Journalists revealed the presence of Ukrainian officials among property owners in Dubai

This is a data leak mostly from the Dubai Land Department, as well as utilities owned by the United Arab Emirates. The data was obtained by the Washington Center for Defense Studies (C4ADS), which studies international crime and conflict. They were later handed over to the Norwegian financial publication E24 and the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Project (OCCRP), which coordinated the work on the exclusive dataset of dozens of media outlets from around the world. Two editors worked on part of the data on Ukrainians - the Radio Liberty project "Schemes" and "Investigation.Info".

Journalists investigated part of this data, verified it, including with the help of transactions, and discovered among the owners of elite real estate in Dubai many Ukrainians - among them current and former officials: ministers, people's deputies, judges, prosecutors, heads of state-owned enterprises and, of course, their relatives

"Schemes" publishes the first part of the Dubai findings.

Ex-Minister of Ecology during Yanukovych's time

Mykola Zlochevskyi is the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych and a former People's Deputy from the Party of Regions. The founder of one of the largest gas production companies, Burisma Group . In 2023, his fortune was estimated at 225 million dollars.

According to the Dubai leak , on one day in July 2019, Mykola Zlochevskyi bought two apartments in Dubai at once - in an elite residential complex on the shores of the Persian Gulf on the Palm Jumeirah itself - W Residences Dubai - The Palm, so named because of the W-like the shape of the building.

“Between the shimmering waters of the Persian Gulf and the glittering skyline of Dubai, on the golden sands of the eighth wonder of the world, lies an exclusive place where perfection knows no bounds. Immerse yourself in a lifestyle that has no analogues in the luxurious capital of the Middle East", - this is how the complex is described on the official website .

According to the transaction data, which the journalists of the Dubai Unlocked received from Dubai registries, the apartments with a total area of ​​more than 1,700 square meters cost the ex-minister almost 11 million dollars.

This real estate, as the journalists found out, was never rented out, so, most likely, only the Zlochevsky family used it. The media reported that the former high-ranking official spent a lot of time in the UAE .

Mykola Zlochevskyi was no longer in power in the year of the purchase of the Dubai apartments, and later he was declared wanted . Exposadovets had the status of a suspect in the so-called "Kurchenko case" - it was about the creation of a criminal organization, "whose members during 2010-2014 committed a number of serious and especially serious crimes in various spheres of the economy with the aim of seizing the property of state-owned enterprises."

In particular, Zlochevskyi was suspected of embezzling a loan from the National Bank, which was allocated to Serhiy Kurchenko's "Real Bank" - he was called a young oligarch during Yanukovych's time. Later, when the case was transferred to NABU, Zlochevskyi offered the law enforcement officers a record bribe of 6 million dollars, during the transfer of which intermediaries from the ex-minister's entourage were detained.

While the trial in this case was ongoing, Zlochevskyi transferred the apartments in W Residences Dubai – The Palm  to his daughter Anna Zlochevsky (the ex-minister eventually transferred his gas production business to her and another daughter, Karina).

Anna Zlochevska remains the owner of the Dubai property until now, as of 2024. According to the leak, the Zlochevskyi family used passports of Cypriot citizens in real estate transactions - Al Jazeera journalists were to tell

In 2023, the bribery story ended: Zlochevskyi pleaded guilty to attempted bribery – the agreement with the investigation was approved by the High Anti-Corruption Court. According to it, Zlochevsky gave more than 600 million hryvnias to the army - the purchase of drones and other assistance to units.

Zlochevsky repeatedly came into the spotlight of "Scheme": investigators talked about his impregnable fortress near the water near Kyiv and a villa on the sea in Odesa, about the gas that was bought from his Burisma company by the companies of President Petro Poroshenko and his closest associates, about the reputation that the ex-minister tried so hard to whitewash, organizing the energy forum in Monaco.

Zlochevsky is known far beyond the borders of Ukraine - in particular, during the last election Donald Trump the "Burisma factor" in the fight against Joe Biden , whose son, Hunter Biden, was a member of the board of directors of this company.

