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As one of the oldest cities in Europe, Kiev possesses beautiful historical districts with architecture and monuments dating back to the eleventh century. The origins of Eastern Slavs are rooted in Kiev, which was founded as the capital of Kiev-Russia during the tenth century. An Old Russian proverb says if Moscow is the heart of Russia and St. Petersburg is its head, then Kiev is its mother.  Even during the Russian-dominated Soviet Union, the Ukrainian capital was considered the third great city of the empire (after Moscow and Leningrad).  For a millennium, Kiev has acted as the as Europe’s a gate way to the Middle East and Asia.  With a population of 2.6 million, the city is large enough to be cosmopolitan, but still retains a friendly sense of the country-side with many parks and forests.  Over the last five years, Kiev has shown signs of market reform and has experienced an economic upswing, which in turn has caused a building boom along with a mass privatization of apartments, stores, and cafes.  Historical Districts Currently there is forty million square meters of residential real-estate in Kiev, however only two million is located in the historical downtown districts, as the great majority live in the giant soviet block that dominate the suburbs.  There are three major historical districts: Khreshchatik, Podil, and Pechersk.  Khreshchatik Khreshchatik lies in a valley on the bluffs of the Dnipro River and serves as Kiev’s business and city center. It is a popular shopping and people watching district as well.  Khreshchatik Boulevard features huge Stalin-style architecture and wide tree-lined walking areas. The valley's name comes from the Slavic word khreshchata (crossed) because of the many ravines that once crossed it.  Podil The name originates from the old Slavic word ‘podol’ which means lowlands; and as expected, Podil runs flat along side the Dnipro River and originally served as the city’s river port populated by craftsmen, merchants and fishermen.  Present-day Podil is home to well-to-do students the artists.  Podil’s narrow, quaint streets of two story buildings gives you a sense of life in Old Kiev before the revolution, and is in contrast to Khreshchatik, which is dominated by the monumental architecture of the Stalinist Era.  Pechersk Pechersk is the highest district in Kiev situated on the hill just south of Kreshatik. This area was built up in 16th century, and during soviet times was home the governmental bureaucracy.  The same holds true today as the Ukrainian Parliament (Verhona Rada) is set in the middle of this district.

The city of Kiev was founded by Swedish Vikings in the 10th century and was first established as a trading outpost to Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire. Kiev was the first capital  of Russia. The city flourished as a trading city from the tenth to mid-thirteenth century, but was invaded by Mongol warriors beginning in the early 1200s - Kiev declined in importance thereafter.

Like most other countries of the former Soviet Union, Ukraine is having a tough time ridding itself of old soviet bureaucracy. One of the greatest obstacles to buying real-estate in Kiev is the amount red tape.  However, it is manageable if you have patience and a good lawyer. To get a better idea of what it is like to buy an apartment in Kiev, I interviewed Joe Bearden, an American who recently bought an apartment in the city with his Ukrainian wife Lena.  Joe’s advice is to hire a good lawyer, even if s/he charges a hefty fee. 

Utility Bills

The buyer of the apartment will inherit any unpaid bills on apartment.  This is a concern because Many Ukrainians have not paid their utility bills for years. Most aparment buildings still run on the soviet central planning system, which encourages free loading since heat, electricity and water cannot be cut off to any one individual apartment, but instead the whole apartment building is one unit.  A competent lawyer should make sure that you don’t pay these bills. 

Ownership Titles

Because of a lack of legal infrastructure and disrespect for individual rights, business is conducted through personal relations, making it very difficult to come into the country and buy property.  In speaking with Nataliya Aprosina, a Ukrainian who bought an apartment in Kiev four years ago, said that “finding a well-connected real-estate agency is essential, as it is impossible to check the legal status of an apartment without an agency.”  It is wise to err on the side of caution in this matter, since many downtown apartments are owned by very poor and desperate families who may be in business of selling their apartment with phony papers and latter legally reclaiming it as their own.
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One of the reasons that Kiev was so important was because the River Dnieper ran through it on its way to the Black Sea. It's interesting to note that Russia's rivers don't begin in the mountains but rather in marshes and this is why they were so easy to trade on and navigate.

