Former pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk and his wife still own properties in Ukraine
Former pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk is living in exile in Russia, yet his properties in Ukraine have still not been confiscated. These include the Beskyd Spa Hotel and his dacha, Vedmezha Dibrova (Bear's Grove), in Zakarpattia Oblast, and his wife Oksana Marchenko's estate in Kyiv. Ukrainian security police are being paid to guard the properties for the owners.
Source: a Bihus.Info investigation
Details: The Kyiv estate of Medvedchuk's wife has been seized, but it still belongs to her and has not been transferred to the state. There is also still a security police presence there, which provides security services in return for payment. They were hired by an individual named O.M. Siropil.
The journalists found out that this is likely to be Oleksandr Siropil, Medvedchuk's estate manager.
In other words, the investigators concluded, even though all of Medvedchuk and Marchenko's assets have been frozen, the couple were still able to pay for the services of the security police with the help of their estate manager.
In addition, the security police are still being paid to provide services at the couple's other two properties.
The Beskyd Spa Hotel, located in the Yozefstal tract in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, is still owned by a company named Ukrkapital. Historically, this was Viktor Medvedchuk's company, but he signed it over to Oksana Marchenko.
The hotel has been seized but not confiscated. It was transferred to the state agency ATMA (the Asset Tracing and Management Agency) for temporary management and is currently closed.
The local security police have a contract to monitor the site, and the Beskyd Hotel pays for the alarm systems to be monitored.
The security police at Medvedchuk's hotel were hired by the Firiks Group, a private limited company.
According to the journalists, this company does not appear to be connected to Medvedchuk, "but its desire to pay for security for Medvedchuk's hotel can be explained by the fact that it acts in the interests of Medvedchuk and Marchenko".
The author of the investigation also notes that the contract with the security police at the Beskyd Hotel was signed in July 2022, before the hotel was transferred to ATMA management. This rules out the possibility that the police were hired by state managers.
Vedmezha Dibrova, Medvedchuk's dacha in the village of Zhdeniievo, Zakarpattia Oblast, still belongs to Sport-Tour, a Medvedchuk-Marchenko company. It has been seized and transferred to the ATMA, but not confiscated. There are security police here too, hired in the interests of the owner.
Bihus.Info discovered that in August 2022, the Zakarpattia security police signed a contract with the Firiks Group - the same obscure company that hired the Ivano-Frankivsk security police at the Beskyd Hotel.
Thus, the journalists concluded, "Medvedchuk and Marchenko are managing to pay for the services of the Ukrainian security police even in 2023 – with the help of Medvedchuk's estate manager and the Firix Group."
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