Schemy contacted Zlochevskyi and his daughter for comment about a number of their digs, but have not yet received a response.

Former People's Deputy and head of Motor Sichi

Vyacheslav Boguslaev and his son Oleksandr bought real estate in Dubai from 2009 to 2018. With the help of a Dubai data leak, the Schemes were able to track down at least 19 apartments and office spaces in several high-end areas of the city, worth a total of $15 million, from the family.

One of the apartments was registered to the father (it was previously written about in the mass media ), the rest of the apartments were to the son. And these family apartments were not known before.

This is a 106.4 square meter apartment in Al Msalli , two 105 square meter apartments in  Al Nabat B8 and a 937 square meter apartment in  Palme Couture  Residences .

One apartment in the Al Haseer B7 - 105.9 square meters and in Al Sultana - 106.3 square meters. And two more apartments in Aquamarine - 155.8 and 210.5 meters.

In addition, the Boguslaevs purchased 6 more properties in Dubai, namely: apartments in Burj Khalifa, Emirates Crown Tower and 4 office premises in Jumeirah Business Center 1 .

The most likely source of funds for this property is the activities of Vyacheslav Boguslaev, as the long-term head of the strategic enterprise "Motor Sich" , who is called " an icon of Ukrainian industry ". In this capacity, he often traveled to the UAE - participated in exhibitions of helicopter equipment and the opening of technical centers for engine maintenance, together with the then President Yanukovych .

Ukrainian law enforcement officers detained Vyacheslav Boguslaev in 2022, in the midst of a full-scale invasion. Subsequently, he was informed one by one of suspicions under several articles, in particular, of treason, financing of terrorism and opposition to the Armed Forces of Ukraine . The trial for these cases continues, Boguslaev is in custody until June 10 without bail, he denies guilt.

In addition to cooperation with Russia , "Schem" journalists previously established Vyacheslav Boguslaev's connections with representatives of state-owned Iranian military companies, including the manufacturers of Shahed , which are used by the Russian army against Ukraine and the Houthis against the UAE. Despite the sanctions imposed on Iran, Boguslaev continued to cooperate with Iranian representatives at least until the spring of 2022.

45-year-old Oleksandr Boguslaev, who bought most of the apartments found by journalists, owes his fortune to his father. He introduced him to the business, giving him the position of deputy chairman of the supervisory board of "Motor Sichi" and shares in other companies related to the enterprise and other activities of Boguslaev Sr. According to "Schemes" from sources in law enforcement agencies, from 2003 to 2021 Oleksandr Boguslaev officially earned a little less than 7 million hryvnias. During the same period, 57 million hryvnias were deposited in cash into his accounts in Ukrainian banks. Probably, he could have received this money from his father, but Vyacheslav Boguslaev, as a former People's Deputy of several convocations, did not declare such expenses.

As of now, out of 19 real estate objects owned by the Boguslaev family, only five (one apartment and four office premises) are listed - in the unfinished luxury residential complex Dubai Pearl , all other property has been sold.

"Schemes" drew attention to the fact that the sale of real estate took place simultaneously with significant events in the life of the family.

• So, the first apartment in Al Msalli from this list was sold in 2019, when Vyacheslav Boguslaev ceased to be a people's deputy and lost his "immunity".
• A year later, the family sold an apartment in Aquamarine. Then, in 2020, the Ukrainian prosecutor's office imposed an additional seizure on the shares of Motor Sich, a company controlled by Boguslaev, finally blocking the sale of the company to Chinese investors .
• A year later, the Boguslaevs got rid of 6 apartments in Aquamarine, Palme Couture Residences, Al Nabat B8, Al Haseer B7 and Al Sultana. Then, in 2021, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine decided to nationalize Motor Sichi.
• Oleksandr Boguslaev sold the other two apartments in Burj Khalifa and Emirates Crown Tower and four office premises in Jumeirah Business Center 1 in 2022 - the year his father was informed of the first suspicion - of treason, and later, on February 1, 2023 - of financing terrorism in Ukraine. A little later - in April of the same 23rd, sanctions were imposed against Boguslaev in Ukraine.

