Court lifts arrest from former Yanukovych residence Mezhyhirya

18 October 06:31

The High Anti-Corruption Court has lifted the seizure of the Mezhyhirya complex, which former President Viktor Yanukovych used as a private residence. This was reported by the human rights organisation Transparency International Ukraine, Komersant UkrainianKomersant Ukrainian reports

“On 17 October, the High Anti-Corruption Court lifted the seizure of the Mezhyhirya holiday home and the land on which the complex is located. The petition to lift the seizure of the president’s property was filed by a representative of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine,” the statement said.

The organisation stressed that Yanukovych’s lawyers objected to the lifting of the arrest from the complex at the court. In their opinion, it is necessary to wait for the final decision in the case, and then to resolve the issue of lifting the arrest from Mezhyhirya.

During the hearing, the judge also said that at the next hearing on Yanukovych, the court would proceed to consider the case on the merits.

The HACC confiscated former President Viktor Yanukovych’s real estate, money and property, including the Mezhyhirya residence, back in 2022. In 2023, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law that returned the complex with the official name of Mezhyhiria Park-Monument of Landscape Art of National Importance to state ownership.

Mezhyhiria

“Mezhyhirya is the former residence of Viktor Yanukovych in the village of Novi Petrivtsi, Vyshhorod district, Kyiv region, which he occupied from 2002 to 2014. Until 1935, it was an Orthodox monastery and then a state residence.

In 2007, during Yanukovych’s presidency, Mezhyhirya was transferred to private ownership.

on 22 February 2014, Maidan Self-Defence units occupied the residence, which Yanukovych had left the day before and disappeared in an unknown direction. Journalists and some Maidan participants immediately began filming the premises and the territory of the residence, which covered more than 130 hectares.

Among the items found, as well as those that had not been removed or destroyed, were:

  • “black books” – documents proving violations of the law, embezzlement of state property, tax evasion, bribery of judges and various bribes, including in tenders. Many of them are related to the Tantalite company, which at the time belonged to Kliuyev, and the Renaissance of Ukraine charity foundation. The documents contain information about the costs of building Mezhyhirya, payment for various items for the construction and decoration of the residence, as well as cash receipts. The journalists immediately started digitising, sorting and studying the documents.
  • A life-size golden loaf.
  • Gold coins with the inscription “HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, VICTOR FEDOROVICH. NEW MINERAL HORIZONS FOR YOU”, as well as empty boxes for storing medals.
  • Silver gilded hryvnia banknotes.
  • Dossiers and targeting of Maidan activists and journalists.
  • Weapons, live ammunition, combat checkers, hunting darts recovered by divers.
  • Church icons of historical value.
  • Two car fleets with cars worth between $100,000 and $800,000, motorcycles, children’s and ladies’ bicycles. According to the spokesman for the Anti-Corruption Committee, Oleksandr Gerasymov, some of the rare cars originated from the Dovzhenko Film Studio and ended up in Mezhyhirya due to a fraudulent deal by the studio’s director, Ihor Stavchansky, who is linked to the so-called Yanukovych Family.
  • Among other things, the activists found beehives made in the colours of the Ukrainian flag; stuffed birds of prey crucified on wooden crosses.

The next day, a guided tour of Mezhyhirya was organised for everyone. Thousands of visitors saw a chic large house made of granite and wood, containing porcelain dishes with gilded spoons and forks, gilded toilets and washbasins, expensive candlesticks, clocks and chandeliers; several exquisite smaller houses; artificial lakes with working fountains; a swimming pool; a tennis court; a golf course; a zoo; greenhouses; and farms.

According to representatives of the Self-Defence, there were no cases of looting or clashes on the territory of Mezhyhiria, but some visitors took souvenirs such as pens and bathrobes.

After the Revolution of Dignity, an NGO took over the management of the park.

Since 2014, and on his own initiative, an individual, a representative of the NGO, has been responsible for the storage of the seized property of Mezhyhiria, which was located in the park and managed it for more than 10 years.

Over the years, all the wealth of the Mezhyhirya residence of fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych has not been nationalised, and the territory itself has begun to cause damage to the state.

In January 2019, investigative journalists reported that the tender for the management of Mezhyhiria was not transparent. The competition for the manager has been postponed several times.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_r4EwV9HmBI%3Ffeature%3Doembed

on 14 July 2023, Mezhyhiria was returned to state ownership, and a new nature reserve fund was created on its territory with 138.6 hectares of land.

In December 2023, a high-profile scandal erupted when the Bureau of Economic Security exposed a group of people, allegedly from NGOs, who used the premises of Viktor Yanukovych’s former residence in the Mezhyhiria National Park to produce counterfeit food.

Special equipment was used for mass production and packaging of sweets, coffee, groceries (spices, coffee and cocoa products, instant noodles), waffles, chewing gum and other counterfeit products.

The BES searched warehouses in Kyiv and the region, as well as premises on the territory of Mezhyhirya, and found automatic packaging and labelling lines, packaging containers with logos of well-known brands, large volumes of raw materials used to make counterfeit products, products without documentary evidence, etc.

In addition, it was established that the clandestine production in Mezhyhiria used the facilities, including electricity, of the National Park.

Дзвенислава Карплюк
Editor