Mezhyhirya Residence, Novi Petrivtsi, Ukraine
A monument to shameless corruption, the Mezhyhirya Residence in the Ukraine was the official summer house or dacha for the Soviet leadership, and passed to the Ukrainian government following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.
Viktor Yanukovych moved into the property in 2002 shortly after his election as prime minister and went on to spend millions of dollars of ill-gotten cash on it.
Yanukovych was evicted from the residence following the Orange Revolution in 2005 but returned as prime minister in 2006. The politician had the property privatized the following year. The estate’s Soviet era buildings were demolished and work began on a five-story stone and timber palace designed by Finnish firm Honka, which is thought to have cost at least $10 million (£8m).
Yanukovych, who was elected president in 2010, splurged millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money on the blingy interiors, purportedly ordering scores of gilt and crystal chandeliers at $100,000 (£79k) a pop, $64,000 (£51k) doors, a staircase clad in fine marble priced at an eye-watering $430,000 (£340k), and more.
