President Poroshenko and the ‘Panama papers’

The papers disclosed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) concerning the use of so-called ‘tax havens’ by public figures included information about some Ukrainian citizens. The reports concerning Petro Poroshenko were the most important and have been developed in co-operation with the independent Ukrainian television station Hromadske TV. According to those reports, on 21 August 2014, Poroshenko secretly registered a company named Prime Asset Partners in the British Virgin Islands. The company was intended to play the role of a managing holding for Roshen, his most important business. Poroshenko registered two more companies in September and December 2014 in Cyprus and Holland.

In their investigation, the journalists emphasised that the firms were registered for the purpose of tax optimisation ahead of a possible sale of Roshen, which had been promised in the election campaign. The journalists have also concluded that, contrary to the declarations made by Poroshenko himself, he had not handed over Roshen to a board of trustees in the form of a blind trust (the owner is then deprived of influence over the firm for some time) that was expected to be headed by a Western investment bank. It has been highlighted in the papers that Poroshenko registered the firm in a tax haven at the time when the Battle of Ilovaisk was being fought, which ended up in Ukrainian troops being defeated. The Ukrainian president has refuted all allegations in a short comment.

ESO: Background information: The Panama Papers. Politicians, Criminals and the Rogue Industry That Hides Their Cash http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-panama-papers-politicians-criminals-and-the-rogue-industry-that-hides-their-cash/

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