The founding and development of the club (1945-1962)
The basketball club “Budivelnyk” was founded in 1945 in post-war Kyiv on the basis of the Kyiv Institute of Physical Education. Initially, the team was called “SKIF” (Sports Club of the Institute of Physical Education) and was formed mainly from students under the leadership of coach Volodymyr Alekseevich Shablinsky. During the first 13 years of its existence, “SKIF” performed in category B of the USSR championship, gradually gaining experience and strengthening the squad.
In 1958, the team achieved significant success, winning the Ukrainian SSR championship, which allowed it to gain a foothold in the elite division. In 1960, “SKIF” took 6th place in class A and won 3rd place in the all-Union competitions. This period laid the foundation for the club’s further successes.
Renaming and first successes (1962-1989)
In 1962, the team was taken under the care of the Kyivmiskbud-4 trust and received a new name – Budivelnik (in Ukrainian – “Budivelnik”). In the press of the Ukrainian SSR, the club was more often called “Budivelnik”, and this name stuck to the team. In the same year, the “builders” won bronze medals in the USSR championship for the first time in their history, beating the Tbilisi “Dynamo”. The team that achieved this success included such masters as Mykola Bagley, Albert Valtin, Yuri Vystavkin, Vitaly Kovyanov, Volodymyr Stremoukhov, Mykola Pogulyai, Vadim Gladun, Leonid Poplavsky, Anatoly Polyvoda and others. Volodymyr Shablinsky remained the coach.
From this season, Budivelnik became a regular winner of the union championships, often taking places in the top three. In 1963, the team won the All-Union Winter Competitions, and in 1964 – again won the bronze medal of the USSR Championship. In 1965, Budivelnik became the silver medalist of the USSR Championship for the first time, repeating this achievement in 1966. The club became one of the strongest teams in the Soviet Union, demonstrating a high level of play.
In 1974, the team took 3rd place in the USSR Championship, during which Shablinsky was replaced as coach by Klymenko.
From 1975 to 1985, Budivelniki took silver in the USSR Championship four times and won third place twice more. At this time, such great basketball players as Volodymyr Tkachenko, Oleksandr Bilostennyi and Oleksandr Volkov began to play for the team. During this period, Budivelnik remained the best Ukrainian team in the USSR, and the coach at that time was Boris Nesterovich Vdovichenko.
The culmination of the Soviet period was the “golden season” of 1988-1989, when “Budivelnyk” won the USSR championship for the first time in its history, beating the formidable Kaunas “Žalgiris” in the final. This victory became historic, since no Ukrainian men’s basketball team had won the USSR championship gold medals before. Before the start of the 1988/1989 season, Volkov, who had become a superstar of Soviet basketball at that time, returned to Kyiv already in the status of Olympic champion. However, after the successful victory, Volkov and Bilastenny left the team, and without them, “Budivelnyk” took bronze medals in 1990, and in 1991 they took 5th place.
“Budivelnik” in independent Ukraine (1991-1999)
After the collapse of the USSR and Ukraine’s independence, Budivelnik became the dominant force in Ukrainian basketball. From 1992 to 1997, the club won the Ukrainian championship six times in a row, setting a national championship record. During this period, the team included Igor Kharchenko, Oleksandr Okunsky, Denis Zhuravlev, Leonid Yailo, Oleksandr Lokhmanchuk, Yevgeny Murzin, Vitaliy Potapenko, and Hryhoriy Khyzhnyak.
In the 1997/1998 and 1998/1999 seasons, Budivelnik still took silver and gold, but by the end of the 1990s, the club began to experience difficulties that affected the team’s position. At that time, many leading players left the club, which led to a decline in results and the loss of leadership positions in Ukrainian basketball. And although the team was saved, for the next few years the club existed only on the enthusiasm of coaches and individual players.
Revival and new achievements (2006-2017)
In 2006, the situation began to improve due to the support of commercial structures. In the 2008/2009 season, Budivelnyk took part in the first and only Ukrainian Basketball League (UBL), winning the UBL Cup and becoming the second team in the League. This time was marked by the arrival of Lithuanian Rimas Grigas and sports director Serhiy Golod to the team, which contributed to the club’s return to the leading positions.