With the help of the leaked data of transactions on the purchase and sale of Dubai real estate, "Schemes" calculated that they could get 3.5 million dollars from the sale of the property to Boguslaev. Another $1.5 million, according to the Dubai Land Registry, was earned by the family by renting out the apartments before the sale. During these transactions with real estate in the UAE, according to records from the registry, Oleksandr Boguslaev used the passport of a citizen of the island state of Grenada .

Who now manages the Boguslaev apartments in Dubai?

The journalists managed to establish the owners of three apartments. Two of them are real estate agents, the first from Moscow, the second from Dubai.

The third owner, a businesswoman from Serbia, Masha Karic , comes from the family of Serbian developers Bogolyub and Dragomir Karic , who are under sanctions and support the regime of the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenka's niece worked in one of the companies of these developers until 2021 . It was not possible to find direct connections between Boguslaev and Motor Sich with the Karichs.

Bogolyub Karich himself assured journalists in a comment that he was not familiar with the Boguslaev family.

Journalists of the Belarusian Investigative Center within the framework of the Dubai Unlocked project gathered information about the real estate of the Karich family in Dubai, who made their fortune, including, thanks to cooperation with the authoritarian leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

"Schemes" asked the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine if they knew about this foreign property of the Boguslaevs, there they answered that "the body of the pre-trial investigation has not yet received reliable information and documents regarding the property of Boguslaev and his son in the United Arab Emirates."

At the same time, the department noted that the confiscation of the property of the son of the former president of Motor Sichi, which was probably acquired, in particular, "from the illegal activities of his father", is possible only when the Ukrainian court makes a decision on its confiscation based on the results of the relevant criminal proceedings both in Ukraine and in countries where such property is located. The OGP also reported that "measures are being taken to identify and seize the property of Vyacheslav Boguslaev and his son Oleksandr, which is located in foreign jurisdictions."

The Prosecutor General's Office also reported that cooperation with the UAE is regulated by the 2012 Agreement between the countries on mutual legal assistance in criminal cases, but during the years 2020-2024, according to the OGP, the competent authorities of the UAE actually satisfied only 2% of Ukrainian requests.

Currently, in parallel, Ukrainian law enforcement officers together with the Ministry of Justice have already begun the process of confiscation of other property of Oleksandr Boguslaev in France.

Journalists sent questions to Boguslaev about property in the UAE through a lawyer and are waiting for an answer.

Odesa prosecutor

Oleg Kornilov, the former deputy prosecutor of the Odesa region, is also in the Dubai leak

According to data from the official land registry of Dubai, Kornilov purchased two apartments and hotel suites in the Emirates with a total cost of more than 400,000 dollars.

According to the transactions, he became the owner of two apartments in December 2011 and at the beginning of 2012. At that time, Kornilov had already become the deputy chief prosecutor of Odesa. For a studio with an area of ​​47 and 38 square meters in the premium complex Jumeirah Bay X1 Tower , built with access to an artificial lake and located nearby the beaches of the Persian Gulf, the Odessa prosecutor paid a total of more than 180 thousand US dollars.

Subsequently, Kornilov moved to the position of deputy head of the investigative department of the regional prosecutor's office, and even later became the head of the unit. But in 2014, after the Revolution of Dignity , he was exposed - he was dismissed from his post in accordance with the law "On Purification of Power". In the same year, Kornilov began to litigate - he filed a lawsuit at the Odesa District Administrative Court against the prosecutor's office to reinstate him with the payment of salary for the period of "forced absenteeism" and to lift the 10-year ban on holding positions.

While the legal proceedings continued, Kornilov, according to the transactions, in 2016 invested in hotel apartments of 48 square meters in the elite area of ​​Dubai - in the Aykon City-Tower B - for more than 210 thousand US dollars. At that time, it was incomplete, the complex was finally built in September 2023. And now, on the official website of the Damac , they are actively luring new buyers in three languages, including Russian.

