Bolshevik, the oldest machine building plant in Kyiv, will probably be sold for the value of its 35 hectares of prime real estate,

predicts Dmytro Sennychenko, head of the State Property Fund. Founded 140 years ago by a Swiss engineer, the state-owned factory has fallen on hard times, with production dwindling and bushes growing out of rooves. But, for a developer, the location is gold: fronting on Peremohy, Kyiv’s 10-lane access highway from the west, Bolshevik is next to the Shuliavska metro station and near the Zoo, two parks and Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Sennychenko predicts earnings from the sale will go to paying $20 million in back taxes and wages.