President Petro Poroshenko has instructed his lawyers and consultants to sort out the situation regarding the discovery of an undeclared offshore company in his name.
“I believe I might be the first top office official in Ukraine who treats declaring of assets, paying taxes and conflict of interest issues profoundly and seriously, in full compliance with the Ukrainian and international private law.
Having become a president, I am not participating in management of my assets, having delegated this responsibility to the respective consulting and law firms.
I expect that they will provide all necessary details to the Ukrainian and international media,” Petro Poroshenko wrote on his Facebook page.
The president found himself at the epicentre of a scandal after the publication of an investigation based on a disclosure of a Panamanian offshore data logger. It turned out that in the summer of 2014 Poroshenko registered company for the transfer of his confectionery business in the jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands. The main complaint of journalists to Poroshenko was the fact that he failed to indicate the possession of 1,000 dollars worth of shares in the company, the procrastination with the transfer of his Roshen company to a blind trust, and the suspected intention to evade the payment of taxes in Ukraine in the sale of the corporation.
A preliminary analysis by the Prosecutor General's Office experts showed that the registration of the offshore company at the British Virgin Islands was legal, the PGO said earlier today.