A ‘palace’ fit for an occupier

New investigation reveals luxury residence built for Putin in Ukraine’s Crimea

According to new investigation by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), a lavish mansion was built for Russian President Vladimir Putin on the southern coast of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. The FBK estimates the project’s cost at around 10 billion rubles (about $125.8 million).

Before Russia occupied Crimea, Ukrainian media repeatedly reported on construction at the site on Cape Aya, dubbing it “Yanukovych’s dacha.” Previously a Soviet-era holiday resort, the family of Viktor Yanukovych purchased the roughly 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) property for $1.2 million in 2007, while he was serving as Ukraine’s prime minister. However, during his presidency in 2013, Yanukovych denied that he or his relatives had any connection to the development.

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After Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, Kremlin-appointed Sevastopol Governor Sergey Menyaylo said that the Russian authorities planned to take ownership of the property. At the time, there were reports that the estate would be completed and reopened as a resort. Instead, the site was ultimately handed over to Russia’s Presidential Property Management Department. Journalists later reported that the unfinished residence had come under the control of companies linked to people in Putin’s inner circle — Yury and Boris Kovalchuk. According to the FBK, construction continued, and what was once referred to as “Yanukovych’s dacha” is merely “a hovel compared to what’s now built on Cape Aya.”

According to the investigation, the palace is nominally owned by a company called Bereg LLC, a subsidiary of a company called Golden Gate. The firm’s legal representatives also work for “Binom” Joint Stock Company, which owns Complex LLC — the company that holds title to Putin’s “palace” near Gelendzhik on Russia’s Black Sea coast. Plans for the Crimean residence specify that the interiors must meet the requirements of Russia’s Federal Protective Service, which is responsible for protecting senior state officials. The investigation also found that Credo — the firm that has handled “nearly all of Putin’s official and unofficial residences, according to the FBK — was responsible for both design and construction.

The FBK published architectural plans and photographs of the complex, but did not reveal how they were obtained. The main building contains s a 233-square-meter (2,508-square-foot) hall with a dining table for 20 people, a 154-square-meter (1,658-square-foot) bedroom with a 50-square-meter (538-square-foot) marble bathroom and jacuzzi, another bedroom measuring 183 square meters (1,970 square feet), a private medical clinic with multiple offices, a spa with a swimming pool and cryotherapy chamber, a cinema, a billiards room, and a wine cellar. The compound also includes a separate building with guest apartments and a rooftop garden overlooking the sea.

According to the investigation, construction was financed by businessman Vladimir Kolbin, the company Aratron — which is also said to have funded a winery near the Gelendzhik palace — and Forstis, a firm reportedly linked to Yury Kovalchuk.

Novaya Gazeta reported that the estate on Cape Aya was connected to Putin’s associates in 2021, referring to it as “Kovalchuk’s dacha.” Journalists who tried to enter the site were stopped at a checkpoint by a man in civilian clothes. When asked what was being built and who was inside, he replied simply: “Putin.” A construction worker also told reporters that the residence was being built for Russia’s president.