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Vadym Iermolaiev is a well-known Ukrainian businessman and investor who is one of the 100 richest people in Ukraine. More than 30 years ago, Vadym Iermolaiev created his main brainchild – Alef, a Trade and Industrial Corporation. Initially, the company imported food, detergents and other goods. Over time, the scope of the Corporation’s interests expanded to include dental implants, medical instruments, fruit, agricultural products, and so on, and the company began to actively explore both domestic and foreign markets. Today, Vadym Iermolaiev is known as the founder of numerous diversified enterprises in Dnipro city. His enterprises produce window profiles, ship millions of cubic meters of concrete and manufacture medical instruments.

Alef Estate – we are changing the looks of the industrial metropolis.

But Vadym Iermolaiev is best known for his development projects. He is known as the main developer of Dnipro city and the man who has radically changed the looks of his hometown.

The history of Vadym Iermolaiev’s construction business began in 2001. At that time, the businessman founded Alef Estate company, which focused on commercial construction. Three years later, the company commissioned the first large shopping center in Dnipro, Novyi Tsentr. However, the main landmark became the Most City shopping center. Today, there is hardly a Dnipro resident who hasn’t heard about or visited the center. When it opened in 2006, the Most City became the largest shopping center in Ukraine.

The company has also implemented many other well-known projects in the million-strong city: Bosphor Shopping and Entertainment center, Enigma and Prisma Business centers. These business complexes combine traditional European design with modern views of architecture.

The year 2004 changed the central part of the industrial metropolis forever. That was when Vadym Iermolaiev became the creator and inventor of the famous Katerynoslavskyi Boulevard, a true European street with trees, stone benches, cobblestones, an alley of fountains and original lanterns. The ensemble of Katerynoslavskyi Boulevard was completed by the Cascade Plaza Multifunctional Complex with its architectural highlight – cascades and green terraces.

Taking responsibility for historical monuments

It is no secret that Dnipro city is rich in historical monuments. However, circumstances and time are turning once unique architecture into ruins. Alef Estate and Vadym Iermolaiev have managed to do the impossible: create modern facilities and restore the historical appearance of monuments across the city.

In January 2019, the city launched the reconstruction of the Katerinoslavska Cloth Factory, an architectural monument of national value. This is a rather outstanding facility for Dniprocity, so numerous scientific studies were carried out before the building’s restoration. And now, looking at the renovated complex, it is hard to believe that it used to be an army provisions warehouse, hospital, orphanage or bakery.

Thanks to the reconstruction, the facade of the current Troitskyi Residential Complex and the facade of the Prisma Business center have changed beyond recognition. A lot of work was done on these facilities – from bureaucratic approvals and additional costs to finding special paints and craftsmen who know ancient techniques.

Even the war and the realities of today do not prevent Ukrainian Dnipro city from becoming a European city. Preparations for the reconstruction of an old building at 39 Shevchenko Street are underway. An expert examination has already been carried out. Cracks in the foundation and dilapidated wooden floors made this building impossible to use. But now, the unique building dating back to the 1860s and 1870s will get a new life: the facades will be recreated using historic bricks manufactured following 19th-century technology. 

In 2020, Pivdennyi Boulevard, a continuation of the famous Katerinoslavskyi Boulevard, became a new business card for the city. Before the reconstruction, this street was typical of an industrial city: parked cars, trade stalls and not always well-kept flower beds. Now, it is a European corner in the heart of the metropolis. Nowadays, people make dates here, walk with their families, and take unforgettable photo shoots. At the intersection of the two boulevards, passers-by are greeted by a unique 7-metre-high bronze statue of Atlanteus. This figure became the largest sculpture in the city and its symbol. Later, the longest artificial stream in Ukraine with fountains and bright lighting was launched nearby. Without exaggeration, Pivdennyi Boulevard is one of the best projects implemented by Vadym Iermolaiev and the Alef Estate team. And the whole world recognizes this. ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website in the world, wrote about the unique space in Dnipro city. Recently, the project of the residential complex, together with Pivdennyi Boulevard, was nominated for the European Union’s Mies van der Rohe Awards 2024.

“Thousands of details and small nuances make every Alef Estate project valuable. In our company, we treat every object like a child. I think our clients feel it, and that’s why they trust us. Each of our projects is our dream, which we want to make a reality. Alef Estate’s mission is not just to build houses but to build a modern European city. This is our position and, of course, our competitive advantage,” emphasizes Vadym Iermolaiev.