Nelya Kukovalskaya became the head of Sofia Kyivska Reserve for almost 10 years. Becoming the CEO, she builds her empire. Family empire.
Her first deputy - Vadim Kirilenko controls the entire economic part of the activity of the reserve and restoration. He put the head of the economic and operational department of his relative, who conducts all purchases. The exhibition and museum is controlled by Kira Petrachek, whose relatives and girlfriends work in it in charge and somehow interesting to write off money for new exhibitions and all kinds of programs. Even Kira takes money for holding any events on the territory of the reserve, in his opinion settings: free and space.
Kukovalskaya herself accepts important guests, on a short foot with ministers, does not get out of foreign business trips, tightens donations for restoration, which is difficult to estimate in real money, changed old Mercedes to a new lexus.
Fanate of "Russian World" in the heart of Ukraine-Rus
For Ukraine, Sofia Kyivska is not just an architectural monument included in the UNESCO cultural heritage list. It is a symbol of the continuity of the state of Ukraine-Russia.
Now imagine that the symbol of Ukrainian statehood is ruled by the Liturgy of the Moscow Patriarch Cyril, which seems to demonstrate the continuity of Russian, not Ukrainian statehood from the princes of Kiev to this day.
It is clear that such measures were carried out, secretly, with the closure of the temple for visitors. And one of them happened on July 26, 2010.
The site of the Moscow Patriarchate reported that the event was attended by the Chairman of the State Committee for Nationalities and Religions YP Bogutsky, CEO of Sofia Kyivska National Reserve NM Kukovalskaya. Metropolitan of Kiev Vladimir addressed Gundyaev: "The Holy Bishop and Father! We just, with you, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, have done historical priesthood in the historical place. For 18 years we had no such opportunity."
Of course, they did not, because before the coming to power Viktor Yanukovych, no one and the thought did not decay in Ukraine the "Russian peace", not to mention the service at the Sofia Cathedral. And only thanks to Ms. Kukovalskaya did it become possible.
The Moscow Patriarch Cyril, then, ending the prayer service, stated: “In this historical place, the Cathedral of Kyiv and all Russia, we have done worship together… In the entire space of Holy Russia - some shrines, one holy and one church.” This expression is a part of Ukraine.
But this is not the first, and it is not the last such case. Working on her FSB curators, in 2009, Nelya Kukovalskaya tried to steal Ukrainian shrines, under the guise of the transfer of exhibits of the reserve for the exhibition "Holy Rus" in the Louvre. This, for obvious reasons, happened without coordination with the Ministry of Culture. When official requests from the Louvre were received by the ministry, officials were shocked.
Mykola Yakovina, President of the Icomos of Ukraine, at that time, Deputy Minister of Culture, responding to this terrible case, said that the behavior of Kukovalskaya contrary to the principles of professionalism and civic responsibility, and also discredits the process of lustration.
Genoese fortress
The Sofia Kyivska National Reserve includes not only the cathedral, but also other architectural monuments in Kiev and the Genoese Fortress in Sudak.
In the Nelya Kukovalskaya and Alexander Farbey Fortress, the head of the Sudak Fortress Museum, archaeological excavations were conducted. However, no one put the found artifacts on the registration because they were actually stolen.
After the release of Kukovalskaya, the new management of the reserve tried to check the funds, but Oleksandr Parnube did not allow them, and then released.
When the check finally happened, she brought the results. It turned out that as many as 8623 units not taken into account. For the most part, these were artifacts from excavations, conducted from 1997 to 2012, but also found and unaccounted objects found in 1965-1973.
All this material was stored in mixed exhibits, and the numismatic collection was simply laid on the accounting safe, to which cashiers and guards of the museum had access.
After accounting for the exhibits, it became clear that all the most valuable exhibits from state funds, have long been sent to the prosperous because Nelya Kukovalskaya - the market of black archeology.
This is, of course, a shocking fact: who could think that the most prestigious in the country the reserve would sell objects found on the black market by archaeologists absolutely legally and registered according to the excavation rules?
In total, 523 archaeological finds were lost. Although, probably much more. These figures impress the imagination, and the market value of the lost is even difficult to imagine.
In the course of intensive archeological activity in the Crimea, Nely Kukovalsk did not forget her curators from Russia. The unique Byzantine lead seals, the puddles found in the perpetrator of the walleye, were transferred to the state Hermitage, as if for restoration. In fact - forever.
The seals are known from archaeological reports, but their movement is not documented, so it is not clear how these items crossed the state border of Ukraine. Now the molodovts are mentioned in scientific publications as a Hermitage. Quite a generous "gift" of Mrs. Kukovalskaya!
