The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) conducted a search in the apartment of the founder of the UFuture holding, Vasyl Khmelnytsky, the businessman himself has said on Facebook.

"In the office, I found out I have guests from NABU at my house. Unfortunately, days of demonstrative searches after nights of missile attacks have become a tradition for Ukrainian entrepreneurs. This visit of law enforcement agencies to me concerns a case that has been under investigation for more than four years. All these years I have been in Kyiv and have not been hiding from anyone. Investigative experiments and interrogations have already been performed more than once," Khmelnytsky wrote.

He said that the case concerns a piece of land that Khmelnytsky and his partner purchased for building a new modern school at an open auction, paying the full cost (UAH 18.9 million) and receiving ownership rights.

"For us, it is a fully social project, not a business. It is access to quality school education that paves the way for real transformations and reforms in the long term for Ukraine. In the short term, Kyiv, through private investment, receives the necessary infrastructure for a comfortable life for citizens, and the inhabitants of the residential complex receive an additional advantage," he wrote.

The businessman said that the court confirmed the lawfulness of acquiring the land plot at an auction and concluding a sale and purchase agreement.

"But NABU believes that the price was too low," Khmelnytsky said.

According to the businessman, in accordance with the urban planning documentation, commercial or residential real estate cannot be placed at this address, which explains the contract price.

The company told Interfax-Ukraine that in July 2018, the state-owned enterprise of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Inform-Resources held an open auction for the sale of real estate belonging to it. The sale price was determined by an independent subject of appraisal activity attracted by the seller and approved by the State Property Fund of Ukraine. The site was purchased by PERSEVSTROY LLC, a company from the UFuture holding, for the construction of the second building of the innovative educational project, the Novopecherska School.

"The court confirmed the lawfulness of the acquisition and conclusion of the Purchase and Sale Agreement. Yes, the tax office tried to invalidate the Sale and Purchase Agreement. However, the Economic Court of Kyiv dismissed the claim. The decision was left unchanged by the court of appeal and is valid. The Supreme Court refused to open proceedings on a tax complaint. NABU participated in the trial as a third party on the side of the plaintiff," the UFuture press service reported.

The company added that to implement the school expansion project, in addition to acquiring real estate, resources have already been spent on the development of several business models, the creation of a separate project team, additional teachers and methodologists were hired and an audit of the school's activities was conducted, and pre-project documentation was developed.

"In addition, the management has taken measures to obtain a loan from the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank," the press service said.

The company added that information from open sources is known that the funds paid by PERSEVSTROY LLC for real estate have been squandered, but the conscientious buyer has nothing to do with these actions.

Khmelnytsky said that in the war conditions, it is necessary to stop the mass practice of so-called "mask shows" and the intimidation of business. "All the entrepreneurs remaining in the country, believe me, are 100% patriots and ready for a civilized dialog. Only in recent months I have learned about dozens of similar cases with demonstrative searches of respected entrepreneurs. Ukrainian society and foreign investors see this negative trend. There is a sincere hope that the government listens to the voice of business because defeating an external enemy and developing Ukraine's economy is possible only by joining forces," he said.

Khmelnytsky said he was not going to flee anywhere and was ready to answer all questions.