“Soaring above Sheikh Zayed Highway and the Dubai Canal, Aykon City-Tower (Tower B) offers luxury accommodation in one of the most prestigious areas of Dubai. Buy luxury apartments in close proximity to Dubai's attractions and global brands located in it, and enjoy world-class leisure at home: on the lower floors of Aykon City, a huge selection of shops, restaurants, cafes and other entertainment venues awaits you. , - it is stated in the message on the website of Damac.

While the Aykon complex was being built, in 2020 the Odessa prosecutor decided to sell apartments in Jumeirah Bay X1 Tower - a 38-square-meter studio for almost $100,000. In the same year, the Odesa District Administrative Court decided to reinstate Kornilov as head of the investigative department of the Prosecutor's Office of the Odesa Region, and a year later, in 2021, the local appeals administrative court finally confirmed this decision. He was also paid more than 2.3 million hryvnias from the budget for "forced absenteeism" since 2014.

Both studios in Jumeirah Bay X1 Tower were rented out by Kornilov starting in 2014, as evidenced by transaction data available to journalists. In total, he managed to earn more than 100 thousand US dollars from such activities. Subsequently, after his reinstatement, Kornilov sold a second property in Jumeirah Bay X1 Tower - in November 2023. Currently, Kornilov still owns a hotel room in Aykon City-Tower B.

After the renewal, Oleg Kornilov remained in his position for a little over a year, in August 2022 he resigned "of his own free will". But he did not mention real estate in the UAE in any declaration - both during his dismissal and after. As well as his wife, who as of 2013 was also a prosecutor of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office and also submitted a candidate declaration for the position of head of the regional representation department of the Secretariat of the Commissioner of Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the southern regions in 2018.

"Failure to declare may result in administrative and criminal liability. It all depends on the amount. From 1.34 million to 5.3 million hryvnias - this will be a fine, public works, correctional works. If the value of undeclared assets is greater than 5.3 million hryvnias, then this can be a sanction up to imprisonment for up to two years," says Vadym Valko .

In the case of Kornilov, we are talking about 300 thousand US dollars or more than 10 million hryvnias - this is the total value of property in the UAE: one apartment and hotel apartments, which were listed as owned by the prosecutor at the time of filing the declaration.

"Schemy" contacted Oleg Kornilov. When asked about real estate in Dubai, he said: "I don't have apartments there," and after the journalist clarified that this data was confirmed by the country's official register, he hung up the phone and did not answer further calls and messages.

Ex-wife of a judge during Yanukovych's time

Among the owners of Dubai real estate is Svitlana Yemelyanova , officially the ex-wife of Artur Yemelyanov, .

With the help of the Dubai leak, "Schemes" found out that she owns three apartments in the Sadaf 6 residential complex in the elite area of ​​Dubai Marina. Each has an area of ​​123 square meters, their total cost is 1.8 million dollars.

Yemelyanova bought her first apartment there for almost 650,000 dollars in December 2014. Until 2014 inclusive, Svitlana Yemelyanova was a deputy of the Donetsk city council from the "Party of Regions". They broke up with Artur Yemelyanov in the fall of the same year, after the Revolution of Dignity, at the same time law enforcement officers became interested in the judge in a case regarding possible interference in the automated distribution of cases between judges.

The judge's ex-wife officially purchased the other two apartments in 2017 and 2018 for $620,000 and $560,000, respectively.

Earlier in the investigation of "Scheme" it was said that the divorce of the Yemelyanovs could be fictitious to hide other elite property abroad. After all, the judge regularly visited Vienna, where Svitlana Yemelyanova lived with her children, and the ex-spouses also continued to rest together and have a common life. At the same time, journalists talked about one of the apartments in the UAE: in The Residences North residential complex in the nearby Palm Jumeirah area. But according to the Dubai registry, Svitlana Yemelyanova has already sold it for $486,000.

