On November 29th, 2022, Facebook users (1,2) published a post, claiming that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, owns a “palace” worth 35 million USD in Miami, US, as well as “billions of assets” outside the borders of Ukraine. The authors of the post point to Kremlin propagandist Scott Ritter as the source of information.
The information that Zelenskyy owns a villa worth 35 million USD in Miami was reported in the Russian media as early as February 23rd. Russian propaganda media, including Риа Новости, Газета.ру, Россиская Газета relied on Ukrainian, pro-Russian oppositionist Illia Kyva, who published the mentioned information on Telegram. Notably, Газета.ру connected Kyva’s statement regarding Zelenskyy’s property with Pandora Papers, the materials of the offshore accounts of politicians and their entourage by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). In addition, one of the publications did not name Illia Kyva as the source of information, but the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Nezygarь.
The claim that Zelenskyy owns real estate worth several tens of millions is without evidence. The overall net worth of the President of Ukraine is estimated at 20-30 million USD, while a 35 million USD villa in Miami is included neither in his property declarations nor in Pandora Papers. In addition, according to PolitiFact, a US fact-checking agency, Florida’s public real estate registry does not include any real estate linked to Zelenskyy or the companies named in the Pandora Papers.
According to Forbes Ukraine, the total net worth of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is about 20 million USD, (in addition, Forbes US estimates that Zelenskyy’s wealth does not exceed 30 million USD). The website Celebrity Net Worth also estimates Zelenskyy’s net worth at USD 25 million. Both Forbes and Celebrity Net Worth name the company Kvartal 95, which Zelenskyy established in 1997 while working in the entertainment industry, as the primary source of the president’s income. Zelenskyy has declared the income collected from Kvartal 95.
Forbes estimates the real estate owned by Zelenskyy at 4 million USD. This property includes 2 apartments that Zelenskyy owns outright, 2 more apartments that he co-owns, commercial real estate and five parking spaces. The publication notes that Zelenskyy owned a villa in Italy in 2019; however, according to his declaration, Zelenskyy sold the villa, as well as a plot of land and five hotel rooms in Georgia in 2020. Income from the sale of real estate was also declared.
Apart from Zelenskyy’s official financial declarations and evaluations of international financial publications, additional information about Zelenskyy’s assets is available in the Pandora Papers, published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) regarding the assets in the offshore accounts of current and former politicians and their entourage.
In 2021, the Organized Crime and Corruption Research Project (OCCRP) published an article based on the Pandora Papers, according to which Zelenskyy and his inner circle own a network of offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus and Belize. The OCCRP also notes that luxury properties in London have been purchased by these offshore companies. However, references to real estate in Miami do not appear in the Pandora Papers.
Notably, in April 2022, English-speaking social media users have also been disseminating information about the 35 million USD villa in Miami. Then these reports were verified by the US fact-checking agency PolitiFact. The publication notes that the Telegram channel Незыгарь, which is a Telegram channel connected to the Kremlin, is named as one of the sources of information spread in the English-language Internet space. PolitiFact notes that there is no evidence that Zelenskyy owns a USD 35 million villa in Miami. According to the article, the Florida Public Registry of Real Estate does not feature any real estate linked to Zelenskyy or the companies named in the Pandora Papers.
Various false and manipulative claims regarding the issue of Zelenskyy’s net worth started to resurface after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The discreditation campaign exaggerated Zelenskyy’s net worth to several hundreds of millions and billions and claimed that he had accumulated this wealth through corrupt means after becoming president. “Myth Detector” verified similar false claims in the past as well. For more, see:
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