Co-founder of Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Drew Sullivan called Petro Poroshenko the corrupt businessman, around whom there are many dangerous people, Drew Sullivan said during interview to Ukrainian Truth, Ukrainian News reports.
“The corruption of Poroshenko times is very similar to Yanukovich’s corruption. Probably, it is not of such magnitude, because Yanukovich was actually a very bad person and demonstrated that. Poroshenko came to power with good will of people and neglected it. He did not live up to the expectations, which the citizens placed on him and did not work on clearing Ukraine. Unfortunately. Poroshenko is the corrupt businessperson, around whom there are many dangerous people. And he continues to do very dubious things”, he said.
Sullivan also noted that the authorities openly intimidate the mass media and public sector.
“If the authorities felt secure, it would not attack media and would not provide opportunity to their stories. However, the actions of authorities demonstrate that their intentions are not pure”, he explained.
Cofounder of OCCRP also reminded that Poroshenko did not fulfill their promises.
“Poroshenko’s representatives assured that he did not transfer funds to offshores, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Then they attacked our interpretation of documents. Poroshenko assured that he will give his business to trust ownership. But we did not get any confirmation of this fact, and the president himself refuses to publish key documents, which would prove that he speaks truth. Meanwhile, we think that these documents will prove otherwise”, he said.
According to Sullivan’s words, indirect evidence suggests that Poroshenko still owns Lipetsk factory, it is just in blind trust (i.e. fiduciaries have a free hand, but the beneficiary does not have rights to interfere). For example, last year, Roshen’s management decided to close the factory, but not the trust, which manages it.
As Ukrainian News reported, EBITDA Roshen was about UAH 3 bln in 2017.