Yanukovych loot fuels Moscow real estate market

During the flight of former president Viktor Yanukovych and his circle to Russia, the prices of luxury real estate in Moscow suddenly spiked higher. A third of all contracts for the lease or purchase of luxury real estate came from citizens of Ukraine. They apparently did not bother to bargain over prices with the realtors but proceeded to move into their lush apartments with their families, reports Press of Ukraine, citing RBK News, August 29.

For Moscow realtors specializing in luxury real estate, 2014 was a particularly successful year since it brought them numerous customers in the form of Ukrainian officials who were fleeing the Revolution of Dignity. According to realtors, there were two waves of price hikes for Moscow real estate — both closely linked with the arrival in Moscow of Yanukovych and his team.

Elena Yurgeneva, director of residential property sales at the Knight Frank Russia & CIS real estate agency, says that the very next day after their flight from Ukraine many officials and their families showed up at the real estate agency in Moscow to look for suitable accommodations. In several cases the officials sent representatives to negotiate the contracts.

“The Ukrainians were leasing housing with little or no bargaining, almost immediately after first seeing it just as long as it suited them in size and the quality of accommodations,” reports the head of the Kalinka Group agency, Ekaterina Rumyantseva.

Furthermore, the officials leased enormous apartments — ne smaller than 400 square meters in size. The monthly lease for such housing comes to US $30,000, but that did not present a problem for the clients, the realtors report. Not all Ukrainian officials were able to find suitable housing for themselves in Moscow and had to acquire estates in the Moscow Oblast (Podmoskovye).

Moscow realtors noticed a second wave of price hikes in luxury housing in August 2014 with the aggravation of the situation in the Donbas. During that period a third of all transactions for luxury real estate came from citizens of Ukraine.