Building Code Many Kiev residences have built out of place buildings without authorization, and others have extended balconies and built on the sidewalk to make small stores. All of which is illegal but not enforced until the owner sells the property.  Joe explained that “we bought a gutted house, but the formers owners did not have permission to do that. And so in closing there were some complications because you are not allowed to buy or sell a house in the city unless all the repairs have been approved. So if someone has installed a balcony or moved a gas line and didn’t have permission from ZHEK (the Ukrainian Housing Department), then they legally can’t sell their apartment and you can’t legally buy it. So you have to make sure that the seller’s paper work is straight, and this can take some work.”  The rules are not designed to be fair or stable, they are just capricious. You can have a lot of problems trying to keep track of the changes in regulation. For example, taxes are double if the entrance of the property is from the street rather than from within the building itself.  Residence and businesspeople have now reacted quickly, inventing all kinds of side entrances and fake hallways to get around this regulation.  Lack of Legal System & Corruption According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the greatest deterrents to investment in Ukraine is the lack of an impartial judiciary, meaning that if you have to go to court, you cannot necessarily expect justice to prevail. The line between fraudulence and legality is fuzzy.  It may be hard to get a strait answer and even harder to get a judge to rule in your favor with out a sufficient bribe. Fortunately, the corruption has not been as bad in the home real-estate market.  Joe was proud that he didn’t have to bribe anybody, but admitted that a bribe or two may have made the process go faster.  He said “I have learned that you can get through it legally and ethically.” Fortunately, ZHEK is not as corrupt with paper work, and sometimes they are even friendly.

Joe said that his biggest headache was transferring money.  “We paid hefty service charges and used a non-Ukrainian bank that is used to doing international transactions.  I would be scared to try these kinds of transactions through a Ukrainian bank, and of course their fees for transfers are much higher.”

New Ukrainians (Local Elite)

Many newly well-to-do Ukrainians (so-called New Ukrainians) buy apartments and buildings in the historical districts and restore them, without first consulting an architect.  As a result, buildings throughout the city have collapsed or cracked while attempting to transform them into “elite” residential estates.  New Ukrainians have a set mind of grandeur.  For the New Russian it is fashionable to have a ten step entrance; it is cool to have an elevator (which of course requires at minimum a three or four story apartment); and it is essential to have a spiral staircase leading up to a tower structure with a bell in it.   This possibly reflects the psyche of the New Ukrainian kings who acquired money during disintegration of the Soviet Union and now have to protect it, so symbolically, the house is built like a castle. 

There is also a widespread trend amongst New Ukrainians to build an “architectural masterpiece” in the marshy flood plains of the Dnipro River. On a comical note, the so-called ‘big chair’ officials joke that they don’t have to impose building regulations on these mansions because nature with do this for them.
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After being suppressed by totalitarian socialism, the fantasies of the New Ukrainians know no limits and will defy the laws of nature to create miracles of gaudy gothic castles in competition for the number of rooms and forget that you have to heat these rooms.  Concisions  Buying a home in Kiev is still very affordable, but because of the unknowns associated with Ukraine, you must take into consideration the following or your plans.  First, do not try to go after miracles and follow the sober mind.  Research the phycial area, because you don’t want to end up on a flood plan in Podil or old cemetery or next to a major electricity line.  Joe said “the process of finding an apartment was a headache as there was a certain body of apartments that for various reasons are on the market and stay on the market. Either the agent is incompetent and has the sole license to sell that apartment, or there is something wrong with the apartment that they don’t tell you. So going through the ads it looked like we were going through a list of apartments that were not any good and this is because these are the ones that simply stay on the market, and the good ones come on to the market and are sold fairly quickly.” There is Russian proverb “any silly wish for your money,” and as long as you are paying, construction companies and architects will fulfill whatever fantasy without considering any building codes or engineering standards. Third go through an agent and have a good lawyer. Be careful, take it slow, make sure you have some one who speaks the language and has your interests at heart, and then make sure they know a lawyer who is in the business. It is worth paying the fee for a good lawyer because there are constantly pitfalls that could of cost us a lot of money and time.

The Russians received their Christianity from the Greek influenced Byzantine Empire rather than Rome. The conversion occurred in 987 when Prince Vladimir and his warriors were baptised by the Greek clergy. The Russian Orthodox Church believes in complete resignation from the here and now and many of the clergy live hermit-like lives. It was the Church in Russia that opened up Siberia.

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Finally, buying a home in Kiev is more difficult than in the States because there are more pointless regulations and paperwork. And if you don’t have some one competent to guide you through that you can kiss it good bye. 

Tax Break: There is a 3% Ukrainian pension fund tax that foreigners are not required to pay when buying their first apartment. However, If you pln to buy a second apartment apartment, then this 3% tax applies.

Jason Jones can be contacted at the following: Jason_jones1@hotmail.com

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