago are left with nothing. And it turns out that now the same ‘Vodoliy’ is parasitizing on the municipal funds of the Mykolaiv community because it receives huge money in rent. Is there any option to return these social facilities to the Mykolaiv community?”

In response Vitaliy Oleksandrovych Kim stated that the state must act strictly within the law. According to him, court cases around these facilities have already taken place, many of which were lost.

“We are a rule-of-law state. I cannot be held responsible for the actions of the leadership 20 years ago. So there were courts, and many were lost. So even if you really want to, the law says that this is how it must be done. How it will go further, I do not know.”

After that, the journalist clarified with Vitaliy Oleksandrovych Kim whether such an answer means that the question of returning “Vodoliy” and the “Metallurg” hotel is already finally closed.

“Is the topic already closed or not?”

Vitaliy Oleksandrovych Kim replied that the issue was raised and rechecked again last year. According to him, in theory the return of the property could be considered through international judicial bodies, but this should be done by the state.

“We only initiated and rechecked it last year. So theoretically it is possible through international courts, but that will be done exclusively by the state.”

At the same time Vitaliy Oleksandrovych Kim did not name specific court cases that had already been lost, did not specify who the parties in those proceedings were, and did not say whether new lawsuits have been prepared.

Also, in his answer it did not become clear who currently legally owns the “Metallurg” hotel and the “Vodoliy” complex, which companies own these facilities and whether their ties with the structures of the Russian oligarch Oleg Volodymyrovych Deripaska or the company “Rusal” are preserved.

The Mykolaiv Alumina Plant itself has already passed into state ownership. In March 2024, its corporate rights were registered to the State Property Fund of Ukraine after the confiscation of assets linked to Oleg Volodymyrovych Deripaska.

However, from Vitaliy Oleksandrovych Kim‘s reply it does not follow that along with the plant the state received the “Metallurg” hotel or the “Vodoliy” complex. On the contrary, the issue of these facilities remains a separate legal matter which, according to the official, has already gone through courts.

In fact Vitaliy Oleksandrovych Kim acknowledged that a theoretical possibility of returning the former social infrastructure of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant to the community still exists. However, he did not provide any concrete plan, timelines or confirmation of the initiation of an international legal process.

Previously we wrote:

• Once the pride of the Korabelnyi district, and now a ‘survival quest’: what happened near ‘Vodoliy’
• Mykolaiv ‘mermaids’ from Korabelnyi back on the podium: synchronized swimmers brought awards from Lviv
• Synchronized swimmers from the Korabelnyi district conquered the Ukrainian Championship in Kyiv
• Swimmers from the Korabelnyi district loudly made a name for themselves at an all-Ukrainian tournament
• The Mykolaiv Alumina Plant is suing its own fund for UAH 10.2 million over an unfinished sports ground in Korabelnyi