Zelensky Moves into Dacha in Konche-Zaspa Renovated with State Funds — Schemes

A year ago, he saw no point in residences and did not plan to use them.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has started using a state dacha on the territory of the Konche-Zaspa residence of the State Administration of Affairs near Kyiv. Recently, the estate, known as “House No. 29” or “Yushchenko’s dacha,” underwent renovation paid for with state funds.

Before this, the president sold his house and plot of land in Ivankovichi. Before being elected president, Zelensky openly condemned politicians for using such privileges. This is reported by the programme “Schemes: Corruption in Detail”.

In March 2020, sources told Schemes journalists that “House No. 29” was being prepared “for Zelensky.” One source works in the State Protection Service, and the second has access to the residence itself. The investigation says that the president actually began using the dacha that month.

On July 6, Schemes recorded how, after a working day, the president’s motorcade headed toward Konche-Zaspa, entered the restricted territory of the state dachas, and left only the next morning. The following day, Volodymyr Zelensky also spent the night in Konche-Zaspa.

In addition, journalists recorded a car belonging to the president’s wife, Olena Zelenska, leaving the state dacha territory on the same days. 

Only residents or their guests can enter the dacha territory, so journalists asked their second source to drive past the presidential state dacha and record what was happening there. The investigation states: “The video, shot on a phone, shows that the territory is well lit, lights are on in the windows of the house on the territory, and guards are on duty by the fence.”

On July 7, a notice of changes in Zelensky’s property status appeared on the electronic declarations website: he sold his house and land plot in Ivankovichi. The buyer was the wife of the deputy head of the Servant of the People faction, Yuriy Kisel, and the transaction amount was 13 million hryvnias.

Volodymyr Zelensky, his press service, the State Administration of Affairs (SAA), and the head of the “Konche-Zaspa Recreation Center” did not provide journalists with details or did not respond to requests at all.

No permanent residents lived in “House No. 29” after the 3rd President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko. Yushchenko lived at the dacha both during his term and under President Yanukovych. After they left in 2014, no one lived in “House No. 29,” as the former head of the SAA said.

The state residence is a three-story mansion with an area of more than 2,000 square meters, as well as several hectares of fenced territory around it. The house itself has 4 bedrooms, an elevator, a cinema hall, a billiard room, a solarium, saunas, a swimming pool, and a massage room. After 10 years of Yushchenko’s residence here and the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, the dacha was planned to be sold.

Before being elected president, Zelensky himself, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, condemned politicians for using such privileges and stated that all these residences are now more suitable for excursions.

Volodymyr Zelensky
President of Ukraine

Guys, let some kids live in these residences. <...> Well, some recreation camps or some people who really need it. But these residences — I see no point in them at all.

Among other things, in the same interview Zelensky promised not to block roads or switch off traffic lights for his motorcade, to stand in traffic jams, and to “sell off at least 2 of the 3 presidential planes to hell.”

Journalists also recalled Zelensky’s words from the series “Servant of the People,” which became the image foundation of his entry into politics: “I’d send them there for just one week, if that were possible. I’d give them a what for! Motorcades — to hell! Your perks — to hell! Dachas — to hell! So that a simple teacher lives like a president. And a president lives like a teacher.”