Oligarch Toys: planes, palaces & other posh possessions

Ukraine’s wealthiest may find their pockets lighter if the president’s de-oligarchization law is passed in September.

It would ban political donations from oligarchs and force them to log all communication with public officials. Oligarchs would be banned from buying state property, a practice that has propelled them to the top.

This may force them to shed some ballast.

Multi-millionaire Yuriy Kosiuk has already had to sell two of his yachts due to financial problems caused by the falling value of his flagship agricultural company, Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP). His companies, which enjoyed $90 million in subsidies in 2017–2018, only got $2.9 million in 2019–2020.

Kosiuk is not the only one who faces a tightening cash flow as the state tries to distance itself from oligarchs.

Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, is squarely in the sights of a bill that would force iron ore producers to pay an extra Hr 3 billion ($111 million) to the budget each year. The tycoon owns half of the iron mines in the country and the legislation — passed in the first reading — is unofficially called the “anti-Akhmetov bill.”

So, what do these oligarchs own? The Kyiv Post put together a list of the swankiest jets, decadent yachts and pompous properties of the wealthiest men in Europe’s second-poorest country.

Rinat Akhmetov ($7.6 billion)

Rinat Akhmetov is the richest person in Ukraine with an estimated net worth of $7.6 billion.

He reportedly owns 85-meter superyacht Valerie, which made headlines in July when celebrities Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck rented the vessel to sail along French Riviera.

Akhmetov’s press secretary denied that the yacht belongs to the oligarch. But the Kyiv Post managed to establish a link between Akhmetov and Kaalbye Shipping Ukraine, the vessel’s official owner.

Akhmetov is also looking to get rid of it. In 2019, he put it on sale via Dynamiq Brokerage, a Monaco-based service for superyachts sales and charters, which valued Valerie at 110 million euros.

The yacht has six decks and can accommodate up to 17 guests and 27 crew members.

It has a gym with a panoramic view, a spa with a hammam, and a private sundeck with a six-meter pool. The foredeck has enough room for a helicopter to land.

Akhmetov also has an impressive jet fleet.

System Capital Management (SCM), his financial and industrial holding company, has an Airbus A319–133(CJ) with registration number P4-RLA, which might refer to the oligarch’s name, Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov. Such a jet costs around $80 million.

Akhmetov also has a Falcon 7X made by the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault and registered under the number P4-SCM. These start at $60 million.

Akhmetov lives in a massive palace surrounded by pine forest in Plyuty village, 35 kilometers south of Kyiv. But he has other, way fancier real estate.

In 2020, he paid $235 million for the historic 18,000-square-foot, 14-bedroom Villa Les Cedres in southen France, once owned by King Leopold II of Belgium.

The palace went on sale in 2017, with an initial price tag of $411 million. At the time it was “the most expensive house on Earth,” according to Bloomberg.

Akhmetov seems to like things that are “the most expensive.”

In 2011, he bought a $190 million flat in London’s One Hyde Park, which Forbes called “world’s most expensive apartment.”

The Kyiv Post has recently revealed that Akmetov’s son Damir, who manages some of his father’s companies, bought a villa on Lake Geneva in Switzerland for $65 million in December.

Victor Pinchuk ($2.5 billion)

Victor Pinchuk is the second wealthiest person in Ukraine after Akhmetov. Like many oligarchs, he also owns real estate in London, acquiring two historical buildings there in 2017.

One is a multimillion-dollar office block overlooking Hyde Park at 27–31 Knightsbridge in London’s district of Belgravia. It was worth more than $104 million as of the end of 2015.

The other one is called the “Grand Buildings” and is located on Trafalgar Square. This luxurious building once housed London’s Grand Hotel. Now it houses a number of restaurants and boutiques. As of 2010, Dubai-based investment firm Istithmar was selling it for $240 million.

In 2008, Pinchuk’s wife Olena bought an $111 million five-story house in another wealthy area in southwest London, in Upper Phillimore Gardens.

This Victorian villa was immediately rebuilt to meet the needs of the new owners. Now it has an underground swimming pool, gym, sauna, and cinema. The house also has at least 10 bedrooms and a secure “panic room,” according to the Daily Mail.

In the same year, Pinchuk reportedly bought four villas on the Italian island Sardinia for $82 million. Among them is Luci del Mare that has 15 rooms and a swimming pool; Samanna which has 21 rooms and a garden; and two smaller ones, La Torre and La Deseada. The latter one lies on the sea coast.

He also has some real estate on the French coast.

Pinchuk has spent more than $117 million for the 1,500 square meter Sorrentina villa on the waterfront in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in Cote D’azur, according to the Challange media outlet.

The oligarch uses Bombardier Global Express and Gulfstream planes with registration numbers of OE-IDO and OE-LEO respectively.