Artur Yemelyanov is called the face of the judicial system of Viktor Yanukovych's time.

Then he quickly rose up the career ladder from the deputy head of the Donetsk Regional Economic Court to the deputy head of the Higher Economic Court of Ukraine. Yemelyanov administered justice until 2017, but continued to receive a salary until 2021 - until he was dismissed from his post for " influencing judges ". After that, the former judge became a lawyer in Ukraine.

In 2023, Artur Yemelyanov was in the news again, when he was searched by the FBI. At that time, it was about the investigation of the possible assistance of the former deputy head of the Higher Economic Court of Ukraine to the aggressor state of Russia. It was reported that Svitlana Yemelyanova is also involved in the case.

The ex-judge refused to answer questions about property in the UAE, citing the fact that these questions "do not concern him" and "third parties do not provide information to which they have nothing to do."

"Regarding the purchase of real estate in the UAE, my family did not make such decisions, because for the past 10 years it has been one person, that is, myself. I did not buy real estate in the UAE... We continue to communicate with Svetlana. We are civilized people and divorce is not a factor for us to prevent further communication. Moreover, we have a joint minor child, I actively took part in his upbringing," says the ex-judge.

Regarding the above-mentioned SBI case, the ex-judge noted that neither he nor Svitlana Emelyanova had any status in it, but admitted that the searches were, including, in the premises belonging to her.

"This criminal proceeding was initiated without grounds, only in order to have the opportunity to spread false statements about me and receive negative informational reasons about my lawyer's activity," said Yemelyanov. - I did not carry out any other activity, except for helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine to resist Russian aggression."

At the request of journalists, the SBI also reported that as of May 2024, no person, in particular Svitlana and Artur Yemelyanov, had been informed of suspicions in this criminal proceeding.

Svitlana Yemelyanova did not respond to journalists' requests for comment as of the date of the investigation's release.

Former People's Deputy and lobbyist of EDAPS

Vasyl Hrytsak is a former People's Deputy from the "Party of Regions", also former deputy head of the State Migration Service. But most often his surname sounds next to the name of EDAPS .

EDAPS is the consortium "Unified State Automated Passport System" , which in the period from 2003 to 2014 monopolized the field of document production. Hrytsak was called the lobbyist of this concern.

According to the Dubai leak, the Hrytsak family purchased two apartments in the UAE for over $700,000.

The first is in The Fairways North Tower , which has an outdoor pool, a fitness center, a garden and a terrace. Vasyl Hrytsak bought an apartment with an area of ​​72 square meters there in 2010 for $216,000. According to transactions from the Dubai Land Registry, he transferred this apartment in 2019 to his eldest son Igor. Who is still the owner of the apartments.

The second apartment with an area of ​​123 square meters was purchased in 2011 for about half a million dollars in the Ocean Heights . Now its owners are his wife Natalia Hrytsak and his younger son. Ocean Heights is a skyscraper in the Dubai Marina area, which is a landmark of the city and is among the five tallest buildings in Dubai.

According to transaction data, the owners rented out both apartments. More than 370 thousand dollars were earned from this.

Probably, the UAE was chosen by the family as a country to invest in real estate not by chance: at the time of the real estate purchase, Hrytsak, as a people's deputy, also managed a group of deputies on interparliamentary relations with the United Arab Emirates.

Before becoming a deputy, Hrytsak worked in the department of resource provision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In particular, he ensured the production of permit forms for the installation and use of special signal sound and light devices for the police.

But most often, Hrytsak is mentioned in the context of EDAPS - the monopolist of the 2000s in the field of printing foreign passports, calling the "regional" a lobbyist for this business.

Thus, in an interview with Radio Svoboda in 2009, Deputy Secretary of the NSDC Borys Sobolev insisted that "100% of the documents that identify a person are developed and accounted for, produced and distributed by structures that essentially have nothing to do with state , which are created and controlled by people who have non-Ukrainian interests."

