The complex first came to public attention in 2010 after whistleblower Sergei Kolesnikov published an open letter to Russian president Dmitry Medvedev exposing the construction of the palace.

[8] Cape Idokopas (Russian: Мыс Идокопас) is a promontory on the Black Sea coast of Russia near Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Krai.

[9] The residence overlooks Russia's Black Sea coast, and is built on a block of land with a total area of 74 hectares (180 acres).

The main building boasts a large indoor swimming pool, aquadiskotheque arrangement, spa, saunas, Turkish baths, meat and fish shops, vegetable and dessert shops, a warehouse, a reading room, a music lounge, a hookah bar, a theater, a cinema, a wine cellar, a casino, and about a dozen guest bedrooms.

[13] In March 2011, it was reported that Alexander Ponomarenko, a businessman and billionaire who made his money in sea ports, banking, commercial real estate and airport construction, acquired the company "Idokopas" which owned the palace.

[14][15] At the time of the purchase, Idokopas owned around 67 hectares of recreational land near the settlement of Praskoveyeka, including a guesthouse complex amounting to 26,000 square meters.

[19] In July 2011, the Azure Berry Company was sold to SVL Group, controlled by Boris Titov, the owner of sparkling wine factory "Abrau-Durso".

[21] On 11 May 2016, RBC reported that Alexei Vasilyuk (Russian: Алексей Василюк), through his ownership of the Moscow registered LLC “Southern citadel” (Russian: ООО «Южная цитадель»), has exclusive rights since 25 March 2016 to the water along the coastline between Cape Idokopas and Divnomorskoye for the production of mussels and oysters and that on 20 April 2016 “Southern citadel” has received a 25-year lease to two land plots totaling 422.1 hectares (1,043 acres) along the Black Sea next to “Putin's Palace”.

[10] Kolesnikov said the construction of the estate was draining funds available for his work, which included the state-commissioned renovations of hospitals in collaboration with Shamalov and businessman Dmitry Gorelov.

[10] In 2011, the Novaya Gazeta wrote that it had obtained a contract for the palace signed by the presidential property manager in 2005, when Putin was the Russian president.

[31] The two men had known each other through business since 1993–1994, when Kolesnikov was deputy director general of Petromed, a St. Petersburg-based firm that specialised in the procurement of medical supplies.

[31] Kolesnikov is reported as saying that Roman Abramovich and the other donors to health projects acted 'nobly', implying they were unaware that a significant proportion of their donations was being diverted into an investment vehicle allegedly run for the benefit of the President and his partners in Rosinvest.

[33] In February 2011, members of the group "Environmental Watch for the North Caucasus" and a journalist visited the site to investigate concerns that the construction violated laws protecting the area's ecology.

They said that they were harassed and detained by members of the Federal Protective Service (FSO), the agency responsible for guarding state property and high-ranking officials.

[22] On 19 January 2021, two days after Alexei Navalny was detained by Russian authorities upon his return to Russia, an investigation by him and his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) was published accusing President Vladimir Putin of using fraudulently obtained funds to build the estate for himself in what he called "the world's biggest bribe."