In 2009, Bohdan Svyatoslavovich Gulyamov became the club’s president, after which the team was significantly strengthened. From the 2009/2010 season, Budivelnyk began to play in the united Ukrainian Super League. In 2010, the team won silver medals in the Ukrainian championship, losing in the final to Mariupol’s Azovmash. However, the following season, under the leadership of Spanish coach José María Berrocal, Budivelnyk achieved significant success both on the national and international stage. In the 2010/2011 season, the club became the first Ukrainian team to reach the quarterfinals of the ULEB Eurocup. In the national championship, Budivelnyk defeated BC Donetsk in the final series, winning its first Superleague gold since 1997. This match became one of the most striking events in the history of Ukrainian basketball.
In the 2012/2013 season, Budivelnyk, under the leadership of Ainars Bagatskis, achieved its highest result, reaching the semifinals of the Eurocup. In the following season, 2013/14, the club became the first and only Ukrainian team to participate in the main stage of the Euroleague. At the same time, the “Builders” reached the second quarter-final of the Eurocup in the club’s history, and also won the national Cup and the Ukrainian Championship.
In 2014, Vitaliy Cherniy was appointed the new head coach of the team.
In 2015, “Budivelnyk” won another Ukrainian Cup, and in 2017 won the jubilee tenth Ukrainian Championship.
Financial difficulties and revival (2018-2025)
In the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 seasons, Budivelnyk suspended its activities due to serious financial difficulties, but in the fall of 2020, thanks to the support of new sponsors, the team returned to participate in the championship and the Cup of Ukraine. In April 2021, the Kyiv team won the 15th national trophy for the club – the Cup of Ukraine, and in the 2022/2023 season, Budivelnyk became the champion of the Ukrainian Super League, confidently regaining its status as one of the strongest clubs in the country.
In the middle of the 2023/24 season, the team was again excluded from the Super League due to financial problems, but in 2025, Budivelnyk resumed its activities, striving for new heights and making a significant contribution to the development of basketball in Ukraine.
Club heritage
Budivelnik is the most successful club in the Ukrainian Super League, and also remains the only Ukrainian team to have won the USSR Championship (1989) and participated in the main stage of the Euroleague.
Achievements:
Champion of the USSR (1989)
Silver medalist of the USSR Championship (1965, 1966, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982)
Bronze medalist of the USSR Championship (1962, 1964, 1970, 1974, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1990)
Champion of Ukraine (1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 (Ukrainian SSR) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2023)
Silver medalist of the Ukrainian Championship (1998, 2009 (UBL), 2010)
Bronze medalist of the Ukrainian Championship (1999, 2015)
Ukrainian Cup (1995, 1996, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2021)
UBL Cup (2009)
Eurocup semi-finalist (2013)
Club legends
Vadym Gladun
Vadym Gladun is a legend of “Budivelnik”, who contributed to the development of the club both as a player and as a coach. One of the best point guards in the history of our club.
He started playing for the capital’s “Spartak”, but spent most of his career as part of SKIF, which was later renamed “Budivelnik”.
As part of the Kyiv team, he became the winner of the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR in 1967, which was equated to the USSR championship, as well as the silver medalist of the USSR championships (1959, 1963, 1965) and the bronze medalist (1962, 1964, 1970).
On the international stage, Gladun, as part of the USSR national team, won the 1963 European Championship, won the bronze medal of the 1963 World Championship and twice became the winner of the Universiade (1959, 1961).
After his playing career ended, he served as the head coach of Budivelnyk from 1974 to 1978, leading the team to silver in the USSR Championship in 1977. As a coach, he laid the foundation for the training of future stars – among his students was Olympic champion Valery Goborov.
Vadim Gladun died on March 5, 2024 at the age of 86.
Oleksandr Salnikov
Oleksandr Salnikov is a legend of Soviet basketball, one of the strongest snipers of Ukrainian, Soviet, and European basketball of the 70s and 80s. While playing for Budivelnik, he set a USSR championship sniper record, scoring 66 points in one match.
Salnikov played for the Kyiv club twice – in 1973–1974 and 1975–1977. As part of Budivelnik, he became the bronze medalist of the USSR championship in 1974, and then won silver twice in 1975 and 1977. Oleksandr Petrovich also played for Moscow CSKA, Kyiv SKA, and Polish Legia.
In 1973, he made his debut for the Soviet Union national team, playing for which he twice became a bronze medalist at the Olympic Games (1976, 1980), a world champion in 1974, and a two-time European champion (1979, 1981).
For 10 years, Oleksandr Salnikov worked as the sports director of BC Kyiv, established in 1999 thanks to the initiative and efforts of the 1988 Olympic champion, the first Ukrainian in the NBA, and the legend of the “Budyvelnyk” Oleksandr Volkov.
Oleksandr Salnikov died on November 17, 2017.
