Ambroise Tézenas

Commission for Travel & Leisure (USA)

Mezhyhirya Residence, Kiev, Ukraine

In February 2014, the palatial compound of Viktor Yanukovych, the former president of Ukraine, was opened to the public after he fled Kiev and is now a museum.
Mr Yanukovych leaves behind palace monument to greed and corruption, evidence of illicit activity and astoundingly poor taste. The 140-acre estate of Mezhyhirya Residence boasts a five-storey mansion, a luxury car collection, a golf course and a hideous galleon-shaped banqueting hall moored on the river.
The idea of steeling public money for a private benefit by politicians is as old as the world and Ukraine is only one example among many others.
We are indeed used to visiting palaces and very luxurious places made from public money but always from other historical times. What is extraordinary here is that you become a part of this very active history and you can see an bursting materialization of corruption that happened only 2 years ago

Commission for Travel & Leisure (USA)