For the second time since Irpin’s de-occupation, the city has been paralyzed by traffic jams due to the complete closure of Hostomel Highway — one of its main arteries. The official reason is major repairs on the bridge over the Bucha River. However, it turned out that the real problem was caused by a café illegally built on the bypass road. That café belongs to the currently suspended mayor of Irpin, Oleksandr Markushyn.
A photo from the bridge repair site shows another crossing nearby. This is a road reserve lane — typically created for potential future road expansion or as a detour during repair work. Exactly the case here. But residents of Irpin cannot use this bypass. Why? Because at the entrance to this lane stands the “Hala-Bar” (formerly “Karavan-Hala”), which belongs to the currently suspended mayor of Irpin, Oleksandr Markushyn.
It was Markushyn who, back in September 2023 during the first bridge closure, claimed that creating a detour was technically impossible:
“There’s no way to drive through here… Technologically, the bridge is being fully dismantled and will be completely rebuilt.”
But the issue wasn’t technical — it was the illegally constructed building that no one wanted to remove.
According to the Land Code of Ukraine, occupying or using land from a road reserve without the appropriate authorization is a legal violation. Moreover, this plot falls within the protective zone of a high-pressure gas pipeline that runs nearby. Using such land for private construction or any other commercial purpose without coordination is strictly prohibited.
How Markushyn managed to obtain all the necessary permits is not hard to guess. Meanwhile, residents of Irpin are the ones suffering — forced to spend hours stuck in traffic every morning and evening.
It’s also worth noting that the reconstruction of “Hala-Bar” after the hostilities was carried out using construction materials purchased with public funds, as well as donations from charitable organizations — including support from the International Organization for Migration. Municipal equipment was also used. How private business was rebuilt with public resources is, again, not difficult to figure out — especially when the owner at the time was Markushyn.