Stepping into the post of Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2002, Viktor Yanukovych received free of charge building #20 with an area 325 m2 (3,500 sq ft) in the residence from the Fund of State Property. On April 1, 2003 Viktor Yanukovych rented the building #20 and 3 ha (7.4 acres) through the mediation of Donetsk Charity Fund «Revival of Ukraine». By the agreement, the rental price was 3.14 hryvnia per month for a period of 49 years for the purpose «implementation of measures for the promotion of national and international programs aimed at improving the socio-economic status».[5]
Stepping out of the post of Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2005, Viktor Yanukovych received another building, #20-a.
The President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych chose it as his residence after he won the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election.[8] Its current ownership is contested.[8] In 2009 Yanukovych claimed to have full ownership.[1] He has since not revealed the price he paid for the property, instead calling it a «very serious price».[22] Serhiy Leshchenko, of Ukrayinska Pravda, has claimed Yanukovych owned more of the estate than he claimed, and that he managed to do so through a complex ownership structure via a network of international holding companies that ultimately comes back to a firm called Tantalit, run by a lawyer close to the Yanukovych family, Pavlo Lytovchenko.[8] The estate’s level of luxury and the reconstruction of a road to it has spawned controversy within Ukraine.[3][8] During the 2014 riots, hundreds of Ukrainians went to visit this luxurious palace and park for free after the President had fled to the East on 23 February 2014.