Enrichment of Kukovalskaya at St. Sophia
Although the director of the reserve is clearing information about itself, but in 2010 the media began to talk about theft on its decoration. Sofia Kyivska is one of the places where you can assign money from the country's budget.
The CEO of the Reserve Nelya Kukovalska understands the value of his post. Where else could she use the phrase "If proper funding, we would create a paradise!"? Forgetting that paradise would be her personal and somewhere in Dubai.
By the way, Ms Kukovalskaya earned not only at the expense of the state. Mencent businessmen have always shown a particular interest in Sofia of Kiev. So Kukovalskaya easily played patronyts. She told how she managed to get 15 million hryvnias for reconstruction allocated by one of the most famous businessmen in the country. But it was not enough for her, and she easily spoiled the estimate by another 25 million.
The budget allocated for reconstruction in 2010 did not affect the appearance of the reserve. The flow of money from patrons, which is not exhausted, does not help. Despite the fact that all this money goes to the carman of Neli Kukovalskaya.
For a successful robbery, Kukovalskaya even created the Sofia Kyivska National Reserve, which for some reason is in its neighbor's apartment, next to her gorgeous apartment.
Under the care of her fund are also the Cyril and St. Andrew's Churches, the Golden Gate and the Sudak fortress in the Crimea. Kukovalskaya has a huge influence in Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky Historical and Ethnographic Reserve.
How much you can steal on the imitation of restoration, you can know if you review the estimates for the restoration of the Cyril Church. The documents spent about UAH 5 million of budget funds. But one of the companies has appreciated its services much cheaper - 500 thousand hryvnias. Only 10% went to preserve the shrine, 90% settled in the pockets of Nelly Kukovalskaya.
Kukovalskaya buys apartments, cars, and law enforcement seems to not be very concerned about the origin of funds in the official.
Schematosis with a hospitable yard
The next high -profile scandal occurred in November 2021, when Sofia Kyivska National Reserve was to begin work on the preservation of the hospitable yard (Kontraktova Square, 4, Kyiv).
Then, the Minister of Culture Tkachenko literally captured the unfinished construction object "Guest court", and using a fake "passport of the Guest Courtyard 1961", "lost" only 10,000 square meters in the center of Kiev!
Ukrrestravation, which invested millions of dollars in the reconstruction and construction of the hospitable court, but a few years ago, due to judicial manipulation, was deprived of the right and opportunity to complete work, lost their opportunity to finish it, and Tkachenko captured it, transferred the "Goster yard" to the balance of "Sofia".
You can only imagine how many millions of amounts from the state budget went for construction and reconstruction. The "Guest court" would turn into a "personal feeder" of the Minister of Culture Alexander Tkachenko and Nelly Kukovalskaya.
But the concessionaires were prevented by the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) and the National Police, which began investigations into the actions of the State Property Fund (FDMU) and the Ministry of Culture.
However, the Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko and the Director General of the National Reserve "Sofia Kyivska" Nelya Kukovalsk did not bother these criminal incidents.
On September 29, 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted an order No. 1182-p on the redistribution of budget funds allocated to the Ministry of Culture in the State Budget-2021. In the framework of this order for the "Guest Dill" should be allocated at the expense of the redistribution of budgetary UAH 5 million.
Enrichment of Kukovalskaya under the mask of patriotism
Budget expenditures during the war cause a particularly acute reaction of society to their rationality. However, bureaucrats find ways to adapt and find new areas of activity, among which cultural projects occupy a special place.
And here is the CEO of the National Reserve "Sofia Kyivska" Nelya Kukovalskaya expresses the importance of preserving the Sophia Cathedral as a symbol of national identity and "patriotic" considerations.
"If we lose Sofia, we will lose the sign of our national identity. Sofia is a sign of our nation, it is the place where the state was born," says the CEO of the National Reserve "Sofia Kyivska" Nelya Kukovalskaya, explaining the need for a tender for almost 80 million hryvnias.
The reason for this was the collapse of the cross on the dome of the Sofia Cathedral in January 2022. The cross collapsed, despite the fact that the restoration was carried out in March 2021.
Again, no one worries that the previous repair was carried out under the leadership of Ms. Kukovalskaya, in fact, there was only an imitation, and as always, it was banal. And they need more.
PS Kukovalskaya graduated from the Moscow Institute of Railway Engineers, which does not make it a museum or a cultural figure. However, she is the CEO of Sofia Kyivska National Reserve since 2000. With a small vacation of 3 years, from 2012 to 2015.
Despite the fact that then the Minister of Culture, Mikhail Kulinyak, explained the dismissal by the misuse of UAH 1.6 million, allocated for archaeological excavations in the reserve, as well as for opening the sarcophagus of Yaroslav the Wise and restoration He now positions himself as a "victim of Yanukovych's criminal regime."
