The business of a member of Lukashenka's hockey team, who promised to build a ski arena behind the Supreme Court in exchange for prime plots, has collapsed

As Nasha Niva learned, in mid-July, almost simultaneously — with a two-day difference — two companies well-known in narrow circles filed for bankruptcy: OJSC "Intekhnabud Invest" and OJSC "ZaslaulBudInvest."

The first company has an outstanding debt of 74 thousand rubles to creditors, the second — 503 thousand rubles.

The central figures of these interconnected companies are entrepreneur Hleb Vainouski and former professional hockey player and, until recently, a player for Lukashenka's team, Siarhei Shytkouski.

During periods of economic booms, the simplest way to obtain land for development in the capital was to have Lukashenka sign a decision with the help of a so-called "favor" (хода) — an athlete close to him, preferably a hockey player. Thus, hockey players also became developers, and mediocre businessmen became major metropolitan developers. In principle, the alliance of Shytkouski and Vainouski fully fits this categorization.

To implement the scheme, even a large starting capital was not required: essentially, construction was financed by equity holders who brought their own or bank money even at the foundation pit stage.

Many such pairs emerged in the market. And so, in 2018, Vainouski and Shytkouski convinced Lukashenka to grant them several plots for development in the capital, and as payment for this generosity, they were supposed to build a Ski Arena behind the Supreme Court building on Arlouskaya Street.

It was assumed that the object's area would be 23 thousand square meters. Inside, a sub-zero temperature would be maintained year-round to ensure the operation of a multi-level ski track, snowboard slopes, skating rinks, and so on.

Павялічыць

It can be assumed that the permission to start construction of residential complexes on the capital's Chyhunachnaya Street was directly linked to the start of the arena's construction, but this did not happen: the site behind the Supreme Court was only fenced off, a couple of excavators were brought in, and a few pits were dug for show. But nothing more than that.

The businessmen evidently intended to finance the complex's construction largely from equity holders' money — at a price per square meter in Minsk of $900 (at the foundation pit stage) in 2019, the 115 thousand square meters that Shytkouski and Vainouski planned to build would have been enough for several ski arenas. However, due to obvious socio-political reasons, by the time the documentation was ready, they could not implement the scheme as it had worked before 2020.

A stalemate situation arose, which was resolved as follows: in 2024, the authorities took back the plot behind the Supreme Court. The plot for development on Chyhunachnaya Street, on the site of the demolished "Santekhdetal" factory, can also be assumed to have been seized — instead of the announced "Belyia Sady" residential complex, another one, "Kazakhstan Quarter," will appear there, built by a different developer, and apartments will be offered to those on the waiting list.

Siarhei Shytkouski also disappeared from the roster of Lukashenka's national hockey team.

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