From 1935 Mezhyhirya was a state government residence, first under the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and then under an independent Ukraine, until 2007 when it was privatized in the final weeks of Yanukovych’s leadership as Prime Minister.
[12] Until April 10, 1786, the space now occupied by the modern residence was inhabited by the Savior-Transfiguration Monastery, the establishment of which is attributed prior to the period of princely epoch in Kyiv, which was liquidated by the Russian Imperial edict of Catherine the Great.
Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko wrote about the incident: "As tsaritsa with Nechesa walked around Kyiv and the Mezhyhirya Savior she set on fire at night".
[15][failed verification] During the occupation by Nazi Germany, it was a residence of the Reich Commissar Erich Koch in a palace of the Kiev Military District commander Iona Yakir.
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 building #20 and 3 ha (7.4 acres) of land through the mediation of Donetsk Charity Fund "Revival of Ukraine".
By the agreement, the rental price was ₴3.14 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".
The transfer of the 1.4 km² Mezhyhirya official residence in Novi Petrivtsi, Vyshhorod Raion (district) to the "Nadra Ukraine" firm on July 11, 2007 by Viktor Yanukovych pulled the territory from under government ownership.
[17] On July 9, 2007, President Viktor Yushchenko signed a secret presidential decree #148, according to the local business newspaper Delo which referred to the information of the State Directorate of Affairs.
[19] On July 11, 2007, Yanukovych issued a government order #521, according to which the National Joint-Stock Company "Nadra Ukrainy" received the state residency and a territory of 137 ha in Mezhyhirya.
Soon "Nadra Ukrainy" concluded a barter with another company "Medinvesttreid" (Medinvesttrade) after which the above-mentioned government assigned residence was exchanged for two properties at Parkova alleya (Park alley) in Kyiv.
[21] After Yulia Tymoshenko's election, her cabinet annulled the decree which transferred the property to the "Nadra Ukraine" firm,[22] and again placed the territory under government control.
[23] However, on July 28, 2008, the Economic Court of Kyiv City annulled the Cabinet's decision and returned the Mezhyhirya residence back under Yanukovych's ownership.
[28] Details of the residence’s excesses, such as the cost of its chandeliers,[5] shocked and angered Ukrainians during Yanukovych’s presidency, with many rumours about the complex circulating throughout Ukraine in the early 2010s.
[38] On 23 February 2014 the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, adopted a resolution to transfer Mezhyhirya as a recreational complex of Pushcha-Vodytsia to state ownership, within ten days.
[1][34] The controversial nature of the complex has persisted since Yanukovych’s ousting, with some Ukrainians refusing to visit it because it is connected to the former president of Ukraine and provokes negative emotions, though others have used it for their wedding photoshoots.
[50] The estate also has an automobile museum displaying some of Yanukovych’s former exotic cars, a golf course, an ostrich farm, a dog kennel, numerous fountains and man-made lakes, a helicopter pad, and a small church.
[55] A journalist at Ukrayinska Pravda found various "ancient treasures of Ukrainian literature" in the residence on 25 February 2014, including the alleged first printed book in Ukraine (dating from 1654) by Ivan Fyodorov.
[56] A group of photographers made a series of 360° panoramic photos outside and inside the buildings in Mezhyhirya on 11 March 2014, available on the website of the German news magazine Der Spiegel.