Businessman Korohodskyi is ready to lead Kyiv: why he is going into politics and how he will govern the capital
14 April 22:46
Kyiv businessman Garik Korogodsky has announced his readiness to run for mayor of the capital. In an interview with journalist Natalia Moseychuk, he confirmed that he is considering running for office and is confident that he can offer Kyiv an alternative management model based on “pragmatism, transparency and common sense,” Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
According to Korogodsky, the main thing in the race for mayor is not PR, but the result, measured by the “happiness rating” of Kyiv residents.
“City Hall as a corporation”: Korohodskyi’s approach to managing the capital
Korohodskyi’s approach to city governance is openly businesslike: a clear structure, measurable indicators, constant feedback, and personal responsibility for failures.
“My program will consist of many components: air, Dnipro, transportation, construction, etc. But the key thing is that at the end there will be an indicator that I consider the most important – the happiness rating. This is not my fantasy, but a real international index of quality of life,” he said.
Korogodsky says he is not interested in political intrigue and is not going to “fight the system” – he wants to set up the system the way businesses are set up: efficiently and transparently. He says that he is ready to use all his experience and connections to turn Kyiv into a truly modern and manageable metropolis.
The first step is a total audit
According to the entrepreneur, the transformation of the city should begin with the most basic thing: understanding what the city has in the first place.
“The first step is a full audit. Invite one or two or three companies from the Big Four (PwC, Deloitte, EY, KPMG) to take an inventory of the city’s property, unfinished buildings, assets, and liabilities. Only then will it be possible to understand what Kyiv really owns,” the businessman says.
Korogodsky emphasizes that trust in the government begins with transparency, and that is why the audit should be external, professional and published in full.
He also considers it unacceptable that unfinished buildings have been standing in the city center for years, disfiguring the appearance of the capital and at the same time hindering its economic and social development.
“We need to sit down with the owners of these facilities and reach an agreement. Either the city buys them out and demolishes them, or they complete them. But it should not be possible for a building to be abandoned for 20 years,” says the potential candidate.
What the businessman says about the current leadership of the capital
Korogodsky does not hide his criticism of the current city leadership. In his opinion, Kyiv is developing poorly: infrastructure is degrading, decisions are made spontaneously, many districts remain depressed, and investors are in no hurry to enter the city’s economy because of non-transparent rules of the game.
He emphasizes that Kyiv’s problems are not unique, but they can be solved by applying managerial approaches and abandoning political populism.
What is the “happiness rating”?
The idea of assessing the effectiveness of city authorities through a happiness index deserves special attention. In global practice, there is the so-called World Happiness Report, which assesses such parameters as the level of trust, access to healthcare, environment, income, security, and the level of citizen involvement in decision-making.
Korogodsky believes that this indicator can be adapted for Kyiv and published annually in the public domain – by district, direction, and age group.
“We need to evaluate not how many kilometers of roads have been repaired, but how comfortable it is for people to live in the city. This will be the real KPI for the mayor and his team,” he says.
What you need to know about Garik Korogodsky
Grigory (Garik) Korogodsky is a well-known Ukrainian businessman, writer and philanthropist. He is widely known as a co-owner of the Dream Town shopping and entertainment center in Kyiv and as the founder of the Zhyttieliub Foundation, which supports the elderly.
Career and business
Korogodsky started his business in the 1990s by trading oil products. His company, Alfa-Nafta, supplied fuel and was one of the most prominent players in the Ukrainian market.
He later focused on real estate development. His most famous project was the Dream Town shopping mall chain, launched in the early 2000s. He also owns the Aquarium sports club and the Gara concept store of accessories. In addition, he is involved in a number of real estate projects through his company Vita Veritas.
Charity
In 2013, Korogodsky, together with Tina Mikhailovskaya, founded the Zhiznelub Foundation, aimed at helping the elderly. Key initiatives include the Lunch Without Trouble project (free lunches for pensioners) and cultural and educational programs. The Foundation operates in different cities and actively engages the business community in social responsibility.
Related scandals
Over the years, Garik Korogodsky’s name has been involved in scandals more than once:
- In the early 2010s, he had a conflict with his former Dream Town partner Valentyn Isak over the ownership of a part of the complex.
- In the media space, he is known for his outrageous statements and harsh criticism of politicians, officials, and public figures.
- He has participated in a number of non-standard cultural projects, including the author’s radio show “Badman show”, which caused a resonance in society.
Public activity
Korogodsky is active in public life, regularly publishing in the media, writing columns, and actively using social media. He holds secular, liberal views and criticizes ostentatious patriotism, populism, and government inefficiency.
In 2024-2025, he publicly declared his readiness to run for mayor of Kyiv, explaining that he wanted to apply a managerial approach and change the system of city administration.