Igor Kolomoisky ($1.8 billion)

Igor Kolomoisky shares Damir Akhmetov’s admiration for Lake Geneva. However, Kolomoisky’s lakeside villa — registered under the name of his sister Larisa Chertok — is much smaller.

The 1,200 square meter, two-floor residence was custom-built from 2010–2018, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). It has a pool and a spa. Chertok reportedly bought this house for $32 million.

She also owns a house on the French side of Lake of Geneva and a ski chalet worth 16 million euros ($19 million), OCCRP reported. Chertok does not have any businesses that would bring her enough income to independently afford such purchases.

In 2019, Kolomoisky returned to Ukraine from self-imposed political exile in Geneva and settled back into his hometown of Dnipro. He owns a 10-hectare plot of land and a house there, according to Strana.ua.

Slidstvo.Info also reported that Kolomoisky owns two villas in Israel. He also has numerous other properties around the world.

The oligarch also has a collection of luxury boats, including his 90-meter superyacht Lauren L. Its interior was designed by the Greek construction bureau Alpha Marine with Germany’s Cassens-Werft styling the exterior.

Lauren L. can accommodate 26 guests across 20 suites and 40 crew members. It’s equipped with a health center with massage and aromatherapy rooms and a fully-equipped beauty and hair salon. Its estimated value is $76 million.

However, the jewel in Kolomoisky’s vehicular crown is the the 65-meter yacht Trident. Designed by Dutch company Royal Van Lent Shipyard, it cost the oligarch $102 million. It can accommodate 14 guests.

Kolomoisky owns two Hawker 800XP jets with registration numbers UR-WRR and UR-PRT, and a Hawker 850XP (UR-WRS) costing around $2.5 million each, according to luxury vehicle information site SuperYachtFan.

All three are listed in the Ukraine registry of aircraft as property of Windrose Airlines, which allegedly belongs to Kolomoisky.

Yuriy Kosiuk ($700 million)

In late 2020, Kosiuk put his superyacht Ace and support yacht Garcon up for sale for $137 million and $28 million, respectively. The cheaper one reportedly sold in January.

The superyacht was launched in 2012, custom-built by German yard Lurssen and conceived by London firm Winch Design. Kosiuk requested that the Ace reflect the interior style of The Ritz hotel in London.

Each guest cabin offers a different theme: art deco, French Provencal and contemporary nautical. It can accommodate 10 guests and 30 crew members. It has a cinema, gym, beauty salon, nightclub and a Russian tea room. A lower deck spa inspired by Roman villas includes a hammam, spa pool, sauna, ice pool and lounge, next to a fold-down terrace.

Kosiuk also has numerous aircraft. According to SuperYachtFan, he owns a 20-seat capacity Airbus A318–112(CJ) Elite worth $70 million. The plane has not flown since December 2018, according to Planefinder.net. It is not listed in Ukraine’s registry of private aircraft.

However, the registration number of the Airbus, OE-ICE, is similar to UR-ICE, the number of a $3.2 million Bell‑429 helicopter owned by MHP. Kosiuk also has a Bell‑430, which costs at least $4 million and is probably the most expensive private helicopter in Ukraine. Kosiuk also had a Eurocopter EC145, which crashed in Kyiv. These aircraft start at about $2.3 million.

The oligarch lives in a giant mansion made to look like the Versailles palace in France. Kosiuk’s version stands near Feofania, a park in the historical neighborhood of Kyiv. He has one more house in Gostomel, one of Kyiv’s satellite villages.

Dmytro Firtash ($420 million)

Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash has permanently lived in Austria since early 2014, hiding from U.S. extradition for alleged racketeering and bribery, charges that he denies.

Firtash is under house arrest but many would dream to stay in a house as opulent.

It is located in a posh neighborhood called Hietzing. Built in 1908, this art nouveau building has a pool, wine cellar, home theater, spa and English lawn, according to Profil media outlet. Its estimated value is around $29 million.

While Firtash cannot leave Austria, his plane can. Recently he lent his Embraer Legacy 600 to Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to fly home to Vienna from Tel Aviv according to news site Zack Zack. The plane costs between $12 million and $15 million.

Firtash is infamous for political spending. The Guardian reported that he donated to the U.K.’s Conservative Party through a shady firm.

In London, Firtash demonstrated some of his extravagant taste in real estate. In 2014, he bought a metro station in central London from the U. K. Ministry of Defense.

Brompton Road station in South Kensington is a historical heritage site. It was formerly home to a command center directing combat against the Luftwaffe during World War II, My London reported.

Firtash paid $73 million for the station to redevelop it into flats. This never panned out due to the U.S. bribery charges that hit him a month after the purchase.

Right next to the station there is a five-story house Firtash bought in 2012 for $83 million. It has a swimming pool, a gym, a conference room and at least four bedrooms. Across the street is an apartment belonging to his wife that cost $1.1 million, according to the Schemes investigative reporting project.