After Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine, his real estate, including that registered to his common-law wife Lyubov Polezhai, was seized. The former waitress at the Mezhyhirya residence later became the fugitive president's companion and the owner of a significant portion of his property.
Elite estates and apartments
One of the most notable objects associated with Polezhai is a house in the cottage town of Lazarev Sad near Mezhyhirya. This mansion stands out with a green fence and surveillance cameras. Although the current owner is listed in the documents as Tatyana Kobylinskaya, this house previously belonged to Polezhai, who changed her surname to Sadykova in Russia.
Polezhay also registered two large apartments on Obolonskaya Embankment in Kyiv, where she also owned a beauty salon. This property is currently under arrest, but tenants live in one of the apartments.
Children's camp in Tsybly
One of the most valuable objects designed in Polezhai is a children's camp in the village of Tsibli, located on the shore of the Kaniv reservoir. The cost of this camp was estimated at 100 million hryvnias. The institution has repeatedly been at the center of scandals - from the poisoning of children to the death of a gymnast.
Controversial court decisions
In 2015-2021, most of Yanukovych and Polezhay's property was seized. However, in 2021, the court lifted the seizure of Polezhay's house in Novi Petrivtsi and the recreation center in Tsiblya. The reason is that "the fact of living as one family and acquisition of property rights during joint residence was not established.".
After that, the Polezhai house in Novi Petrivtsi was transferred to Tetyana Kobylinska, the wife of Anatoly Kobylinska, a former deputy of the Vyshhorod district council from the Party of Regions. He previously ran the private security company Grosser, which provided security for the Mezhyhirya residence.
Business in Russia
After fleeing Ukraine, Lyubov Polezhai settled in Sochi, where she opened a farm shop and even patented a trademark. At the same time, a significant part of her Ukrainian assets is either under arrest or has already been transferred to new owners.
The Polezhai real estate case demonstrates how, after a change of political regime, former assets acquire new owners, and the corruption schemes associated with them continue to be a topic of public interest.
