On 7 February, the Asset Recovery and Management Agency transferred the high-end 240 sq.m apartment of Viktor Yanukovych on Obolonska embankment in Kyiv to the temporary manager. Experts assess that the former president’s property costs UAH 36 mil.

It became known that the previous resident of that apartment was Ms. Polezhai, Yanukovych’s partner.

“For five years, Yanukovych’s ‘questionable’ property was just standing there and not working for the country in any way. Thanks to the ARMA’s launch and operation, the national budget will receive real income. Until the end of February, the competition for Mezhyhiria manager continues. We hope that this property will become profitable in the future, too,” said TI Ukraine’s legal advisor Kateryna Ryzhenko.

As a reminder, in 2015, as part of the criminal proceeding on Yanukovych and his inner circle, the Mezhyhiria residence and other assets tied to TOV Tantalit were arrrested. Later, the case was sent to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau based on its investigative jurisdiction, and the property, though a number of motions filed by prosecutors, was transferred to the ARMA. 

This publication was created with the financial support of the European Union. Its content is the sole responsibility of Transparency International Ukraine and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. 

Transparency International Ukraine works with the National Agency within the project Enhancing the Role of Civil Society in Public Finance Oversight, financed by the European Union. The project aims at empowering civil society and journalists with effective anti-corruption, asset recovery and anti-money laundering tools to perform the public finance oversight, support the launch of Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) and to update the list of Politically Exposed Persons. Find out more at https://goo.gl/Jgr9ic

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For five years, Yanukovych's 'questionable' property was just standing there and not working for the country in any way. Thanks to the ARMA's launch and operation, the national budget will receive real income. Until the end of February, the competition for Mezhyhiria manager continues. We hope that this property will become profitable in the future, too.

Kateryna Ryzhenko, legal advisor, Transparency International Ukraine