Vasyl Hrytsak himself stated that he was "lobbying not the interests of the consortium, but the passport system of the country" and called himself "the founder of the new passport system of Ukraine."

"Schemy" turned to Vasyl Hrytsak for a comment. Despite the data from the registry, he denied that he owned or owns any real estate in the UAE.

"I am hearing from you for the first time (about real estate in the UAE, - ed.). I give them to you! I have no idea. A gift for you! There isn't and wasn't," replied Vasyl Hrytsak.

As part of the Dubai Unlocked project, Schemy analyzed data on six hundred Ukrainian citizens who own real estate in Dubai. Among them, journalists also found current officials.

More on them later, in the following "Scheme" materials on the Radio Liberty website and YouTube channel.

Why Dubai?

Dubai is a large resort city at the crossroads of global logistics, which is valued for its "quietness" for money and where unnecessary questions are not asked about its origin.

"Historically, the United Arab Emirates has been a place where your money is safe and few questions are asked. Therefore, if you are a person who has money that you want to get out of the scrutiny of your country, the UAE is historically a great place to do it," said Tom Keating, director of the British Center for Finance and Security, in an interview with "Schemes " . .

Journalists from Swedish Television (SVT)  managed to get a tour of one of the properties of the Dubai developer Damac , during which they were told that they could buy an apartment with "bags of cash" or cryptocurrency, and would have "no questions" about the source of their funds

“In real estate, you will not be questioned by any department… especially the developer himself,” said the salesperson. "Anyone who wants to buy can buy."

He also said that buying real estate with cash is a way for customers to avoid questions from banks about the source of their money: "If you sell real estate and then transfer the entire amount to a bank account, then there is no problem, you will not be asked where you are from take the cash to buy the property and then put it in the bank,” said the seller.

A Damac representative later said the firm vets its clients and that it is not company policy to recommend that clients buy real estate with cash.

"Had your undercover reporter continued the sales process after his initial meeting with the seller, he would have witnessed the rigorous scrutiny and heightened measures we apply to transactions of concern," Damac said, adding that the seller's claims would be investigated.

The closedness of information about real estate in the UAE makes it possible to avoid paying taxes in your country for property transactions.

"If a Ukrainian owns real estate in Dubai and sells it or rents it out, he has to pay income tax and military duty - a total of 19.5%. In Dubai, the value of real estate is growing rapidly, so usually such transactions are "in the plus", unless, of course, someone does not want to hide their income from the tax authorities, - says economist Vyacheslav Cherkashin . "Of course, no one will be in a hurry to pay such taxes."

The expert also adds that in cases where the owner rents out real estate or sells it, he is obliged by law to submit the income received abroad in the tax declaration.

In short, the closed Dubai registers and the lack of questions from the UAE authorities to investors serve as an excellent basis for current and former Ukrainian officials of various levels to hide their real wealth.

And it is precisely such a project as Dubai Unlocked that allows us to open this curtain. After all, it is based on verified real estate data that comes from a series of leaks. Most of the data is from the Dubai Land Registry, as well as state utilities.

"Schemes" as part of the international team of journalists who joined the Dubai Unlocked project sent a request to the authorities of the United Arab Emirates with clarifications on how the country controls real estate transactions carried out by persons under sanctions or wanted. Journalists also asked about who and how checks the origin of funds of foreigners who invest in Dubai real estate. And also about the extent to which the UAE authorities are open to cooperation with law enforcement agencies of other countries, if it is proven that the funds invested in Dubai real estate are of illegal origin.

At the time of publication of the investigation, the UAE authorities sent a brief message through their embassies in the UK and Norway to The Times and E24, without answering substantive questions. In particular, the message said that "the Emirati authorities take their role in protecting the integrity of the global financial system extremely seriously" and that the UAE is "working closely with international partners to stop and deter all forms of illicit financing."

"The UAE is committed to continuing these efforts and actions more than ever before today and in the long term," the official statement said.